Spiking Question

R

RexMan

Location
NE Ohio
I've been spiking for the last couple of days and the inside of my shins are killing me. I'm used to climbing w/ rope more than w/ spikes. My question is do you guys have one pair of shoes/boots that you wear for everything or do you switch for different jobs? I'm going to look into heavier pads for my spikes, hoping that will help. I wear 10" high rocky rangers now. Any input will be helpful.
 
check the height of the shank, should be roughly 2 fingers under the round bone on the inside of your knee, ROUGHLY.

boots make all the difference. you want a heel, and a steel shank. i prefer Wescos for the long days doing manual removals. Asolos the rest of the time.
 
Yeah, two fingers below the knee to my black and blue marks. I wear the spikes tight as hell, but there supposed to be that way right. I've also been climbing alot of deadwood, really kicking in hard. I was thinking about a pair of wesco's. How's the break-in on those?
 
I wear mine fairly tight, not super tight though. That gets unco9mfy, I like to be able to move my foot a bit and have circulation.

Keep you r gaffs sharp, and no problem when stepping in.

wesco's are like any other good quality boot 2-4 weeks fo rfull break in. They are handmade still, and require frequent oiling to keep them top notch. a custom pair with insulation will run yo uin to the $500 range easily. Well worth every penny!

I wear Asolo Powermatic 500's, best hiker I have owned for work so far. http://www.asolo.com/eng/prod_det.php?area=2&catid=4&itemid=20



Taitree, clear your PM's, I cant send a reply to you!
 
Kicking hard wood is rough, especially if you don't spike regularly. I get a little sore after a few days of steady spiking but never bruised. Something sounds wrong.

The key to happiness is spikes that don't move around on your leg. Some people hate irons and L-pads but that's what I use. Some people love Geckos but I can't wear'em, they just hurt because they don't form to my legs.
 
I have the new Antecs (Axxess?), which are similar to Geckos, but less $, and I don't think there's a carbon fiber option. I have worn them about five times now, and each time I forgot to wear my taller work boots, and only had hikers on. They are still super comfortable! Blinky, I'm the opposite of you... I couldn't even get comfortable in my Buckinghams with the expensive velcro retrofit pads, but the Antecs mold right to my leg.

One of the complaints people have about the new molded plastic styles is durability, so we'll see how they hold up. I had problems with the hi-tech Bucky pads (the guide for the shaft blew out), so nothing's perfect, to each their own.

-Tom
 
Rexman,
If I recall J. Beranak calls this "climber kickback", a result from your climber pads not being rigid enough to prevent the leg irons from staying in place. Also check your frame height. Like BB said two fingers below your knee should suffice. What happens is your shins are taking all the force of the shanks when the leg irons kickback. You really want to transfer that load to just below the knee. Check General Fundamentals of Tree Work, Chapter 8, page 90. Jerry explains fitting of leg irons and pads. I have personally found that boot height is not as important as boot shanks...I guess it is all personal preference. Good Luck.
 
I’m thinking of getting a seperate pair of boots for spiking, because my new Asolo fugitives don’t have enough protection over my ankle bone. I’m thinking of going back to a pair of Chippies for spiking and the asolos for pruning. I also use the flat plate on the bottom of my spike to distribute the weight better.
 
Have you tried the shank pads sold by weaver? I got bruises on the insides of my ankles too, and every step up the tree was painful as heck. I bought those pads and they help separate that leg iron off my ankles. I had cut the funnels a bit on the pads to get them to slide down next to my ankles, all is good now, almost five years later.
 
I have Klien aluminum short gaffs and a pair of buckingham steel long gaffs. The kliens are much more comfortable to spike with, guessing because of the shorter spikes. They both have L pads and both are adjusted right. I'm thinking what happened is on my first job 3 days ago my top straps weren't tight enough. I had to go up a red maple that had been dead for 2 1/2 years. My legs didn't hurt until I got home that evening. The subsequent days... just nasty pain. I'm off today so maybe I just need time to heal?
 
The location of the pain is diagnostic for the problem. Your shins hurt, but not your ankles and feet. So this is not likely a boot problem but a pad problem.

None of the soft pads will work. They must have a reinforcement of some type to stabilize the spur shank, which in turn maintains proper gaff angle. The most comfortable, without bells and whistles, are the steel reinforced pads. Most leg conformations will require the angled pad, not the straight pad.

This simple and inexpensive addition to a set of spurs can make a world of difference to your comfort and efficiency.

Dave
 
i wear hiking boots for pruning and climbing in general and chippewas for spiking but even after a long time standing on spikes my insoles start to bother me.
 
I agree with Dave, bent shank spikes with stiffeners in the top pads. Once I spent the money on this setup the soreness in my legs/shins is a thing of the past.

Try moving the top parts of the shanks up or down one hole at a time. Too many people don't have them adjusted correctly and the tops will dig/rub on your bone. A bone injury will take a long time to heal and be very painful.

My favorite place for the tops is right below where my knee starts to flare. Think of the trunk/root flare upside down and keep the shank on the trunk :)
 
Thanks for the info guys. I always wonderd if i had my spikes ajusted wright. I had the same problem with the spikes digging into the side of my calf. It's amazing how may years i have climbed like this, i guess this is what keeps me in to tree's you learn something new everyday. I did a sick removal today, were i had to driftline all the limbs and wood away from the house. the tree was six inches away from the house and at the base there was a Slate patio and the LIsland sound was 10 ft from me. what a Beautiful day
 
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