Anacortes Washington rec climb

[Oxman]

The October 23, 2005 edition of Pacific Northwest magazine, the Sunday supplement to the Seattle Times, has a great article on recreational tree climbing.
"Romancing the Tree", by Cara Solomon

Ben & Logan Huff are interviewed by the reporter up in the treetop.

"Are you ready yet?" he asks his son, Logan. "Are you ready yet?"

"Just a second," the boy says.

"This is so much fun!" Huff cries.

For Huff and his youngest son, the tree-climbing tradition is precious. It's a stress-reliever. A confidence-teacher. The greatest escape around.

Nestled in the highest arms of an old-growth tree, they can see so much. The Peregrine falcon carrying his lunch across the sky. The bent-over biker, whirring down below. The treetops stretching for miles, a forest floor for the sky."

Sounds like they had a ball.

 

[Gareth]

Nice photos oxman.
I'm looking forward to the day when i can get my boys up with me into some nice old growth trees. I think it'll be a really cool experience.
Thanks

 

[pantheraba]

homemade Big Shot?

Those are great pictures.

In the second picture, that looks like a standard "Wrist Rocket" on a bamboo pole...is that correct?

A homemade Big Shot?

 

[Oxman]

Re: homemade Big Shot?

It's hard to tell how Ben set his up from here.

Here's a second type, a Marksman Laserhawk.

The attachment shows a third model, also a Laserhawk. We used a sawed-off golf club as the fairlead.

The spinning reel is a Mitchell 300. The spool pops off with the push of a button, and can be easily switched out with one containing fresh line.

These launchers shoot a tiny shot filled pouch that weighs less than 2 oz. Differing test line strengths allow adjustment of retreivability from varying heights of about 100'.

The outdoor temperature plays a big part in throwing distance & handling of the rubber. Higher shots can be made on a cold day.

Fireline, a 12 pound test line made by Berkeley, is micro-dyneema fiber. For other elastomeric devices or crossbows, 20#, 30#, or even stronger line weights may be appropriate.

Buy plenty of weights & line, because what can get tangled into a birdsnest, most definitely will.

A major factor is bark drag, as tree species have more or less friction where the line runs across the limb. A limiting factor is whether the gravity acting on the shot pouch can pull the trailing line from the fishing reel over the bark, then upwards. Strumming the line can help. Modify your gear & technique until arriving at the sweet spot.