to steel core or not to steel core

Not to beat a dead horse here however you keep mentioning "your" trees but being that you're 14 years old they're not your trees to be making the decision to spike for practice. As excited as I would be to see my 8, 13 or 16 year old children taking an interest in climbing I'd be more than a bit upset to find out they're needlessly spiking keeper trees on our property..

On subject I remember being in huge trouble one time with my father when I was about 6 years old for damaging a trees bark in our yard (he was in the industry at the time as well). I NEVER did that again. Didn't get an ass woopin but it was a big deal. I'm 34 and literally I still recall that memory all the time if that tells you how upset he was.
 
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Cereal_Killer said:
Not to beat a dead horse here however you keep mentioning "your" trees but being that you're 14 years old they're not your trees to be making the decision to spike for practice. As excited as I would be to see my 8, 13 or 16 year old children taking an interest in climbing I'd be more than a bit upset to find out they're needlessly spiking keeper trees on our property..

On subject I remember being in huge trouble one time with my father when I was about 6 years old for damaging a trees bark in our yard (he was in the industry at the time as well). I NEVER did that again. Didn't get an ass woopin but it was a big deal. I'm 34 and literally I still recall that memory all the time if that tells you how upset he was.
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my dad is fine with me using spikes on keeper trees, but NOT our nice trees, we have 5 acres and around 2.5-3 in thick forest, I can climb most of those without getting in trouble (I also avoid spiking the old growth trees, I want to keep those), I only spike the mostly dead trees, or ones that we are taking down soon anyways, and also, sounds like your dad either really liked that tree, or really didnt like you damaging it, either way, dont do that again lol
 
and im not going around to 50 different trees, im selecting the worse ones, ones that are dying, we are cutting down, or just the few we dont care about, I dont like spiking keeper trees, but im not going up a dead one for practice, id end up as the dead one eventually
 
My dad climbed for my grandpa when he was 10 years old, pruning trees in Ohio with Fanno hand saws... Yes, 10. He oftentimes recalls a memory of looking down from a tree and thinking that the people looked like ants because he was so high up. Also, memories of his dad telling clients, “He may be a child, but he’s no novice!”

What I’m getting at is - it’s cool hearing about someone taking such an interest in tree work at your age, but not being made to do it for work as a kid like my dad did. If you keep it up, you’ll be a great climber by the time you’re an adult.

Be safe.
 
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G00p said:
My dad climbed for my grandpa when he was 10 years old, pruning trees in Ohio with Fanno hand saws... Yes, 10. He oftentimes recalls a memory of looking down from a tree and thinking that the people looked like ants because he was so high up. Also, memories of his dad telling clients, “He may be a child, but he’s not novice!”

What I’m getting at is - it’s cool hearing about someone taking such an interest in tree work at your age, but not being made to do it for work as a kid like my dad did. If you keep it up, you’ll be a great climber by the time you’re an adult.

Be safe.
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thanks dude, im always looking for work from friends, most people think "Oh, hes a kid, he doesnt know what he is doing", but, (im not trying to make myself sound like a pro) I am not stupid, double tie in if there is a chance your lifeline can get cut, no flush cuts, dont climb on branch stubs, most importantly, use that grey matter between your ears, nothing will do a job better than your brain, if you cant do it in your head, this aint the job for you!
 
Don't climb on stubs?
If I'm climbing spurless without an overhead TIP, I cut them short, to be barely stand-able...1"ish, and only where I need them.
If they are feet-long, it's like climbing on an intact branch.

I'll climb little or large stubs over spurring a keeper tree.



Don't leave stubs.

Stubs can be a danger if fallen on to.
Jagged stubs can wear your rope.
 
southsoundtree said:
Don't climb on stubs?
If I'm climbing spurless without an overhead TIP, I cut them short, to be barely stand-able...1"ish, and only where I need them.
If they are feet-long, it's like climbing on an intact branch.

I'll climb little or large stubs over spurring a keeper tree.



Don't leave stubs.

Stubs can be a danger if fallen on to.
Jagged stubs can wear your rope.
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I think climbing on stubs is a general guideline, I do it anyways, only when I feel safe doing it tho, but, always make sure to test them prior to moving your body weight onto them, had one break on me, only about 1-2 ft off the ground, still scares ya some

also, I think its because if there is a branch stub, that you didnt cut the branch from i.e the branch snapped off, there may be a weak point/rot in it, for me, if I am climbing a tree with lots of broken stubs, im gonna inspect it before hand, to make sure its structurally sound enough to be in
 
Yes, inspect and test. Some stubs would hold huge loads; others can crumble right off.

Yesterday, I was end-weight reduction pruning, and definitely cleared off the potential spear-stub, in case I swung back at the fir's trunk.

Good on you for your initiative.
 
How about cutting a "split tail' off of that 21' blue streak, to make a Blake's hitch.


Idk, but you might try one less wrap on your Blake's hitch. Looks like 5, instead of 4.
Low and slow.

A split-tail Blake's may work with a diy wooden rope-wrench for SRS.
 
southsoundtree said:
How about cutting a "split tail' off of that 21' blue streak, to make a Blake's hitch.


Idk, but you might try one less wrap on your Blake's hitch. Looks like 5, instead of 4.
Low and slow.

A split-tail Blake's may work with a diy wooden rope-wrench for SRS.
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I would cut a split tail off, but, that rope is the hardest thing I think ive ever cut, even a brand new razor blade wouldnt cut it, I might make a hotwire at some point just for this
 
treesap said:
I would cut a split tail off, but, that rope is the hardest thing I think ive ever cut, even a brand new razor blade wouldnt cut it, I might make a hotwire at some point just for this
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Use electrical tape where you want to cut, then heat a knife before cutting. You can get it red-hot with a plumbers torch and it will melt as well as cut through the rope. I milked a blue moon down the other day and cut the end off, it took 2 reheats to get all the way through but worked well and melted the end of the rope to prevent fraying.
 
Jehinten said:
Use electrical tape where you want to cut, then heat a knife before cutting. You can get it red-hot with a plumbers torch and it will melt as well as cut through the rope. I milked a blue moon down the other day and cut the end off, it took 2 reheats to get all the way through but worked well and melted the end of the rope to prevent fraying.
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tried with a lighter, gonna try with a propane torch later, I have 45 ft of samson vortex, might use that for a split tail (So I dont cut my already short rope down)
 
Bob Bob said:
A slow cut with an angle grinder with a metal cutting blade works great too. Just make sure you electrical tape the cut area before cutting. This works really well for tough to cut tech cordage like ice tail and ultra-tech.
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good to know, I suppose Friction + heat (LOTS OF HEAT) = clean cut rope?
 
Bob Bob said:
A slow cut with an angle grinder with a metal cutting blade works great too. Just make sure you electrical tape the cut area before cutting. This works really well for tough to cut tech cordage like ice tail and ultra-tech.
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I have never tried this. I bet it's great. I'm always grinding things anyway.
 
dont. show. mom. your. tree. climbing. gear


not doing that again, spike didnt bite in (About 10 ft off the ground), aaaand I guess I can sell them now, since she doesnt like me using them
 
Now you're going to fine tune your hitch. The next step in your progression is to shift to smaller diameter hitch cord and tie a closed friction hitch. Both ends of the hitch will be terminated on a carabiner with a wide or large end to it.
 
Tom Dunlap said:
Brion Toss was the one who named the melted end of a rope a Butane Back Splice. If you just tape and cut...no melting...I call that termination a 3M Back Splice.
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and if I use my magical rope fraying powers to make a lawn out of the end of my rope, what is that called? (my powers are so strong, I dont even have to thing about fraying the end of the rope, it just happens out of the blue)
 
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