My one experience with spikes...I only remember going up.

[Winchman]

When I was in my early twenties, my brother-in-law was an Army paratrooper who loved to do show-and-tell. One time he brought home some climbing gear and spikes. He picked out a handy power pole to show off his skills. He soon had me geared up and on my way up the pole. The pole was covered with splinters from years of spiking, had barbed wire and brambles on one side at the base, and a sign part way up...the perfect setup for a novice.

There was no alcohol involved.

BIL was a great coach, and I was soon up to the cross-arm braces, having moved to the far side of the pole and around the sign in the process. I had to use a safety line above the sign while disconnecting the flipline to move it above the sign. No problems at all. Then he asked if I was ready to come down.

The next thing I remember is being on the ground with the climbing gear off. My wife and BIL are laughing hysterically, and promising to never tell anyone what had just happened. I was perfectly fine, not a scratch on me. Then they noticed the smear of creosote on my front tooth...more hysterical laughter.

I have no memory at all of coming down that pole. The incident became a legend for family gatherings. Mention spiking, and laughter erupts. But as far as I know, they never told anyone what happened, except for me having creosote on my tooth and a lapse of memory.

Sadly, both my first wife and BIL died young. I'll never know the full story, but you know as much as I do.

 

[Tom Dunlap]

Marv, who taught me to climb trees, was a lineman for NW Bell System. I climbed with spikes for the first years of my career.

He taught me to lean back and keep my knees away from the tree. That wasn't so hard, I'm a bit bow legged. He told me stories of his coworkers cutting out and sliding down poles. Their natural reaction was to hug the pole with arms and legs. Of course that lead to splinters. Many climbers ended up in surgery to dig out the splinters.

 

[Merle Nelson]

Practice. You have to practice during practice what you want to do in real life in stressful situations.

After finding two dead police officers post shoot out with shell casings neatly tucked into their shirt pocket they realized they had to have officers practice dropping casings on the ground during range day.

People using climbers should practice keeping their knees out and bodies away from the tree, when they do, not if they do, rip out.

 

[*useless info*]

L.U.C.K. Labor Under Controlled Knowledge
Fer some reason, seems the more ya practice, the luckier ya get!
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Buddy only burys cable now; used to tell about girl training on team when he first started working as pole climber. She gaffed out on pole and slid some. They took her to hospital with splinters thru her breasts. i showed him rope lanyard in Round Turn, hold loop open to travel as makeshift deadman safety, he really liked that over belt thing they use as lanyard. i was shown stiff legs, at angle, knees locked/outward for my 30second lesson in slow rain one day before going up. i had been climbing w/o gear after got off ladder into scaffolding of tree...
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In later years; i can't tell ya how many wannabe's strolled onto different worksites ready to climb with spikes, sometimes because i was being questioned about going to climb without'em; and the z/hero puts them on wrong/spikes outside to prove his point. Few even made it to tree, and were perplexed by why not working.. Guys with enough slack in climbing lines to hit ground was another popular sight.. Tree spikes are longer to pierce bark, but then easier to dull walking on concrete etc.
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i was always light enough to get away with pole spikes well set, except in like dead pine with bark sloughing off