First flight in Treeflex

Tom Dunlap

Tom Dunlap

Here from the beginning
Administrator
Location
Retired in Minneapolis
My TF was delivered on Monday afternoon. After tearing open the box and modeling for my buddy I raced over to my shop to give it the 'Tom Touch' Since it was unlikely that the harness was going to weigh less any time soon I hung it on my scale. It read four pounds. If I ever strip down my BFII I might have a comparison. That really isn't an issue though.

The lanyard D’s are a bit bigger than on the BFII so I still have some work to get the lanyard squared away. I like to use the d as a slack tender and tie the adjusting hitch to the d-ring. The D’s are pointed not round so that should make things center-up a little better. One thing that's missing yet is my gear pouch. I like to have a small first aid kit on my harness along with some other small items. Sometimes I take off my Pantin and put it in the pouch. After getting the harness setup with my minimal extra gear, which includes a couple of slings/biners and a friction hitch/slack, tender setup the scales pegged at eight pounds. Not too bad, I would have expected more.
 

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The next day I had an oak with a couple of low limbs to rig out. The limbs overhung two very pretty landscapes with flowers, fences and water features. This meant getting out to the tips and setting rigging to lift the branches up.

The Treeflex is built around SRT ascent. This made the chest ascender attachment very easy and comfy. After rigging up the rest of the Tree Frog with the Unicender I was ready to tension the rope and get to work. Going into the tree was so comfortable. The setup I made for the BFII was OK but this was way better. After reaching my TIP I got off the chest ascender and slacked off the shoulder strap but left the chest ascender in place. The shoulder strap would act as a suspender and be ready to go if I had to ascend later. Sitting back in the harness for the first time is a true test. Will it be a crotch biter? Will I feel awkward and unbalanced? Nope and nope! The leg risers bring the load out of the groin and the back pad feels like someone is holding me up. Very nice.
 

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While I climbed I was climbing I made a few adjustments to the straps. Nothing major, just tweaking.

Today I climbed into a tall oak to take out some minor dead and another large low limb. Moving around the canopy was easy with no pulling or pinching. While I was piecing out the low limb I had to hang in some pretty uncomfortable positions. Working on the side of the limb with my rope pulling up across my left shoulder and my lanyard placed so that it held me close to my cut line wasn't the greatest place to be. There were a few little stubs for my toes to brace against. Then, my groundie, who normally is quite switched-on must have bumped his dimmer switch. He had to go and get his chaps for limbing up the branch on the ground. Then he had to go get a drink of water. All of this time I'm hanging on the side of a limb. 'Evil Tom' and his entire attitude was starting to show up. But, the harness felt good enough to keep me sort of calm. I know that I would have had a hot spot on my thigh in my BFII. As it was, we worked the limb back and talked when I got to the ground.

This is probably the seventh or eight work harness that I've climbed in. Every one has been an immense improvement in functionality and comfort over the one before. I'm envious of the younger climbers who have such fine equipment available to them now. What will the next changes be?
 

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Hey tom so does that have a floating attachment or bridge or whatever you want to refer to it as? It's a very nice looking saddle but haven't heard much about it. Care to explain it a little bit?
 
"'Evil Tom' and his entire attitude was starting to show up. But, the harness felt good enough to keep me sort of calm."

Now theres a benefit we hadn't considered - A comfy climber is a happy climber who doesn't hurl abuse and dead wood at the crew
tongue.gif


Kidding, but there is a serious side; How many of us have been so uncomfortable we develop an attitude, or just want to cut corners and get on the ground ASAP?

Glad you're finding it suits your style Tom.
cool.gif
 
TF has a floating bridge. I can't imagine not having a floater after changing from a four d butt strap harness to the Blair UltraLight many years ago. Having the bridge float allows much more body rotation before I have to rotate my shoulders/hips. This move years ago was one of the reasons that my back quit hurting.
 
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How many of us have been so uncomfortable we develop an attitude, or just want to cut corners and get on the ground ASAP?



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yep! ringing down in my old willams harness, not the t2, the old old blue/yellow one, my first harness. was pain city on the hips!!
 
Tom, in the second picture the belt of the TF seems to be in just about the same spot as any other saddle.
Are you wearing it correctly ? I assumed that the belt would sit lower on your hip bones?

Also how is the buckle system on your waist? Does it stay cinched or does it creep open after working in it for a bit?

What size did you get? A medium?

Do you know what the final price is after shipping, tax, title, & license out the door? :)

Could you post a clearer picture of how you attached the chest ascender to your neck? Is that a suspender type black strap that goes over your neck and then down your back to the saddle?
 
Frans,

After climbing a couple of times I've lowered the waist belt. It feels different for sure...but good.

I would really like to have someone who could take better pictures. It almost takes another climber to have an eye for what I want to show. Tomorrow I'm helping Peter Jenkins with a climb and I should be able to have one of the other facilitators take some pics.

The chest ascender is held up with a homemade sling. Just some flat nylon webbing and a friction buckle. When I get it sized right I'm going to add some fleece pads at my shoulder/neck. Even with just the webbing the straps aren't too bad.

No clue about costs...we can find that out later.
 
Thanks for the reply Tom.

I have read and re-read all the posts made by the TreeFlex folks and over and over they say that proper fit is essential for this saddle to really shine. It is hard for us, as we are across an ocean from them, but I bet they would be more than happy to go over the fitting guidlines with you.

I know that if I get one, I will follow their instructions carefully. After all, this is a saddle expressly designed to facilitate proper movement and ergonomics.


I like your chest ascender set up because it looks like it does not get in the way when you begin working after ascending. The On-Rope set up is bulky but very comfortable.
 
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I like your chest ascender set up because it looks like it does not get in the way when you begin working after ascending. The On-Rope set up is bulky but very comfortable.

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Hi Frans

Here is what I wrote to someone else explainng how I dealt with the chest ascender after ascent. I don't keep it attached the same way at all. And don't be tempted to just unclip the krab and leave it draped round the neck - agood way to get garrotted!:

"I use the 'Secur' straps with the croll. When I get to the top, I do one of
two things:

1) unclip the Croll and pass it round the waist to clip n the back with
its karabiner. Easy. Out of the way till I need it.
2) if I fancy shoulder support, I slide the Croll up the right hand
suspender, unclip the Krab, then clip the Krab direct between the straps and
harness. I flick the Croll round on the strap so it is upside down (lies
flat) Then I slide it out the way over my right shoulder.
The torse would give me a third option - unclip and slide down access
line with handled ascender."

I hope that helps.
 
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