What's In Your Gear Bag?? TCIA wants to know!

Tree Care Industry Assoc.

Tree Care Industry Assoc.

Location
Manchester
We know climbers love their gear and that no two setups are exactly the same.

From your favorite spikes to your climbing systems, from your helmet to your harness, all the swivels, pulleys, carabiners, snaps and plates – what’s your go-to when you take to the trees? And why?

TCI Magazine is putting the spotlight on climbers in our upcoming “What’s in Your Gear Bag” feature in our summer Climbing and Rigging edition.

Click here to submit!
 
My gear for almost all pruning. A few modest size removals. No big removals.

Primary gear - stacked in the bag in order of how it comes out/gets used:

*Helmet. Had been a Petzl Vertex vent for many years (multiple helmets, same model). Switched to a Kask Super Plasma that broke in 4 months. Now a Green Devil Mervex Vent at 1/3 of the cost and so far works great.
*90' 1.75mm dyneema throw line with 12 oz and 14 oz weights
*90' rope (currently Yale Imori). I like a shorter piece that works for most climbs so I'm not dragging out and putting away as much rope each time.
*Dan House rope sleeve
*Monkey Beaver 2 harness with suspenders
*Lanyard with ART Positioner II and ISC Swivel carabiner on on the end

On the harness:
*Have been using ISC Reflex for last 2 months. It was a Unicender for several years before that. Mostly climbing MRS.
*That is attached to the bridge with a carabiner connected to a swivel (which is probably no longer necessary with the built-in swivel on the Reflex).
*Silky Sugoi hand saw
*A few loop slings and non-locking carabiners for lowering pieces - girth hitch pieces and lower. Faster in the tree. Simple for the ground person to undo and send back up.
*A heavier duty sling and locking carabiner in case I need a redirect or life support-approve tie into the tree.
*Shembiner for the occasion a chainsaw is needed
*I put a "webbing bridge" across the back that the chainsaw lanyard gets clipped into so it can be used on either side of my body easily without stretching across.
*Almost never used folding pocket knife

That gets me through probably 75% of my climbs. But not all of them, so on standby:
*Silky Tsurugi - straight blade. Fits in tighter spots so use it on "those" trees.
*Milwaukee top handle chainsaw
*150' rope (currently Teufelberger Tachyon)
*200' rope (currently All Gear Cherry Bomb)
*CT Quick Step foot ascender. Only one I've ever had. It works!
*Climbing Innovations SAKA Mini and HAAS Velox knee ascenders - I switch between the 2. Don't have a clear preference.
*Rope wrench and 8mm Beeline eye & eye (and Hitch Climber pulley). I used the hitch cord and pulley before Unicender for all climbs. Preferred the cord/pulley/wrench when climbing SRS over the Unicender. Now prefer the Reflex for both MRS and SRS.
*Notch Quickie for setting canopy anchor when climbing SRS.

For almost all rigging, I used the aforementioned slings and non-locking carabiners and 3/8" Stable Braid. For bigger pieces, will switch to 5/8" Stable Braid...but I like the lighter stuff. So much easier to work with and plenty strong for what we are doing. Usually just run it through another carabiner. Sometimes a CT pulley. Recent favorite friction device is a Scarab. Super small and versatile. Perfect for light duty rigging when you just need a little extra friction...it'll easily handle anything a 3/8" rope will handle. Also have a Port-a-Wrap on an ultra sling I made out of 3/4" Tenex TEC. That's good for that rare larger piece.

I have 2 pair of spikes. Don't even know what they are. They haven't left the barn in probably 3 years.
 
The above is the climbing bag. Then there is the "tree tool" bag:
*Felco #13 pruners
*AM Leonard soil knife
*Root saw
*Bolt cutters for taking wire cages off of B&B trees
*Folding utility knife
*Plastic faced mallet for sounding trees
*Chisels for stem girdling roots
*Oscillating saw - also for stem girdling roots
*Sawzall - mostly for stem girdling roots, but also misc. cutting tasks
*Corona hand pruners (still pretty good, but cheaper to use on roots...don't be putting my felcos in the dirt!)
*Sharpening tool for pruners
*Grease for the pruners
*Tools to disassemble and adjust pruners (and pole pruners).

Not in that bag, but also on the truck:
*Silky Hatate pole saw
*Marvin pole pruner
*Recently purchased the Milwaukee chainsaw on a stick. I've resisted a chainsaw on a stick for a long time as the Silky does a great job. I think it is safer and leaves a better cut most of the time. However, with a big project doing some clearance pruning for park trees along their roads, its been useful on bigger branches that are low enough to reach. It won't have a permanent place on the truck, but glad to have it when it could help.
 
ATH said:
My gear for almost all pruning. A few modest size removals. No big removals.

Primary gear - stacked in the bag in order of how it comes out/gets used:

*Helmet. Had been a Petzl Vertex vent for many years (multiple helmets, same model). Switched to a Kask Super Plasma that broke in 4 months. Now a Green Devil Mervex Vent at 1/3 of the cost and so far works great.
*90' 1.75mm dyneema throw line with 12 oz and 14 oz weights
*90' rope (currently Yale Imori). I like a shorter piece that works for most climbs so I'm not dragging out and putting away as much rope each time.
*Dan House rope sleeve
*Monkey Beaver 2 harness with suspenders
*Lanyard with ART Positioner II and ISC Swivel carabiner on on the end

On the harness:
*Have been using ISC Reflex for last 2 months. It was a Unicender for several years before that. Mostly climbing MRS.
*That is attached to the bridge with a carabiner connected to a swivel (which is probably no longer necessary with the built-in swivel on the Reflex).
*Silky Sugoi hand saw
*A few loop slings and non-locking carabiners for lowering pieces - girth hitch pieces and lower. Faster in the tree. Simple for the ground person to undo and send back up.
*A heavier duty sling and locking carabiner in case I need a redirect or life support-approve tie into the tree.
*Shembiner for the occasion a chainsaw is needed
*I put a "webbing bridge" across the back that the chainsaw lanyard gets clipped into so it can be used on either side of my body easily without stretching across.
*Almost never used folding pocket knife

That gets me through probably 75% of my climbs. But not all of them, so on standby:
*Silky Tsurugi - straight blade. Fits in tighter spots so use it on "those" trees.
*Milwaukee top handle chainsaw
*150' rope (currently Teufelberger Tachyon)
*200' rope (currently All Gear Cherry Bomb)
*CT Quick Step foot ascender. Only one I've ever had. It works!
*Climbing Innovations SAKA Mini and HAAS Velox knee ascenders - I switch between the 2. Don't have a clear preference.
*Rope wrench and 8mm Beeline eye & eye (and Hitch Climber pulley). I used the hitch cord and pulley before Unicender for all climbs. Preferred the cord/pulley/wrench when climbing SRS over the Unicender. Now prefer the Reflex for both MRS and SRS.
*Notch Quickie for setting canopy anchor when climbing SRS.

For almost all rigging, I used the aforementioned slings and non-locking carabiners and 3/8" Stable Braid. For bigger pieces, will switch to 5/8" Stable Braid...but I like the lighter stuff. So much easier to work with and plenty strong for what we are doing. Usually just run it through another carabiner. Sometimes a CT pulley. Recent favorite friction device is a Scarab. Super small and versatile. Perfect for light duty rigging when you just need a little extra friction...it'll easily handle anything a 3/8" rope will handle. Also have a Port-a-Wrap on an ultra sling I made out of 3/4" Tenex TEC. That's good for that rare larger piece.

I have 2 pair of spikes. Don't even know what they are. They haven't left the barn in probably 3 years.
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I climb on a tree austria pro. I like the suspenders for that saddle too. Recently got an edelrid hardhat from arbsession with newer senas. It's okay, I'll get a different one soon, hopefully something lighter.

I'm supported by something newish and, blue, and 200' long with a spliced eye on one end. It's not retired yet, inspected recently (and will be before next climb).

I like the zigzag still with the chicane, but want the reflex for simplicity. Mostly srs, knee ascender, footie. A few assorted binders, some rigging, some life support.

Two lanyards, a shorter and longer. Both friction hitches, I think Ocean 8mm but there's a few in the bag. One with a pinto, one with a hitch climber.

Edit: we are using the forester brand chainsaw pants. They're cheap.

The apprentice liked the notch spikes a lot, so I'm back to my OG geckos. Use pocket slings a bit. Speedline kit. Slings are useful. Rigging rings, blocks. Stein bollard and winch, looking to go to the holdfast soon. Porty, figure 8, other odds and ends.

Keep it simple.

Backups of climbing devices. Tons of cordage. Assorted ropes of all sizes. My favorite is the 3/8 stable brade. It is always attached to me. I use it for so many things.
 
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