working the tree SRT

I think we are all in various stages on the SRT learning curve. A new to climbing employee of a local company has approached me for instruction and we spent the afternoon in a willow oak. His initial ascent was traditional body thrust then I put him into an SRT rope wrench system. Definitely an ah ha moment for him.
 
I use the ascender and spikes every time. I have the ascender mounted now. I also just got the haas attachment for spikes too! What warthaug said about tail weight is totally true. For the most part once I am in the tree and have a structure to climb (limbs or spar with hooks) I often don't need to clip in the footie. The rope just falls thru my bone or runner. You can get a wrench set up to tend the same way, it is just a bit trickier. That new epicord seems like it will do well with that. Been using the ten and the nine mil for a bit hear, and really digging it. Very intelligent cordage
 
Especially for gutted and topped silver maples I'll spend a little more time on the ground with my throw line. I'll pick my PSP and then set the line through a redirect, then I feel much better about climbing some of these things. I'll work everything I can from there, come down, switch my basal anchor and climb the other side, work that half. It forces you to get decent with the throw line
 
LeviRockett said:
Hmm. Maybe I should try it out some more, just a bit worried about spiking myself in the leg.
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If you are using the spur ascender in a rope walking configuration with the haas/saka; you can always where gaff guards until you are comfortable. You must be a little more careful for sure. But I do mostly removals and have yet to have an incident with my set up over the course of the past year.

Without the Haas attached, you just keep one foot out of the way and clear for short ascents with one foot.
 
TCtreeswinger said:
So I bought a rope wrench finally and I'm digging it. But having issues with a few things. Pulling 1:1 on short ascents of 4-10' seems taxing as using the foot ascender against the tree feels akward plus I have to reattach shoulder sling. Is everyone constantly working on a 3:1? Too much rope for me. Also does coming back from a limbwalk just take time to get uses to? I've done 1:1 and 3:1 and I don't feel as secure as ddrt. Any videos you can recommend or anything?
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Ddrt still has a place in removals for me. Lets say your primary tie in is on an ackward high stem with a nasty lean. I would rather use Ddrt to pull myself up to the tie in point rather than foot ascender/srt up. If you are using the wrench, you can switch easily though.

You can work the tree ddrt as you like, then lets say you get to a point where you want to redirect...you can tie an alpine butterfly, clip your standing end of the line to it creating a fixed loop, then attach your rope wrench. Now you have the ability of work srt for redirects but also move back to ddrt when it suits your needs. Hope that makes sense.
 
macswan said:
Swear a lot...
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I think people tend to underestimate the value of creative swearing in their dealings with mechanical devices. My wife is only now learning the finer points. She recently sat on the porch giggling while I struggled with replacing a starter motor on one of the vehicles. Following a particularly long-winded flow of non-stop profanity, she asked me how a starter motor could be a "whore mongrel slut" when it is, in fact, an inanimate object. I had to explain that it was wedged between the engine block and the exhaust manifold, and that it immediately released it's death grip following that particular string of colorful adjectives. Clearly, it was either offended by my remarks and was caught off guard when it let go, or else it was flattered by my descriptive poetry and became submissive. Either way, it worked.

I don't think she bought it. Being a scientist, she went on about corelation not being proof of causation. However, I've noticed that she has often adopted the technique when trying to get the food processor apart to clean it.
 
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