Preferred positioning lanyard length

[TLHamel]

What is your preferred length of positioning lanyard?

Do you have more than one complete lanyard setup? (i.e. one short and one long?).

When do you prefer to use a shorter positioning lanyard?

When do you prefer to use a longer positioning lanyard?

 

[TreeClimber17]

i have 3 diff sizes. short med. and a 15ft i keep on at all times i just keep some of it tied up behind me that way its always there if i neeed it.

 

[southsoundtree]

I use a 12' steel core a lot for removals, and often pruning just 'cause its handy.

I just got a close-out 20' piece of velocity to try.

I'll use a rope lanyard with a hitch on sketchy removals where I'm tied into another tree. Potential to cut it with a chainsaw if something were to go south, and can slip the hitch off the end of the rope when I take out the stopper knot, again, if things were to go south. Probably mostly for psychological help most of all... but if needed, its there.

 

[countryboypa31]

I have a 25' and a 10' Found that i was never using all of the 25' so i switched. I use the 10' for everything unless i can't get it around the spar on a big removal.

 

[TLHamel]

Thanks for the input everyone! Keep the poll and posts coming.

 

[BenR]

I have 3m rope lanyard, a 5m rope lanyard and a 3m steel core lanyard. At the moment I am using the 5m rope lanyard with a hitchclimber most. Saves pulling the tail of my rope up when advancing up the tree. It also means I don't have a loop of rope beneath like you would climbing off both ends of the rope.

 

[porcupine]

I use two lanyards. I have a 10 foot wire core with a beeline VT. And a 15 foot blaze one with a micrograb.
I just made a 20 foot one out of XTC, but has not been up in tree yet.
Damn this cold.

 

[Maui Palm & Tree Care]

i use a 5 meter for removals alot because i like doing the lanyard around the stem twice trick. also longer lanyards can double as a second climbing line when needed.

i use short ones alot for palms(pruning and removals). my short lanyards are usually steel core and 8-10 feet.

 

[whiz]

I have a 10' poison ivy lanyard custom spliced with a chrome snap like what would come with a Petzl Grillon (thanks J), and the same setup with 15' of blue streak that's really nice too. Both have a tenex eye n eye and I rock a vt. I used to connect it up (on the left) with a twist clevis twisted probably into the 3rd lockpoint. That is until I had the twist clevis open and deposit the components in my hand when I was making an adjustment. I was only in my lanyard at the moment and about 50' in the air. Good piece of equipment but I failed to inspect it. I switched out the clevis and replaced it with a DMM carabiner. Can't remember the name. I should inspect it. Now I've got about 5 clevises in the toolbox for my sailboat.

 

[Shawn]

I built a 30 foot out of samson prusik cord on a cinch, use it for everything.

 

[SingleJack]

30' HTP lanyard (DEDA per Tom D) - Distel/biner on each side
15' to each side - 30' to either side - or anything in between
Use it for everything - even as a short climb line

 

[PUClimber]

Whiz,
I know and you've got those killer thimbles on the PI lanyard you're rocking.

 

[whiz]

yea man they're sweet. I'll mail you one if you want bra.

 

[RyanCafferky]

I use a 10' Tachyon lanyard for most trees that I do. If a tree is larger diameter than that will work for, I have a 30' Tachyon lanyard with spliced eyes on both ends. The long lanyard is also what I use when pruning fruit trees or ornamentals that I don't need a full length climbing line for.

My favorite lanyard I ever had was a 8' lanyard made out of a sailing rope that Samson makes called Validator SKB (MBS 22,800).

http://www.samsonrope.com/index.cfm?ind=1&app=1&rope=95&inst=1

It was 1/2" diameter, flipped like a steel core lanyard but was light like rope. It had a very tight jacket so it was really resistant to picking, pitch, and abrasion. If it wasn't so damn expensive I would buy one of those in a heartbeat. Has anyone else ever made a lanyard out of this stuff?

 

[Northwind]

I have a 16' X 5/8" steel core with double-ended swivel snaps, running on a steel core prussic also with a swivel snap, and a micro-pulley for one-handed slack tending. If I get into a branchy conifer that I could pretty much free-climb, which we have tons and tons of, I pop the pulley off, centre the prussic and use it like two 8' lanyards for safeties as I go.

Yes, It's a heavy bugger, but there's nothing like a beefy steel core for flipping up the trunk of fat, rough barked Douglas Fir. It has it's place.

I don't always want that encumberance, so I have a 10' rope lanyard, 1/2" Samson ArborMaster with BeeLine eye2eye, VT/Williams/Petzl Fixe, Steel snap/thimble/Double Fisherman's/whipped. Nice light short work positioner.

Set up the same way, but with an unwhipped 'biner for ease of later removal, I have a 40' ArborMaster lanyard, really a second climbing system in a ditty bag that comes out on crazy long limbwalks, I'll sometimes set it where I'll need it on an overhead limb, come down and gather/ attach it for triangulation on the limb walk. Very handy on slippery, mossy, wet Garry Oaks we have around here, very similar in structure to the Live Oaks many of you have to the south.

I've tried the Petzl Grab on steelcores, really wanted to love it, I tend to get mesmerized by anodized chunks of billet aluminium, but found I needed to throw my weigh off of it to release slack, found that annoying. I do see a post here on the Buzz about grabs that release more easily, want to try them.

Same with alloy snaps on my rope lanyard, look great (so bright and shiney!) but for what a lanyard has to do: get tossed up over that, and come back down, the grams saved work against the function. At least for me.

Northwind

 

[southsoundtree]

Tried out my 20' velocity lanyard yesterday. Was great for using as a second climbline to position while limbwalking. Could use a few more feet at times maybe, but a close-out is a set length.

 

[RopeShield]

20'. My next one will be closer to 30'. Most of the rope is stuffed into a bag that cinches and with a draw cord that gets 1/2 wrapped on the rope so it stays a fixed length till I am needing more. Then I slide the draw cord along and pay out rope as I need it. Gets rid of the tail to a certain extent.

I always have the long and short in one bag, off the back right hip.


And when I want it shorter it stuffs back into the bag so it is tangle free. Best of both worlds!

16' wire core with micro-adjuster

12' grillon

 

[Maverick06]

I always used a micro-grab when I started climbing. Recently, however, I have started using a 4 coil prussic with a micropulley. I find the newer setup to be way better. I don't like that it is such a pain to let any rope out when I have my weight into the micro-grab.

 

[whiz]

Digging through some old gear I have, I came across 2 old micro-grabs. Made me think back a ways. They were the thing to have for quite some time. I liked that you could call Petzl and they'd send you a new cable type spring and hardware for free.

 

[JeffL]

I just made the swap to a friction hitch adjuster for my lanyard and never looking back!

Using that new ISC snap biner too, amazing. Going to the triple action snap was ......a snap!