Setups for children?

JeffL

JeffL

Location
Orange, MA
Just picked up a saddle for my 8 year old and going to bring him up in some nice low limbed noway maples in our yard. With the general lack of upper body strength young kids possess, what is a recommended setup for getting him in the tree and doing some ascending/descending? Want it to be enjoyable, not frustrating or scary.

Any input from those who have done climbs for young ones? Thanks!
 
Would you expect me to say anything but...SRT? :)

Like adult SRT the key to ease is making everything the right size/length.

Something that I do with all new climbers is to get them off the ground just a couple of feet, right in front of me where I can still assist them. They stop, sit in the system without climbing the tree. This gives them the confidence in the climbing system. Show them how they are going to be able to get down too. It might be easiest to have them on an ascent system and you belay them down instead of having them do a changeover for the first few climbs. This is where a trunk wrap/belay shines.

And...its hard for us techies to remember...its about the climb to novices not all of the shiny jingly gear ;)

Pictures required of course!
 
I set a friction saver and like Tom said keep it low at first where you can tweek the system before they get away from you. I use a Ddrt system with a fairlead and a Distel hitch. I avoit the v.t. and insist on the Distel, for uniformity, when more than one line is set. If they're going to be in the wide open I tie an "angel knot" so they don't have to hit the ground in an unforseen event. I also connect a micro-pulley above their hitch. I tie a length of throwline into the becket so if I have to I can break their hitch and belay the falling part of their line if they freak and can't decend...or they try taking all day up there.
 
I've had my girlfriend's niece and nephew in a tree and they loved it. I set them up in a DRT system with a distel hitch and a HC pulley. I was with them in the tree, on the Wrench, of course, to help them out. They seemed to handle the slack tending pretty well, a bit to my surprise. There were times in which I was above them, handling some of the working side of the line as they first learned to tail, but it didn't take long before they had it figured out. Niece is 12, nephew is 8.
 
Ideas- make the system self-tending by positionig the friction hitch of your choice at about eye level so all down pull is below the self-advancing hitch. Add a foot loop(s) so they can stand up; push up; sit down; pull up.
 
I set it up in the basement with just a micro pulley and 3 wrap distel, took to it really quick. Will be slow going, but he was actually able to pull himself up and tend the slack, incorporation of a foot loop should make it a breeze, he was pretty stoked. Sweet!

And i played a little with my new rope wrench......even sweeter. :-D
 
My wife and I do some traverse lines for kids too. They're gear intensive but man what a blast. Our youngest last year was not yet 3 years old and did very well.
 
For the Kids climb that SSA puts on for homecoming I setup a simple closed system with a blakes hitch. Some of them could pull themselves up but for the ones that couldn't I took a loop runner with a klemheist. Then they would sit and stand in a way. Just like others have mentioned. I also had a base tie so that they could be lowered if need be. I have their climb line on a micropulley.
 
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For the Kids climb that SSA puts on for homecoming I setup a simple closed system with a blakes hitch. Some of them could pull themselves up but for the ones that couldn't I took a loop runner with a klemheist. Then they would sit and stand in a way. Just like others have mentioned. I also had a base tie so that they could be lowered if need be. I have their climb line on a micropulley.

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Good stuff. A double footloop is excellent for kids, gives them all the power they need to climb. Blake's is good, pretty easy for them to understand and operate. Any time I send a kid up on rope I have my rope in the tree so I can go up and bring them down if anything comes up, for example a kid can easily become frightened at some point in the climb and "forget" what they knew on the ground. Lowering system is fine but probably more than you really need for a kid.

You have to put slip knots in the running end periodically as they go up. Kids all the way up to teenagers can suddenly pull down the hitch with both hands and fly to the ground. I've seen it happen several times, luckily no injuries. A directional slip knot (locks if the hitch hits it from above) solves the problem. I believe Tom Dunlap invented that safety technique. A teenager who'd climbed with me many times and "proved" he understood the system did this and was saved from ground impact by catching his leg on a limb, rope was partially melted in the hitch with ony 10 ft. of "free fall". I asked him why he pulled the hitch without belaying the tail and he said he had no idea why. That's a teenager for you.

For really young kids in the 5-6 year-old range I put a mini-biner just above the hitch and tether it with a throwline. That way I can belay the tail with one hand and simply pull down the hitch remotely when I want them to come down. Just be careful when you load up the throwline that it's clear of their face etc. The other thing you can do for kids in this age range is simply haul them up on a DdRT system, all they need to do is push up the hitch each time you pull down on the running end. You'll yell "push up the hitch" quite a few times during the ascent but it's worth it, they feel like they're doing something (they are). For that age range it's difficult for them to stay focused working the entire system themselves. Mileage varies per kid.
-AJ
 
Good thread. I've been climbing with my 8 yr. old as well, been putting him on a ddrt with a ringed false crotch or the pulleysaver and he manages to pull himself up. Granted, it takes alot of time. I usually attach an anchor at the base and run the tail through a pulley or biner and belay him without being directly underneath. The key is to set the hitch short enough for his puny arms to reach.

He performed his first aerial rescue the other day saving T-Rex I had pulled up with a throw-line. Also been working on the modified body thrust (footlocking tail). Tried footloops with him, but he does better without. My niece is a total natural and could climb 40-50 feet within a couple minutes using ddrt at 9 yrs. old.
 
An additional level of safety beyond the slippery hitch is once the climber passes the 6 foot mark lash the down rope to a band secured around the base of the tree. That way if they take a screamer they will have a sudden stop just before the ground instead of a impact. Jam the knot and their ticket to climb is revoked for the day. Carrot and the Stick.
 
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He performed his first aerial rescue the other day saving T-Rex I had pulled up with a throw-line.

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This is great I love this. I will keep this in mind when I am blessed with a little one.
 
Ya I'm with Casey, that's cool! Now its time to make a game with that one!
grin.gif
thanks for the thread, as usual its lots of knowledge so I can use! It's funny some people get bummed having to do kid climbs at the geezers, arborday, ect, but I love it! It's cool to pass the torch, by way of teaching what I learned and i love the excitement that newbie's have from the climb!
 
Hey Tom, I climb SRT with the wrench, pantin, etc. or RADS with a footloop sometimes. Never really developed a solid frog system or anything. What do you suggest?
 
When my boys have gotten nervous about things, I make sure to find a good perch and plop them onto my knee and slack their rope a bit. They are still to young to realize that the rope is roughly 1000x stronger than Dad, but it works with their psychology. It turns the climb into more of a hang-out and look around at stuff. I would say peaceful, except some bozo will always be pushing some poor leaf back and forth across his yard with a ******* backback blower.

I've kept the boys on a long tail-tied setup with the knot out of their reach, works to my liking. Also use your foot ascender to haul on their line when there aren't enough branches for them to grab.

-Ryan
 
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