Rescue scenario chat

[colb]

Colb- Thank you for the feedback! It may be that I haven’t found a good way to do this type of rescue. The hard part is finding a way to practice different setups. I have tried the hitch rescue and it works pretty well.
basically install friction saver, spliced eye clips to climber and throw the chicane in for additional friction, take up slack, counter balance and undo his lanyard and send him down. The only issue is it leaves me only on lanyard and half of a balanced drt system. ( I suppose a long sling girthed on trunk or spare lanyard cinched would give a piece of mind backup.


I use hitch climber and beeline or a zigzag
Rope access kit is totally separate set of gear.
Thanks again for taking the time to respond!

What is wrong with you being on half of a balanced drt system? Unless the log/stuck person is a fraction of your weight, you ought to do okay...

 

[ghostice]

Hmmm. This may sound dumb but whatever "system" that we dream up that's in that "red" bag should probably be thought through and bits rated for two people - like the D4 which is v.s. most of our climbing gear bits (which aren't). I get back to Richard Hattiers rescue video on Treestuff/ YouTube all the time (he did the same in person up here a year or two ago). Maybe worth it to go back and have a watch of this and see if something new a la SPRAT pops up for your own systems? Might something work? Probably. Is it designed pour deux - Hmmm. My 2 cents this AM.

 

[Dan Cobb]

Is it no problem to slack a chain lanyard with a 300 lb person hanging on it? I'm totally unfamiliar with chain lanyards. I'm picturing a short upward haul to slack a lanyard that doesn't have a "releaseable under load" adjuster.

 

[Jonny]

Chain lanyard... like steel link chain?
Jeez. Maybe keep a couple batteries and a sawzall or angle grinder in that rescue pack.

I’m so glad the only palms around here are in shopping malls. Come to think of it, I haven’t seen a shopping mall in a while either...

 

[Lemonjello]

Chain lanyard... like steel link chain?
Jeez. Maybe keep a couple batteries and a sawzall or angle grinder in that rescue pack.

I’m so glad the only palms around here are in shopping malls. Come to think of it, I haven’t seen a shopping mall in a while either...

Yep, it is interesting seeing some of these old school coco. They literally flip up then let the chain loop drop slack and spike down

 

[Stumpsprouts]

Wow what a tough question

This is a bit of a curveball, but when I was in Maui I hung w an arborist who was getting into spikeless palm work using modified hunting platforms that clamp around the stem. That was a few years ago, maybe that was a passing fad? It would certainly change everything about your scenario.

also you mentioned the company that hires you pays by the tree. I’d put that as a factor on the job hazard form!

There’s a very lengthy description and some photos (one which I attached) of a company in Maui (not the fellow I had met) at https://www.mauispikelesspalmtrimming.com/the-spikeless-method/

 

[Lemonjello]

Wow what a tough question

This is a bit of a curveball, but when I was in Maui I hung w an arborist who was getting into spikeless palm work using modified hunting platforms that clamp around the stem. That was a few years ago, maybe that was a passing fad? It would certainly change everything about your scenario.

also you mentioned the company that hires you pays by the tree. I’d put that as a factor on the job hazard form!

There’s a very lengthy description and some photos (one which I attached) of a company in Maui (not the fellow I had met) at https://www.mauispikelesspalmtrimming.com/the-spikeless-method/

Yep I checked them out. I have a set of Swiss climbers I picked not too long ago for spikeless trims. Takes a bit of getting used to. As an aside, did you watch the video?they too just lanyard in and cinch lanyard when at the crown…

 

[Stumpsprouts]

they too just lanyard in and cinch lanyard when at the crown…

Right! The whole setup is so strange. I was thinking maybe you could use that as part of a rescue kit, easier to reach above a climber and set up a repel line. But that might just make things more complicated.

 

[oceans]

Your experience is obviously very deep in rope access rescue in general. I'm sensing that tree-specific rescue is something where you're 4/5ths the way there, while your palm + non-tree experience is advancing our community like @Dan Cobb notes.

For your consideration:

1. On spar rescue technique is possible with a single line that passes through a friction saver and has two ends hanging down, enabling the rescuer to counterweight themselves and the rescuee on the respective ends. @oceans is a great teacher of this technique and may be its originator. If you climb using a doubled rope system, this may be intuitive to set up. Obviously, you have to cinch the friction saver tightly when faced with a smooth and feature-sparse single trunk. A mid-line knot like the alpine butterfly can help make an srt version of this where both ends of the line pass through a Quickie shackle that is attached to the eye of the knot, or somesuch (girth hitched speedline snap but it's rigging kit so don't, etc.).

2. Are you using a tree-specific multicender? I get the feeling that, like many of us, you have co-opted gear from another rope access discipline into your tree work. I support you doing so, and also suggest that avoiding an up/down changeover at the tie in point saves time and is usually safer. I'm sure that you can work with a descender/ascender system, or a descender/spike system, and spikes are probably fastest for real rescues.

3. Leaning trunk wood can be difficult to negotiate. I find myself taking such circumstances one at a time. I'll try to get an overhead tie in point, but will sometimes spike underneath, or spike underneath and transition back atop using a spikecender, or (worst case...) do the inchworm. Also, rarely take a 10 foot section of rope, choke it to the spar, and use my foot ascender to advance. This is good for freshly dead hardwoods where the outer wood is case hardened and will not reliably take a spike.

At days end, you'll need to hump that log aloft a bit more to figure it all out. We'd really like updates.

Thanks for hitting me up, Colb! I remember when Mac and I pulled that one off in Charlotte, I think...or was it Baltimore? Anyhow, I felt bad after the fact that I sent Mac’s spikes down to the stage. Pretty sure they were ok.

Perhaps a vid should be made of that. I just remember, for a while, there was some tension with some folks in Detroit and some folks over the pond. I was like “imma use boff all y’all’s stuff on this one!” I do love that technique. I also love @SoftBankHawks ’s efforts on the subject, which focus more on the work environment and less on particular gear or techniques. Just gotta have something in the bag.