Lanyard twist?

Thanks, Swingdude. If he lives in Chesapeake, Va., then he's across the bay from me. I'm on the Eastern Shore (DelMarVa peninsula)...a narrow peninsula with the Ches Bay to the west and the ocean to the east...

ETA: Thanks for the reply Toomuchsawdust ... if you ever want a noobie to help do some grunt work in exchange for watching you work so I can learn, let me know! (I'm about 45 miles north of the CBBT.) I have most of the equip I need, just need to know how to use it!
 
Woodwork said:
Thanks, Swingdude. If he lives in Chesapeake, Va., then he's across the bay from me. I'm on the Eastern Shore (DelMarVa peninsula)...a narrow peninsula with the Ches Bay to the west and the ocean to the east...

ETA: Thanks for the reply Toomuchsawdust ... if you ever want a noobie to help do some grunt work in exchange for watching you work so I can learn, let me know! (I'm about 45 miles north of the CBBT.) I have most of the equip I need, just need to know how to use it!
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We could always meet somewhere and rec. I think a solid foundation of climbing spikeless is essential. Its relatively easy to walk up a trunk and strip out limbs, but to to it safely requires some rope and knot work. Or if you want to come out on a removal day I'd definitely pay you to come work an teach at the same time. I've done that with a few people and it works great.
 
Woodwork said:
JeffGu,
Thank you for the detailed reply. I appreciate your taking the time.
Tree I used is about a 10" DBH red maple on some forested land I own and plan to partially timber eventually, so I was careful to choose a trash tree to use (will continue using same tree, mostly)...eventually the maple will become firewood. Didn't want to touch the oaks, hickories, poplars, loblolly pines, etc. Got lots of sweet gum though, when I'm ready to move to bigger trees.
Yesterday, I just focused on going up maybe 12' and then back down. This is all new to me. Wanted to try to develop some muscle memory and rhythm going in sequence of events – step up, tend/raise distel, step up, tend distel, raise lanyard, etc. Also going down – slip distel with left hand while belaying climbing rope against hip with right hand, then dig in spurs, then unload lanyard, then lower lanyard, then slip distel down some more, etc.
At first, I thought, "This is unbelievably difficult!" with spurs, but I slowly got the hang of it. Still don't know about pulling myself up with DRT. Not sure I could do that (age 54, maybe 170# and 5'9") but my rope saver wasn't working (I was using a plastic wire conduit, but it pulled out of crotch – last night I boiled it so I could put a permanent bend in it) so that was adding to my friction.
Anyway, this looks like the best forum on the topic I've found, so I hope to learn a lot. Hope not to bug you guys too much with the basics ...
Thanks again.
Jeff
ETA: Tom, thanks for your reply. Lanyard is a Yale Maxi-Flip I bought about 12 yrs ago and haven't used since then. It's steel core wire rope with braided cover...I think...my terminology is not up to par, probably, yet...
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Hey just in case some one didn't mention this, when you are using spurs in trees, typically when learning, the smaller the diameter the spar the harder they are to get balanced on, that causes muscle strain. Eventually when you get the feel of it it isn't as hard. The opposite is also true, once you get past 30" in diameter then movement becomes a bit more challenging. I feel the sweet spot for comfort is the 12" zone for most beginners and me personally! If you are using a twisted rope lanyard maybe try connecting the fixed end without a swivel? The swivel may be enhancing the rope lay combined with rolling it on the spar? If you go to wire core they are pretty much twist free, but not as supple to use. Nor as versatile especially for recreational climbers.
 
After posting this I see you are using a wire core, if you are doing the movement properly there is little chance of twist being imparted. Both hands, slight pull towards the tree and flip both sides up at the same time. In a big tree, I mean bigger than 36" you will need a long flippie and and a new technique called western roll. But that's for another day. 12" tree and practice until you fell confident that your equipment is stronger than you. Just so you know this... properly attached every part of your harness and flip line is more than capable of ripping you clean in half and still not break. So trust it is strong enough to do the job.
 
Good stuff guys.

Stephen, that's good news to me about skinny trees being more difficult. The tree I chose to sacrifice to the spurs was a red maple maybe 7" DBH. So maybe a bigger tree (within reason) will be easier for me.

Toomuchsawdust, I'm using a homemade prusik loop for lanyard length adjuster. Would like to use some other bi-directional friction hitch for that, because the prusik seems to jam bad. (Needs to be bi-directional because I use both ends of the lanyard to get around branches...) This afternoon after getting sap on stuff, I had to "break loose" the prusik to move it, and even then it was murder to move it along the lanyard. (On top rope I use a piece of Bee-Line and a distel hitch, but didn't use a top rope today.)

I've also got a rope cam adjuster gadget that either came with the Yale Maxi-Flip, or I bought it and put it on (I forget, it was 12 yrs ago that I bought the lanyard) but the cam thing is also super tight on the Maxi-Flip lanyard, and it only works in one direction, so I took it off and went with the prusik loop...not a big gadget guy, as my budget is limited and this stuff is expensive just to cover the bases minimally, it seems, without adding X gadgets at $$$$$ each...
 
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Woodwork said:
Good stuff guys.

Stephen, that's good news to me about skinny trees being more difficult. The tree I chose to sacrifice to the spurs was a red maple maybe 7" DBH. So maybe a bigger tree (within reason) will be easier for me.

Toomuchsawdust, I'm using a homemade prusik loop for lanyard length adjuster. Would like to use some other bi-directional friction hitch for that, because the prusik seems to jam bad. (Needs to be bi-directional because I use both ends of the lanyard to get around branches...) This afternoon after getting sap on stuff, I had to "break loose" the prusik to move it, and even then it was murder to move it along the lanyard. (On top rope I use a piece of Bee-Line and a distel hitch, but didn't use a top rope today.)

I've also got a rope cam adjuster gadget that either came with the Yale Maxi-Flip, or I bought it and put it on (I forget, it was 12 yrs ago that I bought the lanyard) but the cam thing is also super tight on the Maxi-Flip lanyard, and it only works in one direction, so I took it off and went with the prusik loop...not a big gadget guy, as my budget is limited and this stuff is expensive just to cover the bases minimally, it seems, without adding X gadgets at $$$$$ each...
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Yes a slightly bigger stem will be much easier to balance on for you. Flip line cams are only supposed to lock one way. Many folks, including myself, typically run a wire core and a rope adjustable with either a cam lock or prusik, I was using the Captain hook today with a progress capture setup that includes a croll, rock exotica rock o, DMM hitch climber pulley, a CMI mini pulley, a hand tied VT and a RE Pirate biner- all basically in a MA chain that could easily be used as a cheater in an SRT set up. In this example I used it to traverse from one tree to another. The combinations of gear that can be put together is bewildering and needs to be carefully thought out and rehearsed.
 
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