High Tech?

BigJon

BigJon

Location
Pa
It seems to me that we haven't really seen or heard of anything new for climbing lately. I just wondering what is neastest, coolest thing anyone has seen or heard of lately as far as techniques or gizmos?

Do any of these fancy "gizmos" make up fater?

What device or technique do you all think is the single most best improvement in climbing?
 
I dont think Gizmos make you faster or fatter or whatever you are trying to say John,they may make it funner and sometimes a little less stressful on the body.Speed and safety dont always see eye to eye but you can be fast and safe with good practice and a will to improve.
 
<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by BigJon:

What device or technique do you all think is the single most best improvement in climbing?<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>


a BUCKET TRUCK!
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How about letting us know what you've found to be useful. What have you added to your kit in the last six months?

To me, just having this, and other, discussion forums, is one of the best pieces of technology.

Tom
 
I would have to say footlocking is high on my list with split tail a close second. I can't say the friction saver makes it all that much quiker. It does make it a little easier and saves on the rope and the crotch we work out of.

I did a small norway removal the other day and you could really see what a drastic affect it had on the crotch. The bark was charred and peeling.

Some people say they are more trouble and worry about getting the thing stuck. I can say I got a rope stuck more times without the friction saver by it comeing down and slapping itself around a limb.

I know Alpine has a policy that if you are going to be a tree longer than 15 minutes you must use a cambium saver.

All the gizmos do make it MORE FUN not funner Roachy... Just kidding. When comes to buying gear I am like a woman buying shoes. It's like an addiction, maybe treegirl can relate to this.
 
Hmm, last 6 months of climbing gear. That rules out the AirKnife.

I spliced up a balancer that I can klemhiest onto the lowering line. It is well worth the 5 bucks in rope.

Bought a GRCS

Went to closed loop hitch

Got 2 pulleys for speedlining with wider cheekplates, they do seem to flip less often then others.

Made and adjustable friction saver (MTIP
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Stayed at Oxmans house for a few nigths of the ISA show. Gerry B. was staying there too.

Driving Tom's bus is an experiance in it's self
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coming to this site has been the single most influential thing that has happened to my climbing techniques in the past 6 mo.
1.adjustable friction saver w/pulley(petzl fixie but trying different set-up to meet safety requirements)
2. the throwline storage-- i bought a collapsable cube from peir 1 --it has been great less fustration w/clean-up no tangles
then after having fun climbing w/pulley i started working on taking my climbing to the next level. i want to become more fluid in the trees. one of my problems was returning back to center after a limb walk. my friction hitch was close to my body and it took too many motions to keep tension on the line,and tend the slack. I came up w/a system that has made climbing for me a whole new world. since climbing w/a petzl harness and only 1 pt. of attachment i use 1 carrabiner for both frition hitch and terminated end of climb line. instead of attaching to the harness I now clip in to adjustable loop tied w/a blakes hitch. this puts my climb hitch way out in front so i can get a longer stride and more control on returns. then I added a pull cord. clipped my footlock prusik in front of my climb hitch and back to my harness and can move my hitch w/ease. it looks like a lock jack but using ropes intead and having the distance between you and your hitch adjustable. and on those work climb landings I am just 1 unclip away from stopping that timer. I just wanted to thank everyone here for sharing , it truly has made me conscious of my climbing
"Wisdom is a tree of life to those who embrace her; happy are those who hold her tightly" proverbs 3:18---treehugger
 
I feel the most usefull technique I've learned and share with others is not the gizmo but the thought process and creativity. My world gets safer, easier and more enjoyable every year. I actually went recreational climbing on Sunday, weird.
 
Todd,

Care to file a Trip Report about the rec climb? That's one of the joys of this profession. It can be a fun activity outside of work hours. How many rock climbers/mountaineers make a living climbing?

Sean Gere and I had a chat a year ago about the joy we get out of this profession. Sean's Dad is a plumber and Sean can't ever remember his Dad talking shop. My Dad was a letter carrier for many years. He talked shop some. We both agreed it would have been a little wierd for our Dads to plumb/deliver mail on their day off.

Tom
 
During the ice storm up here in canada in 97. A friend and I worked for 30 days straight, finally had a day off and what did we do? We went out and climbed some of the cool looking trees we didn't get a chance to go up before and enjoyed climbing without saws.

We laughed and made the comparasin that you would never hear of an accountant adding things for fun on his day off.

Dave
 
Tom,the rec. climb I did was at a park near our shop. I have a good relationship with the parks dept., they let me do what ever I want. Which is nice don't have to worry about cops etc. In this park there are 8 large White Oaks that have been pruned are are a great place to practice. I was practising my new friction saver{using a single pulley}. I found that climbing vertually friction free is much faster for me, I hate friction!. Anyway these 8 Oaks also have ribbons in them representing a master challenge style of climbing I find this to be a great way the fiqure out if something is effective or not. After my first throw I start the time.This is also great practice if your into competing, if your not they are still big cool trees.living in Chicago there really are no epic trees to climb, just big Oaks and Elms probably similar to your area. Most of my rec. climbs are to practice some that I read about or saw, I would rather be very familair with it before I brought it to work.
 
6 months? Let's try the last 6 DAYS!

This year has been the most outrageous adventure in concentrated climbing ever. It's probably an attitude thing. The free flowing exchange of ideas is as infectious as a shark feeding frenzy.

Being in a receptive state of mind brings the ideas out of others. Staying with the train of thought with discliplined attention payed to the person presenting their idea is the key to soaking up new stuff.

Gadget-wise it's a tossup between the bucket and the Pantin.

Last week I configured this cool little foot ascender as a wallhauler to bring up a spare rope bag and a backpack (about 25 pounds worth) to a 140' pitch. I hung a pulley about head high with this utility line funning through it. Popped the ascender gate open on the Pantin an snared up the rope, then started pumping. This heavy load was lifted very efficiently by pushing down with my foot.

Having such a short attention span (which board is this?) makes other epiphanies fade out in the memory. I did get quite a bit of bucket time in lately, and that's always a learning experience.
 
I've seen it, the thing is really cool. It kinda works like the sport jack but alot better. you only need 6" of rope below it for it to feed automaticlly. And I think you keep you hand on it and pull down to decend.I hear it will not cost as much as the sport jack. It is supposed to be used in conjuction with the single pulley friction savers. Looks incrediable.
 
What Todd says is right. It is a modified "rope guide" friction saver. It works better than the sport in that it is put into a rubber tube and cannot slump down. This means that it stands up and takes up the rope slack almost automatically all the time. This I like. there is no knob to yank on for descent, instead a stiff wire to pull on with your fingers. Works like a VT or FP. I liked climbing on it so far. I'll report back after I get a chance to climb on it some more. Also, I'm told that it may sell for $100-$150 US.
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Today was my first day on the Rope Guide false crotch. Wow! What a beauty. Trying to quantify the ease of use is tough. Until someone does some tests with a dyno we can only use words to explain how the device makes climbing easier.

The job I did was in a large burr oak. The crown is declining because of construction root damage. On some of the limbs I had to work the tips. Even when my rope was draping across the rough bark I could tell how much less friction there was in the system. I use a Lock Jack and when it was time to work back stripping slack was almost automatic.

Hubert has really come up with a tool that will have a huge impact on tree climbing. There is a good chance that the variety of applications he is finding for the tube cam will be as pivotal as the introduction of synthetic rope and the Blake's hitch.

Tom
 
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