Kid had a hoot with dad in his first climb. I wasn't sure how he'd react when the time came. We carried our gear over to a nice limby Red maple, and he decided it was a good time to play in the sandbox. Figuring he would warm up to it I climbed up to set our lines, and by the time I was on the ground he was all fired up and ready to go.
Good lesson on expectations regarding kids. I guessed he would tighten up once his weight was in his rope, but all he wanted was to go up! We ended up about 25' up, where he sat in my lap and we looked at leaves and birds for about another 15 minutes. My wife couldn't pick who had the biggest smile. Logan says to me, "Dad, you're just like Paul Bunyan!" (with Felco #2's), and I says to he,"no Logan, YOU are like Paul Bunyan", which seems to be about the biggest compliment one can pay to my 3 year old.
Anyway, despite my constant tendency to over-complicate rigging, I kept it simple and it worked well. Logan didn't really climb, but was more or less hauled up on his own basic tail-tied system. I Blake's hitched the tail extra long so the hitch stayed beyond his reach.
The only thing I'd do differently is to switch friction devices. I put his line through the old leather hose, and mine through the rings. He's only 40 lbs., but that doesn't haul up very well from below, I think I wasn't explaining well enough that he was climbing, not just going for a ride. Maybe next time through the rings I'll haul the lump up a bit easier.
I'll try to get some pictures posted soon. For clarity I'm the guy with the beard, he has a bit of a resemblance.
Take care,
Ryan.
