It appears I don't need to tie my base anchor...

Winchman · Nov 30, 2019

One more comment about Samson Voyager. Isn't that a truly inspired name? The idea of having the epitome of strength take you somewhere special just captures the imagination. There may be better climbing ropes, but there's no better name for a climbing rope.

Winchman · Dec 1, 2019

Here's the dead wood I cut out of the tree this morning.

I had to go almost block-to-block on the 3:1 to reach the highest dead limb, and the carabiner forced the lower pulley into contact with the ZZ release. That's an unpleasant surprise, so I'm going back to the short loop of hitch cord with the two thimbles. I made it a little shorter with a better alignment between the thimbles to give best possible clearance, and checked it out under full load.

My wife is really warming up to my climbing. There's at least a dozen good trees in the yard, and she can watch me climb from several places in the house. She worried a bit early on, but that's gone away. Her first husband was a Marine Corp helicopter pilot who also raced dirt bikes, so climbing probably seems pretty safe in comparison.

Mowerr · Dec 1, 2019

moss said:
Absolutely, I had a Mr. Bingham wrench prototype built out of a piece of white ash I think somewhere around that time but was completely confused by it ;-) I'd tried a Unicender but didn't like it. Picky picky.

For that setup I just switched to DdRT once I got where I was going, hitch was already on the rope.
-AJ

Look at all those redundant back ups! This man will not fall!
I remember coming across these pics on Google...thank you for your content bud. Always helpful.

moss · Dec 1, 2019

Mowerr said:
Look at all those redundant back ups! This man will not fall!
I remember coming across these pics on Google...thank you for your content bud. Always helpful.

Thx Mowerr! I was taking two newbies climbing on a nice American Beech in the spring woods. I'm trailing their two NE Ropes Fly DdRT systems, my attachments to the rope are a hitch and the handled ascender, chest roller is just to hold me up so I don't need to use my left arm. At the time I was following what were normal protocols for SRT, two life support attachment points to the rope. Nowadays we don't do that anymore ;-)
-AJ

southsoundtree · Dec 1, 2019

A base-tie rescue system, in the TB Articles section, is very easy, and advisable for her to learn, and practice with dummy hoisted up, not you.

JeffGu · Dec 1, 2019

southsoundtree said:
...practice with dummy hoisted up...

Maybe he was the only dummy that volunteered?

southsoundtree · Dec 1, 2019

Dumb like like a log...really, anything that will overcome the braking power of the friction on the tree.

JeffGu · Dec 1, 2019

It would be lots more fun if you used a 35-lb. raccoon, or a bag of cats, or something. But, that's just me. Looking for cheap thrills and entertainment at a boring rescue training session. I don't think I could sit through one without something stronger than the weak coffee they always serve.

Mowerr · Dec 7, 2019

moss said:
Thx Mowerr! I was taking two newbies climbing on a nice American Beech in the spring woods. I'm trailing their two NE Ropes Fly DdRT systems, my attachments to the rope are a hitch and the handled ascender, chest roller is just to hold me up so I don't need to use my left arm. At the time I was following what were normal protocols for SRT, two life support attachment points to the rope. Nowadays we don't do that anymore ;-)
-AJ

Yea I remember them protocols, I know what u mean. I was just playin