Mastering the Two-Foot Ascending Technique in SRT Climbing
If you're an avid climber, you know that efficiency and technique are keys to success in the world of Single Rope Technique (SRT) climbing. Recently, I came across a fascinating two-foot ascending technique that not only gets the job done but does so with remarkable simplicity. In this blog post, we'll dive into the details of this technique, its setup, and why it's worth adding to your climbing repertoire.
The Two-Foot Ascending Technique Explained
First things first, what's this technique called? Well, it doesn't have a fancy name—it's just the two-foot ascending technique. What makes it special is its straightforwardness and versatility. You won't need an elastic cord over your shoulder or complicated rigging through your bridge ring. Let's break down how it works.
Setting Up Your Two-Foot Ascending Rig
1. Foot Ascender & Knee Ascender: To get started, you'll need a foot ascender for one foot and a knee ascender for the other. I typically store the knee ascender conveniently in my Audax pouch for quick access.
2. Attach and Gradually Load: Clip the knee ascender to your foot loop and attach it to the rope. Gradually shift your weight into the system to allow for attaching your chest harness or tether.
3. The Ascent: Begin your ascent by alternately lifting your feet—left foot, right foot—until you reach your desired height. The simplicity of this technique is what sets it apart; you'll quickly get the hang of it.
Exiting the System:
Leaving the system is just as easy. Sit back in your climbing device, remove the knee ascender from the rope, and stow it away. Don't forget to detach the foot ascender to completely disconnect from the rope. Descend safely to complete your climb.
A Closer Look at the Knee Ascender
Now, if you're wondering about the knee ascender setup, it's often a custom creation. I use a Petzl Croll small ascender positioned at knee height, connected to a DMM accessory via an eye-to-eye tether. This setup provides the necessary elasticity to move up and down the rope efficiently.
On the top end of the ascender, I utilize a captive DMM accessory, which I can easily clip onto the rated loops on the daisy chain running along both shoulders. This feature allows for tension adjustment as needed during your climb.
Convenient Storage
When you're finished with the knee ascender, packing it away is a breeze. Fold it compactly and slide it into the chest pouch on your Audax harness. Zip it up, and it'll stay out of your way until your next climb.
Conclusion
Incorporating the two-foot ascending technique into your SRT climbing repertoire can enhance your efficiency and ease of ascent. It's a simple yet effective approach that works well with various SRT devices. Whether you're an experienced climber or just getting started, this technique is worth trying out.
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Content Overview
When you receive an Audax, it includes the water reservoir kit and some essential accessories. This kit comprises the 1.5-liter water reservoir, spare O-ring seals (don't lose these), and the insulated drinking tube with quick-release attachment.
Now, let's look at three key features and parts of the water reservoir:
To replace the silicone bite valve, follow these steps:
Removing the Silicone Bite Valve:
Installing the new Silicone Bite Valve:
How to install the water reservoir and drinking tube in your hydration pack:
How to cut your drinking tube to your preferred length:
With these steps, you can set up and customise your Audax Hydration Harness to stay hydrated comfortably during your climbing, running, cycling, or any other activities.
Products Displayed in this tutorial:
If you're interested in watching the full video check the link below:
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In this guide, we'll walk you through setting up and using a Soft 8 canopy anchor, which is a versatile tool for arborists that can reduce the friction for rope retrieval.
To be carried out by trained professionals only!
This anchor is designed for midline attachment, offering a practical alternative to traditional ring-based canopy anchors.
Components You'll Need for the Soft 8:
Purpose of the Notch Quickie Soft 8 Anchor:
You can use the Soft 8 anchor as part of your SRT (Single Rope Technique) setup. It allows for easy disconnecting and reconnecting in the canopy, making it simpler to raise your anchor point.
Installation Steps:
Install your SRT Climbing Device:
Raising your Anchor Point:
Dealing with Wasps:
In the tropics, this is a common occurrence. If you encounter stinging insects, either do not continue the climb or if this has been planned for, remember to plan your escape by planning the path of descent with the tail of your rope. You can drop the tail of your rope down a clear path for a quick descent and avoid potential stings.
Benefits of the Soft 8:
Using a Soft 8 canopy anchor can enhance your efficiency and safety while working in trees and reduce friction when retrieving your climbing line. Make sure to follow safety guidelines and best practices when performing tree work. To be carried out by trained professionals only!
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At Reecoil, we are always looking for ways to innovate and improve upon existing designs and so when we were approached about a collaboration with Tree Punk (the brand created by the team at Honey Brothers) it was a no brainer.
For this project, combining Reecoil's existing design and manufacturing expertise with Tree Punk's cool UK brand and eye on the UK Arborist industry, we were able to create a lanyard that really popped in its style and functionality for the UK climber, and beyond.
The Reecoil x Tree Punk Offspring lanyard is made from the same high grade materials found in the FULL-REACH and BIG-BOSS lanyards, with the same eye for production details too. Featuring our Unique Serial Numbering system on the product tag to help climbers keep track of the products “in service” date and inspection schedules, and to help climbers comply with the UK LOLER requirements.
At Reecoil, we are proud of our collaboration with Tree Punk and the innovative design that we have created together. The Reecoil x Tree Punk Offspring lanyard is a testament to our commitment to creating products that are functional, durable, and thoughtfully designed, and we are excited to share it with our customers.
Tree Punk OFFSPRING lanyard available at HoneyBros.com
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A ponytail redirect means that you leave the tail of your rope close to the trunk while you use natural redirects to get out to a certain area of the tree. Then instead of having to climb back up over those natural redirects then you can use the tail of your rope close to the trunk to lift your system back to you.
Then we're going to go through a little bit of an advanced, technical removable and retrievable redirect using a Wild Country Ropeman 1 which should be a bit of fun so hope you enjoy.
First things first, we're going to go over a ponytail redirect (a.k.a. flag poling) which means that we're going to naturally redirect over the top of the branches and down below. I have left the tail of my rope down by the trunk because what's going to happen is I'm going to climb out onto these branches and instead of coming back up over to get my rope off of around these branches I'm going to go all the way back into the trunk lift up my rope over the top so that I can then go straight out over.
I need to chuck some tail of my rope down the side of the tree. I've got my rope guide and I'm climbing over to one side of the tree which means I'm need to go over a limb, and over a big bit of dead wood out onto a branch. This means that if I want to get back and climb that head over the other side, the problem is going to be that I'll have to climb back up over these branches to get my rope with a good line over there, but we're going to do a ponytail redirect to deal with that situation.
I'm over one half of the tree where I'm able to work on these branches around me and all of this side of the canopy but, as I mentioned, to get over to that head over the other side, I will want to get my climbing system out of those two limbs which are in the way. So to do that, I've climbed with a bight of rope over this half of the tree and I've left the tail of the climbing line all the way down back at the trunk. Now I'll be able to lift my system up and over as you can see in the video.
When you come back in, try not to get everything caught up because we've got a bight of rope which means we need to really manage our climbing system. Now this may look like a little bit of a mess in that I have got my double rope climbing system up to my rope guide up there, I've got the tail of that in a bight back up over the top of those two limbs, and I've now got the actual tail of my rope up and over.
Once I’m in position, I’ll lanyard in and I'll have to keep a hold of the tail of the rope. So I'm going to take the tail and I'm going to take my lanyard around the trunk to get into a comfortable position and the tail of the rope is through my lanyard which means I won't lose it out into space. I am not going to unclip any of my climbing system from the hitch climber setup, but I'm going to unclip my main connection point and I'm going to keep a hold of the bight of rope for as long as possible. Now you need to tie a marlin spike underneath of the rope so that the climbing system doesn't get trapped all the way up at your rope guide. Now to pull down on the splice side of the rope and as you pull, it's going to go up past the limbs and pull on the tail of this rope to lift all of that climbing system over onto this opposite side of the tree.
Make sure that it's not going to get caught on anything before you let go of this bight because this is what can take it back up to the top. Let the bight go at the last minute and pull the climbing system all the way back down. It should now be on the opposite side of the branches.
So the good thing about that is, after I unclip this marlin spike and clip the climbing system back into my main D-ring, I am now over the opposite side of the tree where I was over that side of the tree through those forks I'm now this side of the tree which means I can climb up this section with my rope guide working for me in the best way. So that is the ponytail redirect.
With our double rope climbing system set up at the top of this tree, I’m going to give you a run-through of a removable and retrievable redirect. What that means is that we are going to be able to redirect through a redirecting-like climbing system, a set of gear, and we can climb out on that branch using the redirect to give us the best rope angle. Then we can climb straight back in and lanyard into the trunk and then pull our climbing or pull our rope up and remove the redirect from this position without removing the rope guide and then pulling the rope all the way back down to ourselves and retrieving the redirect as well.
So you’ll need some redirect gear. This is a bit of an old-school technique for double rope climbing because it's using an original Wild Country Ropeman. This clever piece of gear is a camming device which opens and closes obviously with an eccentric cam in it. We also put a retrieval shackle on the end of it and that means we can thread our dead eye sling around the branch put our climbing system through the pulley and the carabiner and then when it comes to retrieving this system where we can send a retrieval ball up through the middle of this and it opens up this cam removing the system without having to remove our rope guide. We can retrieve this all the way back down to ourselves.
The important part about this is the cam has to open up back towards your rope guide, so back towards the top of the tree. When we're up the top of the tree obviously we're lanyarded in because we're going to be slacking off our climbing system. Pass the dead eye cord all the way around and now our climbing system is going to go through a carabiner and we're going to put our spliced side of the rope through this pulley. Then we're going to put our prusik side of the rope through here because we're going to pull slack into the prusik side to allow us to retrieve it. So you’re still lanyard to keep yourself safe and you don't need to disconnect the climbing system, you just only need to pull slack into it.
I've got my splice and this is going to go through the carabiner so I'm going to put the pulley on and install it like that, so that's the splice. Now for the opposite side of the line, so my prusik side of the line. I'm going to run prusik side straight through the carabiner, not through a pulley and you'll see why that’s the important part of this. I'm going to install the retrieval shackle over the top of the splice side so this will all become clear in a moment. Now I can take up some tension in my climbing system and I can start letting out on my lanyard. I'm going to actually swing down and over to a limb with this redirect in place just put the lanyard on for safety's sake just because this is an awkward redirect.
I have now redirected off of my high point back through this device and I've got my splice side of the rope going through the pulley and I've got my prusik side of the rope going through the carabiner and the retrieval shackle and you'll see why.
Now you can pop out your marlin spike and now what we're going to do is start getting out onto this limb. I can now lanyard in out here and carry out work on this on this kind of extended limb with a better rope angle than what I would have had with just the rope guide.
Now that we've carried out the work on this limb, we can climb back into the trunk and I'm going to be able to remove that redirect and go back to just my rope guide.
Before we start pulling slack into this climbing system, we’ll need to lanyard in because our weight is not going to be fully supported; and just as a good habit I'll capture the tail just in case. So with my weight now in my lanyard and I can now pull out all the excess slack. If you remember, we put the retrieval shackle above the prusik which means that we're going to put the retrieval ball above the prusik. So installed the trusty retrievable ball but tying it on as a prusik.
Now pull the rope so the retrieval ball is going to go up the tree with this retrieval ball above the prusik, I'm going to pull on the splice and we're going to get this retrieval ball to go through that carabiner so it pops through the carabiner grabbed onto the retrieval shackle. If successful, that whole system should have popped out and what I can do is I can start pulling the slack out of above my prusik. Now the redirect will come sliding all the way down to us so I can now remove the retrieval ball.
So we've used the redirect system and then remove the redirect system remotely without having to go back up to our rope guide and without having to remove the rope guide, so that's a cool nifty little trick. This ropeman redirect system is actually quite a compact redirect for the amount of functionality it gives you for double roping, so that’s why it’s one of my favourite double rope redirects.
Hopefully, you found this information useful. Drop a like and a subscribe and a comment if you want to know more and want to see more of these sorts of videos and blog posts.
Climb safe.
Cheers
In one area of Zimbabwe, however, a team of rangers have achieved a steadily growing rhino population.
Along with a successful intelligence network in the local communities, and the use of a highly-trained team of Belgian Malinois tracking dogs, the rangers have adopted arborist tree-climbing techniques to access the towering local baobabs as elevated lookout points and safe campsites away from nocturnal predators.
Check out taskforcerhino.org.au for more details - they're running a charity auction in the coming weeks, and Reecoil chipped in to support the cause with a huge collection of our climbing kit and bags.
If you're up for a real adventure, there's even the possibility of putting together a group of tree climbing mates to go across to Zimbabwe, climb with the rangers, share your skills, and camp at night in the baobabs as nocturnal animals creep in to the waterholes beneath... Check here for more details.
It's a great cause that Reecoil was pleased to support.
Check it out!
]]>1. Choking your access line with an alpine butterfly at the top
2. Installing your Foot Locking Prusik
3. Foot locking up into the tree and installing your double rope system using your foot locking prusik.
4. Climbing, then descending and de-rigging the system from the ground
We're going to take a look at foot locking. What we're going to do is foot lock up into the canopy and then climb directly off of this foot locking prusik with a double rope climbing system. So we've just shot a line up the tree to install this foot locking line and sent an alpine butterfly to choke up around the branch at the top - a standard way of setting up a foot locking line.
We are going to use Sterling RIT foot locking prusik, which is a heat resistant cord and this is going to be clipped to me. We are also using another life support prusik sling wrapped around the foot locking prusik. So when I get up above this first branch, what I can do is pull up my hitch climber system clip it into the small prusik, and that will allow me to climb doubled rope off of the foot locking line. So let's get into it...
What I'm going to do is set the foot locking line, clip in, and also remember to tie a marlinspike knot (a.k.a. a slip knot) at the bottom of the foot locking line. This does two things:
1. It helps to keep these two legs of rope together.
2. It gives me somewhere to clip on my climbing system so that when I get up to the top of the tree, I can simply pull this up and not have to carry this up with me.
Since we are footlocking, you can strip everything off the back of your harness except for a figure of eight device, because if anything happens, you generally need a figure of eight to descend the line.
So the mechanics of foot locking is to secure yourself onto the climbing line with a foot locking prusik and then to wrap the rope around your feet in a way that it locks so that you can stand up.
To foot lock, what you're going to do is you're going to put the climbing line on the outside of one of your feet. And then you're going to take the lower section of rope underneath your foot and capture it with the other foot and then wrap around and stand on top. You should be able to stand on the rope and be able to comfortably hold your position.
To tie your foot locking prusik, obviously, you need a long prusik. This is just one continuous loop, but you will get some which are eye to eye, so a small eye on one end and an oversize eye on the other. So what I'm going to do is tie a Klemheist knot. Just form a loop at the top and then wrap downwards several times - the number of wraps determines the friction for your body weight. Dan is around 80kg and will wrap three times. And then what you do is choke it through the big eye and then you obviously need to dress and set it. And what you'll end up with is one big loop at the top with your foot locking prusik threaded through it like this.
And then I can move up the other (smaller) prusik which we're going to anchor off of, move that closer up to the top. And this is actually going to double as a point which I can clip my neck elastic into just to keep the foot locking prusik taut between my bridge ring and neck elastic - just to keep it closer to me.
So once you've foot locked up into the canopy where you've anchored the foot locking prusik. All you need to do is pull up the double rope system, which is attached to the Marlinspike and pre-installed with the hitch climbing system. Add the double rope system onto the life support, foot locking prusik and transfer over on to the DdRT system.
What you can do is move this climbing system as close to the top of the foot locking prusik as possible and start loading it up. So now it's got my weight and the foot locking prusik is unweighted. Now what we want to do is put a marlin spike in the access line, underneath the foot locking prusik, to just stop the foot locking prusik creeping down. And if the small prusik were to creep down, it's stopped by this carabiner in this eye. This will need to be unclipped before descending down and out of the tree to retrieve the system from the ground. So now we can climb off of this point and access any branch below us.
So if the work we needed to do was purely on a lower limb, say it's over the top of a house with dead wood which needs to be taken off of, or maybe some of it needs to be brought in, then it means that we can foot lock up and climb off of this high point directly with a double rope system.
And the other thing is it also gives me the value of having a high, high point instead of just coming up to this branch. If I needed to get out over to the other side of the tree, I can redirect up over another branch and then go straight out over. This is purely a technique for essentially accessing one lower section of the tree. If that's the only work you actually need to do.
So what I'll do is I'll show you how to de-rig this system. After unclipping the carabiner from the marlinspike that prevented the creeping, you can descend straight down and retrieve the whole system from the ground.
To retrieve this system from the ground, remember, there is an alpine butterfly knot choked up the top of this tree. And it is hard to break the friction of the foot locking prusik (bearing in mind we've climbed off of it). So we're going to pull on one side of the line and hopefully get the side of the line that isn't choked. It can be quite hard to initially break the friction at first.
Continue pulling down one side of the rope and effectively walking the foot locking prusik down. A great tip is to use a poor man's pantin by wrapping a half hitch around your boot and using that to pull down the foot locking prusik. The whole system should be coming back down to the ground now.
As soon as you can reach the foot locking prusik, break the remaining friction and remove the double rope climbing system and foot locking prusik completely. All that remains is the access line with the alpine butterfly, which was choked at the top of the tree.
So we've just gone through all the details of how to foot lock up the tree by choking your access line with an alpine butterfly at the top and then installing your double rope system onto the access line using your foot locking prusik.
Hopefully that was useful for you. If there's anyone which doesn't know this technique, give it a share and hopefully they get some value out of it. Cheers.
]]>We'll be installing an access line and setting a midline anchor point by using s pulley, attached to the access line partway up the tree.
This can be advantageous if all you need to do is climb out along one limb. For example, you don't need to climb all the way to the top of the tree. And you also have the advantage of having a high anchor point for going out on a limb.
You also you don't need as much rope in your DdRT system. So this gives the benefit of the high anchor point but using an SRT system to access it. With a DdRT climbing system.
You will need to pull a decent amount of slack into the SRT access line to tie an alpine butterfly partway up the SRT line. Clip a pulley onto the alpine butterfly - in our case, we're using a DMM pinto rig. Install a short climbing line through this and loosely tie the rope off to stop it pulling up the tree as you raise the access line back up.
As you are pulling the access line back up, the double rope climbing system will be going up with it. Pull it just up above the limb you want to access and now you'll need to SRT up there.
So we've installed our SRT line with a midline pulley set just above the limb which we need to work on and I've installed our doubled rope climbing line on the system with the hitch climber system.
To ascend the access line, we going to be using a microfrog frog walker system. Using a Kong Futura as our hand ascender, along with a Petzl Basic as our body ascender - this means that we have a "half a point of attachment" (hand ascender) and another "half a point of attachment" (body ascender), for one "full point of attachment". And then also a foot ascender. We'll also be using a neck elastic to progress the body ascender.
Set a bit of base weight in your access line to assist with the climb, take a bit of tension up on the access line, clip in, and add the foot ascender. Then start ascending to the point that you can add on the footloop. Tension that up and off we go.
So after ascending on the traditional SRT line, clip into your DdRT system.
All you need to do then is make sure that you detach your neck elastic from the body ascender to stop it creeping up, then lift your weight out of the ascenders with the doubled rope system and then completely transfer over on to it.
So we have just gone through SRT access using a microfrog ascender system and setting a midline anchor point for a double rope climbing system. So access on a microfrog and climbing system off of a midline attached pulley for DdRT climbing.
We hope you found this article useful. Let us know in the comments what else you'd like us to cover.
]]>We're going to run through some fundamental throw lining techniques, such as:
So first things first is the gear you'll need for setting your ropes in a tree with a throw line.
THROW LINE - Obviously first and foremost, you need a throw line. This is going to ideally be a UHMWPE-type of fibre as it's low friction which is what you want when it's going over unions and tend to have the knots drop out of them, so it doesn't end up tangling up as much. You will also want the throw line to be about 1.5 to 2 mm in diameter (something like Samson Zing It)
THROW BAG - The other things you'll need is a selection of different weight throw bags. Dan uses the Harrison Rockets, which he absolutely loves. From memory, these were the first to come out in the tear drop design.
There are many brands of throw bags and are all essentially similar but the ring size from different brands can differ as can the shape of the bag. A larger ring is more likely to get hooked up over little stubs up in the tree which can be a bit of a pain.
Having a selection of throw weights is really important as the type of tree and shot will depend of what weight you would want to use. For example, a rough bark tree will need a heavier bag. Also a very heavy bag for the opposite end of your line is always useful.
THROW CUBE - Other than throw bags, you're going to need throw cubes or some way of storing your throw line. Falteimers pretty much have been a staple in the industry for over the last decade. They are fantastic throw cubes. What throw cubes do is store your line and bags so you can pack them down by folding them. This helps prevent your throw line from looping over the top of each other in transit and creating a bird nest of tangles.
It's also a good idea to have at least two throw line setups because eventually, you're going to get one of them stuck and you're going to need the other one to rescue it.
BIG SHOT - Something else that is useful for taking higher shots in the canopy is a Big Shot. Essentially they are two 4 ft poles which connect together with a giant slingshot on the end.
These are a staple in the industry and are fantastic for accessing the higher shots, or shooting the throw bag up there if there's a lot of understory foliage to get through before the high point in the tree. So these are really useful for that and are a great piece of kit.
The first and probably the most fundamental way of getting a rope up into the tree is using a throwing knot. This is done by taking your climbing line and making a set of coils that allow you to throw it with weight up into a union and then it uncoils to come down on the opposite side.
Take your rope and form some small coils. What you need to do is work out how much rope it will take to get from the top of the union to the ground. Start by creating a few coils a couple of hand-spans apart. Pinch those coils and wrap around them the bundle. Now pass a bite through this top section and then grab the opposite side.
As well as this bundle, which is going to uncoil when it gets over the other side of the union, you're going to need a few more coils of rope which are going to get the throwing knot up to the union, so it won't pull on this bundle straight away. You will need to estimate of how much rope it's going to take for the rope to get to your union.
Once the coils are set, it's time to throw. Hold the coils in one hand, look at your union and then underhand throw it up and over the union. This may take a few attempts.
So something to bear in mind is throw bag weight differences.
Throw bags come in a multitude of different weights, some are 8 ounce (227 g), 10 ounce (284 g), 12 ounce (340 g), 14 ounce (397 g) and so on all the way up to 20 ounce (567 g). Dan tends to throw with a 10 ounce throw bag. If you want to go lighter, what you'll find is an 8 ounce bag will go higher but it has less likelihood of coming back down to the ground if there's a bit of friction up in the union or if you're on a rough bark tree. If you go with the heavier bags, for example a 16 ounce bag, a high shot may end up pulling the opposite side of your line and you could lose it up the tree. So you want to have a heavy bag on the other side of your line to prevent this from happening.
Simply pass the throw line through the top ring and do a few wraps around the standing leg of line. Then pass a bite through the loop at the bottom and then cinch that down to create a slip knot at the bottom. So that when it comes to removing the bag, it's easy to pull that tail and pop the knot off.
To throw the throwing line, you're going to use a pendulum-like motion to generate a bit of momentum and you want to keep tension in the throw line at all times - don't let it hop or jump. And there's a few different ways of doing this.
After you've gotten your high point with your throw line, the next thing you do, before you pull your rope up there, is work out if you need to isolate the high point. If we were literally climbing this with an SRT base anchor, we wouldn't need to isolate it and we can just pull our rope all the way up over the top union and then it wouldn't matter that it's going down through some other branches but the ideal situation, if you're climbing double rope or even a lot of SRT applications, is to choke your high point and to do that we need to isolate it beforehand.
So there's a few different ways to isolate your high point. You can pull your throw bag up there with a bit of a pendulum swing into it and then get it to pop over any of the lower limbs which you don't want it over. The other way is to connect another throw line to this throw bag and then as it gets up there use the other throw line to pull a movement into the throw bag and then get it to drop down the other side of the limb. The easiest way though (because we've got another throw bag on the opposite side of this throw line) is just to pull up the opposite side of the throw line and get it to drop down this side instead.
Once your high point is isolated, you can pull the rope up.
With Harrison Rockets and a lot of other throw bags, they've got this loop at the bottom which you can clip an accessory carabiner to. And if you've got a splice in the end of your climbing line, obviously these can quite simply just clip together and you can pull this up and over the limb. If you don't have a splice in the end of your rope or you don't have this attachment point on the bottom of your throw bag, there's another way to do it.
What you're going to do is take your rope, tie a clove hitch in the throw line and thread this onto the rope (maybe 50 cm (a foot or two foot) down your rope) and then just keep tying half hitches as it goes up towards the end of the rope. This pulls the rope in line over the top of the union and helps minimise the chance of things getting stuck. So we're going to use this method to pull the rope up the tree.
Now you have a nicely isolated high point with the rope not getting stuck as you pull it up and over the union.
Alternatively, you may want to install a cambium saver. For example, if you're running double rope technique on an isolated union up there, you may want to remotely install a cambium saver.
Take your throw line, which is isolated over the limb, and you're going to take the small ring side of the cambium saver, install the throw line through the small ring and then tie your throw bag back on. Then we're going to pull a little bit of tension into the line and on the big ring side of the cambium saver, clip it onto the other side of the throw line. So what this is going to do is flip the small ring over the limb and then it's going to descend the throw line back down running through the cambium saver for you to install the rope next.
After assembling the Big Shot, put the throw bag into the pouch and when you go to launch it you're going to put the bands on the opposite side of the pole to you because if a band breaks, hopefully it's not going to come come back and hit you in the face or in the head. The Big Shots are best used with a trigger setup but can be used manually as well.
When you pull down on the pouch, it's a good situation to kind of just pinch the bag down into it to hopefully hold it in place. Because you don't want to get to the bottom of your pull and then have the throw bag drop out.
So we've gone over a few fundamental pieces of information when it comes to throw lining. First and foremost just getting a rope into the tree if you don't have a throw line, then going through different throw weights which you might want to use and why, how to attach a throw line onto your throw bags, and then different throwing techniques for getting them up into the tree, isolating the union, and then installing a rope up and over the union. As well as using a cambium saver and a Big Shot.
So, if you're new in the industry, hopefully, that's a good bit of information to help you out and get you started.
Enjoy and share with your mates if this was useful. Cheers.
]]>The 45-litre rope bag - climbing gear
The 45-litre rope bag is obviously the bigger of the two bags and holds all his climbing gear. The first thing you'll notice is the top of this one where you can put your JSA / risk assessments for every job site and also store your extra pair of safety specs.
Once unzipped and opened, you'll see on the inside:
There are also internal and external carabiner loops, a clear risk assessment pocket on top, and has the capacity to fit 200m of 11mm rope or you can fit 60m of 11.7mm climbing line plus harness, helmet, and more.
The 28-litre rope bag - access line
The 28-litre rope bag is for his access line set up. This is primarily for climbing uses for SRT access line for when you need to run a separate access line from your climbing lines. So if you want to leave a single access line in the tree for people to get up and then re-anchor then this is what he uses this bag for.
So what's inside the bag?
On the outside of the bag
The smaller bag also has an external handsaw pocket, internal and external carabiner loops, and also can fit 100m of 11mm rope or 60m of 11.7mm climbing line.
Removing the straps
Depending on your work situation, whether you need to just have these bags to bring from the truck onto the job site and then back again so you don't necessarily need to have the rucksack straps on the back or if you do need to carry the bags a further distance, having the rucksack straps are useful. You have the option to remove these on both the 28 and on the 45 and both bags have these top carry handles, as well as a hang loop on the back. The 45 also has a duffel carry handle.
To remove these rucksack straps on either bag, start with the top:
Now you've turned both these bags into the more streamlined versions. So if you're throwing it in and out of the truck, you're not going to get the rucksack straps caught up.
]]>Let's run through some fundamental friction hitches that every arborist would know, or at least should know. These friction hitches will help your progression if you're starting out in the industry.
Other names: Standard / common prusik, prusik hitch
Use: DdRT only
Pros: Very safe, easy to use and recognise
Cons: Can be slow for access and maneuvering in the tree, have to add a micro pulley to progress capture (lots of sit-back), have to body thrust
Obviously, we can't start off with fundamental friction hitches without mentioning the English Prusik. The English Prusik is tied with a loop of cord joined with a Double Fisherman's. A general guideline for the length, is about from your hand to your elbow to get the right size loop for your body.
So the English Prusik is very much used as a double rope technique climbing hitch. The reason for that is, if you're trying to use this on single line, it won't work very well and isn't suited for use with the rope wrench.
Start with a double wrap of the prusik. That's usually what it takes to hold about 80 kg of body weight. Use a wider-topped carabiner, for example, a D-shaped, a pear-shaped, or a HMS carabiner because everything can fit into the one carabiner.
Ascending on the English Prusik is hard work but the pros of that are every time you ascend with the body thrust method, you end up capturing your progress each time.
It's a very basic knot: to go up, you pull down, body thrust your hips and then progress the knot. And to come down, you literally put your hand above the knot and pull down.
To help ascent, butt your feet up against the trunk, lift your hips inline with your shoulders and then slide the prusik knot up to capture the progress.
It's a lot of work doing this and it's slow but this is very much a fundamental knot of the industry. Now to come down as I said, just put your hands above the prusik and pull down slightly.
So the trouble with the prusik is if you're limb walking with this hitch, it means that when you're coming in from the limb you have to keep body thrusting (or that similar technique) but you can add a micro pulley to the system, for example, a swing cheek pulley. This pulley will help with progression on this hitch. Install the pulley onto the rope underneath the prusik and add it into that HMS or pear-shaped carabiner. This will allow you to pull on the tail of the rope when limb walking in from a branch, to progress the prusik knot. The only downside of using these micro pulleys is you have a large distance of sit back, but it's a helpful piece of kit if you're just on an English Prusik or a blake's hitch just to make your life a little bit easier for limb walking back into the tree.
Other names: The asymmetrical prusik is also known as a Schwabisch prusik
Use: DdRT or SRT
Pros: safe, natural progression to eye2eye prusiks with improved upwards advancement, easy to learn, fairly beginner-friendly
Cons: sticky and lots of friction
A natural progression from moving on from the English Prusik is to move on to eye-to-eye hitches and one of the most sensible options is a reliable knot that doesn't slip on sit back. So the first prusik that comes to mind is the asymmetrical prusik, which is also known as a Schwabisch.
The asymmetrical prusik is really similar to the Distel hitch because they're tied similarly and have similar properties.
An asymmetrical prusik is similar to the English Prusik but you have all the wraps on one side, adjust friction by adding or removing wraps. To turn the asymmetrical prusik into a Distel, all you do is take the bottom wrap slacken it off and pass it on the opposite side of the rope and around the other way and then it means that the legs exit in opposite directions. And if that looks familiar to you, the Distel is essentially a clove hitch with stacked wraps just on one side.
One of the ideal pulleys to use with this is obviously the hitch climber pulley, so this gets added underneath of your knot. And with the hitch climber pulley, you've obviously got three points of attachment. The benefit of using the Distel and the Schwabish system over the English prusik is you can haul yourself up and then get progress capture with multiple pulls on the climbing line exiting the pulley. You can take multiple pulls with your arms to be able to start accessing but it is said that three pulls is probably the limit (to minimise the drop). So take the pulls on the rope above your Distel hitch, hold on to the progress with one arm and then you can just feed it through with the other hand and just make sure the knot locks off. Repeat that process for accessing the tree and then make sure it locks off each time.
These are faster knots than the English prusik depending on how you tie them and they can definitely be more reliable than say the faster knots like a VT (Valdotain Tresse) but this is a great progression to getting into like the faster eye-to-eye style knots.
Similar to a Happy hitch
Pros: Quicker than Distel, adjustable but still reliable, reliable knot on SRT (on sitback), shorter knot than VT (for SRT)
Cons: Not as quick as the VT, because it’s short you have less distance between fully open and fully closed.
So the next knot we're going to mention is a knut (not to be confused with the Knute hitch). This is a really good progression on from the Distel and the Schwabisch and the reason for that is it's a fast knot but it's still reliable enough that when you sit back, so long as it's tied properly, it's not going to be too quick and too slippy like the VT. And this is a really good knot for SRT and moving on to the rope wrench as well.
Similar to the Schwabisch and the Distel, this works perfectly on the hitch climber pulley and my personal favourite is 11.7 mm rope with 10 mm Armor Pruss. It makes for a really good reliable knot but also a fast knot for maneuvering around the tree. The cool thing about the Knut is climbers can make it adjustable with how fast you can go. This is done with the half hitch at the bottom. Release it to it's lowest point, so there is a lot of rope distance for slack to release these coils. Or if you shuffle the half hitch up to the coils, it reduces the amount of leg that the coils can release. For me, I always used to find the half hitch would creep but that's a really cool little adjustment for the knut.
Tying this for SRT work is obviously the same as double rope tying but the great thing about this knot is, one, it's a very reliable knot and two, in comparison to something like the VT, it's a short knot which means that it's not going to come into contact with your rope wrench which sits not too far above the knot.
Other names: Incorrectly known as French Prusik (which is a Machard)
Pros: very quick, once a decent amount of rope weight is underneath it will generally self tend very well if the rope & hitch are clean.
Cons: too fast for beginners, can cause the rope to twist (hockle), can stretch out making it possibly harder to reach (be voided / contact the rope wrench), more likely to creep
The last and final introductory friction hitch, or fundamental friction hitch, is going to be the VT (Valdotain Tresse) which is really commonly used.
When the VT is loaded up, usually a wrap and braid will drop down which stretches the knot out quite a long distance and sometimes comes into contact with the bottom of the rope wrench.
This is a great knot on double rope. It's a fast knot, so if you're looking to do big swings and reliably open up the knot, the VT is great for that. So with SRT, it is also a good knot and many people will use it. For me, I wanted something more reliable like the Knut and the reason being is, on SRT, when you're ascending and then wanting to sit back it can slip easier than others and I like having a knot which will reliably grab when you sit back.
The VT when the hitch cord is brand new brand is great, but can creep a lot quicker after it's had a little bit of wear. The other thing with the VT, when you're talking about SRT, is it's a lot longer knot and it is kind-of exacerbated when tied with 8 mm hitch cord. As I clip on a rope wrench with the VT, especially when you load it up, the knot is long. And then as you climb the distance between the top of the knot and the rope wrench can get pretty close, especially when the wrench collapses and then this is fully extended. So they can get a bit bound up together.
So we've run through a few fundamental friction hitches, going from the English prusik to the Schwabisch and the Distel to the knut and the VT and giving you a bit of a look at them on double rope and then on single line. Hopefully, this was helpful.
After you set your climbing line, you're going to need a base anchor. In this case, a releasable base anchor rigged to facilitate an easier rescue if needed. What that means is that we're not isolating an anchor point in the top of the tree. What we're going to do instead is have the climbing line anchored at the base of the tree where somebody can rescue you by lowering you down if required.
So this base anchor sling is just a five-meter piece of Yale blaze with an eye spliced in the end and a DMM thimble. The reason we like this style of base anchor is the versatility it offers. If the trunk of the tree was any bigger, what we could use is our short climbing line, add the thimble to it, and you've just created essentially an infinite base anchor sling you can fit to any size tree. However, this 5-meter rope seems to do the trick for most situations.
We'll use a TAZ LOV3 as the device on the base anchor. It's a great little device and they work well for this setup. We're using it with 11.7 mm Donahue's Cougar Blue climbing line, which is slightly thick but it should work pretty well in the use-case.
Tie an alpine butterfly stopper knot in the base anchor rope, and tie an alpine butterfly stopper in the climbing line. Then clip them together with a full-strength locking carabiner. The alpine butterfly acts as a stopper knot and is there to prevent the rope creeping through the device.
Then if the climber needs to be rescued, someone can do so easily from the base of the tree. All they have to do is; unclip the carabiner, undo the alpine butterfly in the climbing line, and then lower you by using the handle of the TAZ LOV3 and their hand on the standing end (break side) of the rope to control your descent.
Another method is tying a slip knot, orientate the knot pulling from away from the device, and then turning that into a daisy chain of about four knots. Clip that into the anchor with a carabiner and that creates the stopper knot. To descend, unclip that first daisy chain and then pull on the tail to undone the daisy and then descend the person down.
Let's set up a Rope Wrench climbing system on the climbing line, which will be familiar to 99% of arborists. We're using a "Knut" as the friction hitch. We like this knot a lot in 10mm Armor Prus because it can run fast and releases well, but it also consistently grabs. So it's a nice reliable knot, at least for an 80 kg body weight.
You're gonna need a neck tether, or something similar (chest harness) which will lift up your climbing system, and a foot ascender too. We're are using the CT Quick Step which is a really nice foot ascender. A knee ascender is also super helpful because it means that you can use both your left leg and right leg comfortably.
Lastly, you'll need a little bit of rope weight for when you start ascending. So I just tie one of those throwing knots. Start with a coil of rope then pass a bite through and choke it over the top.
Attach the knee ascender which is held in place by bungee cord and adjustable sling attached onto an ascender and goes down to a foot loop so you can easily use both legs.
And then, simple as that, you can walk up the rope.
To start working up the tree, all you have to do is detach your foot ascender, detach your neck elastic, and remove your knee ascender and you're 100% on your climbing system now. Simple as that.
Another common SRT climbing device is using a TAZ LOV3. This is the same device that we're using as the base anchor on the tree. The TAZ LOV3 is a really cool little device and it's useful for a lot of applications. It's not the best for tree work only because it's hard to be quite dexterous with it. But it's still a really good piece of kit, especially for straight-up access. This is because you can ascend on this and descend straight away without having to change over, or create a RAD system (that you would do to ascend with a Petzl I'D or a Petzl RIG).
So in one direction, the TAZ LOV3 ascends the rope freely and in the other direction, it engages the cam and locks in place. To descend down, all you have to do is pull the lever which releases the cam allowing you to smoothly descend.
Set up the device on the climbing line and use a neck tether to keep it oriented and capturing as much progression as possible. Use a foot ascender and take a few steps up and sit back down to get the device to lock. Now you can easily attach the knee ascender.
And ascending is exactly the same as the wrench, start walking up the rope. You may have noticed a bit of drag on the TAZ LOV3 when ascending compared to the Rope Wrench. But both of these devices work really well for this application.
Because we're located in a tropical environment in North Queensland, Australia, there's a high likelihood of having bees, wasps, hornets, and other hazards up in the tree. Having the ability to ascend and then descend straight away, without having to change systems, is really useful.
As previously stated - also having a releasable base anchor that allows somebody to rescue the climber when they're "on the rope" at any point during the climb is also very useful. So a groundie can descend the climber down if anything was to happen.
Thanks for making this this far! Hopefully, you got some value from this article. Let us know what SRT device you climb on, or would like to try out.
]]>Kyle, the man behind ARB FIT is a contract climber, ex personal trainer, free runner, and all round climbing fitness expert.
In this episode he shared tips and info on strength, flexibility and mobility, to build muscle in the right areas and give you the tools for a longer career.
Enjoy the podcast or the full video - both linked below.
SHOW NOTES:
It seems clear that there are a cohort of related industries that face similar challenges: we all work at height in some way & its difficult to remove the human element from any of these sectors. Now the way we all go about solving these problems is quite varied & it’s important to state that there is no “right of wrong answer” that will cater to all situations. In fact this variation should be celebrated & hopefully a healthy discussion of some of the equipment & techniques involved will lead to future innovations in safety & productivity for all.
INDUSTRIAL VERSUS RECREATIONAL CLIMBING
So who are we talking about here? As far as I can tell, there seems to “The Big Three” industry sectors which consists of the aforementioned Arboriculture, Rope Access and Search & Rescue disciplines. Now it’s important to tread carefully here but you can extend this further to include sporting activities such as rock climbing, caving & canyoning. The need for caution is that as soon as you cross the line between work & leisure there are of course distinct legal implications in terms of the certification required for the equipment used. That said, there are still many great techniques which can be used for work which come from a sporting background. Don’t forget - Cavers were using SRT way before it became cool in arboriculture.
Image credit: caves.org
Coming from an arboriculture background, I know plenty of contract climbers who also IRATA qualified. This is by no means a requirement for most tasks & often this is just because they like the variation & to expand their skill-set. Sometimes employers will be required to cross-certify their climbers in order to tackle a different job. Clearing vegetation from steep railway embankments comes to mind as a task which necessitates the use of a chainsaw from rope and harness, but can effectively be completed predominantly by descent & with the inclusion of a backup on a second line [rope access style].
Industrial rope access seems to share a lot in common with search & rescue in terms of the rigging techniques involved. Much of the equipment is directly transferable & they both certainly seem to be better at tying knots that the average arborist! Now where arborists excel is moving in the lateral plane - try and find a rope access technician who can reach a window that is more than a few metres either side of where their rope is suspended.
EQUIPMENT
When you start to take a look at gear, the sailing industry is responsible for some of the most well designed & high quality rope handling equipment out there. Take the GRCS for example, this revolutionised the way arborists go about taking down big trees without heavy machinery. It’s a great piece of arborist equipment but at its heart is a largely unmodified sailing winch. Who would have thought that there could be such an effective solution to a problem in one industry already available in another?
Image credit: honeybros.com
Conversely, I can think of many times that a rope access or rescue technician has marvelled over my “non-standard” prusik hitch [French prusik or similar] and the way that it so subtly opens & closes when compared to their “one size fits all” English prusik approach.
Below is a table that compares some of the relative merits & limitations of the way we do things in various sectors:
SKILLS |
SHORTCOMINGS |
|
ARBORISTS |
|
|
ROPE ACCESS |
|
|
SAILING |
|
|
RESCUE TECHNICIAN |
|
|
RECREATIONAL |
|
|
EXTERNAL LINKS
The Rescue Magazine series of publications are a great range of print & digital publications which include Technical Rescue, ArbClimber, Park Ranger and Access & Rescue. They tend to focus on equipment & techniques rather than news & policy, they are well worth a subscription.
Take a look at Vertical Connect - an interdisciplinary forum for related working at height industries to get together and discuss common ground. It would be great to see more events like these so that we can focus on what we have in common & not why “our way is best”.
Who knows what solutions are already out there but simply in a different industry?
]]>
Fredrik Hjelm.
JOB TITLE
Environmental Arborist.
LOCATION
Auckland, NEW ZEALAND.
YEARS IN THE INDUSTRY
8 years in arboriculture - [Fredrik worked as a Michelin Star chef in a previous life].
BEST KNOWN FOR
The Living Tree Company.
Fredrik Hjelm: environmental arborist, coffee connoisseur & former head technician on the New Zealand competitive tree climbing circuit.
Our paths cross fairly regularly anyway but I was lucky enough to grab a tasty lunch with Fredrik & ask him a few questions for this interview.
If I had to describe Fredrik in three words, they would be: Passionate, Charismatic & Engaging. An excellent communicator & leading figure in the New Zealand arboricultural industry, his company serves as testament to the fact that arboriculture is about much more than just cutting trees down.
A late starter in arboriculture, Fredrik had a career as a successful chef in his home of Sweden. He’s rather humble about the Michelin star but as far as I’m aware that’s something of a big deal. Needless to say, the business skills & work ethic required to make it in the culinary world appear to be serving him well in the arboricultural industry.
Wanting a change from being a chef & to be able to work outside, Fredrik took an arboriculture course in New Zealand before working as a climber on a tree maintenance contract in Stockholm.
New Zealand & Australia both have a chequered past with regards to the introduction of highly destructive plant & animal pathogens. Unfortunately many of these problems still persist & native kauri trees in New Zealand are currently facing intense pressure from Kauri dieback disease [Phytophthora agathadicica].
THE LIVING TREE COMPANY
Through direct experience working as arborist on kauri dieback related removal work, Fredrik saw that arborists were working on urban trees whilst ecologists were working in native forests. There was clearly a gap in the market for the right person/company to bridge these two sectors.
His company now holds contracts with a variety of national research organisations, universities, local & national government bodies & pretty much anyone who needs to work with trees for non-destructive purposes. Seed collecting, canopy research, forest canopy health surveys - it’s not just pruning.
It seems like every day a new arborist company pops up with the same list of services, the fact that Fredrik has found a niche & makes the most of it should stand as an inspiration to others.
Besides the fact that I’m forever in awe at some of the incredible photos Fredrik posts, biosecurity is an increasingly relevant topic for everyone - wherever you are in the world. Maybe we can all learn something from the way The Living Tree Company does things.
Q1 “In your own words; could you give us an explanation of what is that you do?”
I’m an arborist specializing in treecare work - out of the private work we do the vast majority is pruning rather than removals. However most of my work is on environmental contracts, this can be anything from mapping the spread of Kauri dieback, to identifying trees for the potential of bat habitats & helping get scientific researchers into the canopy of trees in forests. We also do some work with the media to help engage the public in environmental matters.
Q2 “Who do you consider your greatest inspiration and why"
*Fredrik & I engage in a short discussion about the difficulty of this question*
My first head chef - he never took shortcuts & always kept quality to the absolute top. For me I’d rather not do a job at all if the money is too low on it and have to do a half-arsed job.
Q3 “What do you consider to be your greatest achievement?”
Overall - my two daughters - Nina & Selma.
In my work - having a job that allows to develop & feel challenged by. Making great connections with passionate people.
Q4 “What was the hardest part of your journey to success?”
To learn how to say no.
Q5 “In your opinion, what are some of the biggest challenges facing the industry in the future?”
There are too few qualified arborists all working hard to make a buck. They can still be really hard workers & admirable people but I think that having a huge pool of unskilled & unpassionate tree workers can make it more challenging for those that are more passionate. Unfortunately I think it may often be the case that they haven’t had the opportunity to train properly.
Q6 “What advice would you give to someone starting out in the industry?”
You’ve got to have fun & follow your heart. Don’t just follow the money.
]]>INTRODUCTION
First of all, with a grand total of ONE helicopter job under my belt; I’d like to state that I’m by no means an expert on this subject. That said, I hope we can still contribute to the arboricultural community by sharing this unforgettable experience.
So your boss rings you up and tells you he’s got a helicopter job lined up. Besides trying not to wet yourself in excitement - how should you [the climber] go about making sure you don’t mess up this incredible opportunity? Think of this article as part recipe for your mental toolkit & the rest as an epic picture/video fest of everything you’ve ever wanted to see a helicopter do!
WHO WANTS A CRANE WHEN YOU’VE GOT A HELICOPTER?
So in New Zealand, we are fortunate enough to have some fairly significant and well regarded legislation which the general public tend to take seriously. Specifically there is a great emphasis placed on not disturbing the ground on sites of unique cultural heritage to the Māori community, there is also extensive protection on areas of NZ native vegetation. You may not know this, but thanks to its status as an island nation, as much as 80% of the species of flora in NZ are endemic [not found anywhere else in the world].
Combine this legislative protection with helicopter aviation expertise often used in hunting & agriculture, and you have the perfect circumstances for tree removal via helicopter being the best choice. It helps that we’ve got some of the best climbers in the world here too.
YOU WILL NEED
A good night's sleep followed by a big breakfast & plenty of fluids!
STEP 1 - ASSESS YOUR OPTIONS & DO YOUR RESEARCH
First you need to decide whether the tree warrants the use of a helicopter, with running costs in the thousands of dollars per hour - this isn’t a decision to be taken lightly. For us there was a very large declining pine tree [non-native] growing on the edge of some protected native bush. A house was being relocated from an adjacent site to site right underneath this tree. Understandably the tree couldn’t be left to overhang this property. We couldn’t disturb the vegetation in anyway & there was no way we could get a crane big enough close enough to the site.
I prepared a method statement for the council which detailed how we would go about the job. I also asked around several local arborists with more experience doing heli-work about what I needed to know as the climber. I have summarised this into the “Tips & Tricks” section of this post.
STEP 2 - PREPARE THE SITE
Next you need to make sure you have an appropriate drop zone for the helicopter, best to get the helicopter company involved at this point because they know what their machine can & can’t do. You also need to make sure they have a refueling site close enough nearby.
At this point the climbers involved should discuss their approach with the helicopter operator. With heli-work the costs are so high per hour that all of the sections of tree to be removed are “pre-slinged” so that the helicopter is never waiting. Find out what the helicopter is good to lift for, add in any safety factor you want to & then you have your intended lift weights. For us I was told the heli was good for 1200 kg maximum and so I aimed for each lift to be 750 kg. This process is identical to how you would go about using a crane, except that you sling your pieces in advance. Place your slings appropriately based on your estimates of how much you think each section weigh - it gets easy by the time you get down to stem wood, don’t underestimate the weight of foliage.
STEP 3 - LIFTING OUT THE TREE
The bit you’ve all been waiting for. For us the drop zone was so close that the turnaround time between lifts was less than a minute. This really puts some pressure on the climbers, prepare as much as you possibly can in advance, so much so that your saw should already be warm when the chopper arrives.
The big difference between heli & crane work is that its is a lot more dynamic. With a crane, you want to make everything as static as possible, to the extent that the aim is generally to make sure that the piece barely moves once you’ve cut it. With a helicopter, the pilot is able to move in more or less any direction necessary, consequently the aim is more to get each section to roll away from you once you’ve cut it. There are a lot of different cutting techniques you can employ, but the important bit is not to get the saw stuck! Cut the compression wood first, then the tension wood, ALWAYS make sure that you are in a safe position so that when the piece is cut it can instantly roll away from you. The pilot will do his best for you but don’t expect him to understand how trees behave better than you.
Even with two climbers you really have to hustle if you’re going to make it to the next cut in less than a minute. I couldn’t have achieved this without the following technique:
All you have to do is tie on a ring or connector which can be safely side loaded to the end of your climbing line, the throw it round the stem, poke a bight of rope through then clip the bight back on to your DdRT system. This is invaluable on big wood because you don’t need an irritatingly long cambium saver. Normally I climb exclusively on SRT but for rapid descent and instant retrievability, this is the best way.
STEP 4 - CLEAR-UP
If you have space then clearing up as you go is definitely preferable - you may need some serious chippers and mechanised loading to make this possible though. For us there wasn’t space so we had to make a huge mess and then clear up afterwards - not so much fun.
TIPS & TRICKS
SOME WELL DESERVED THANKS & CREDIT
If I hadn’t received such glowing reviews from others before reading the book myself then I probably would have been skeptical of a blurb that claims to include “Every Practical Knot” - now that is a big statement.
Yes, more knots will likely be invented as time goes on, but for most of us we will have to spend much of careers catching up on all the ones that Clifford W. Ashley has collated for us first.
I consider myself a modernist through and through but I still place great value on the generations of experience brought to me by those before us. The fact that the Ashley Book of Knots [often abbreviated to ABOK] represents not only a valuable reference document for practitioners, but also a collation of decades of anecdotal & otherwise largely uncodified knowledge, is to me one of its greatest features.
“A KNOT IS EITHER EXACTLY RIGHT OR IT IS HOPELESSLY WRONG”
The book is separated into 41 chapters and be read from start to finish or referenced from individual sections. However it’s probably worth reading Chapter One “On Knots” just to make sure that you’re up to speed with some of the concepts & terms used throughout the rest of the book.
The famous quote “ A knot is either exactly right or it is hopelessly wrong” originates from this book, Mr Ashley clarifies this further by saying: “Make only one change and either an entirely different knot is made or no knot at all may result”. Once this quote is understood it becomes easy to see why the mantra of “Tie, Dress & Set” is now taught with such zeal.
VALUE FOR ALL
Arborists, riggers, rope access technicians, rock climbers & anyone working with rope will all benefit from this book. Mr Ashley has collected several lifetimes of experience [his own & others] into this volume, many of the knots are original to him & they are all described clearly & accurately. He includes a simple icon based identification system which I enjoy searching for throughout the book. This is shown below and highlights some of the most notable knots throughout the book. It depends on how you intend to read the book [bedtime reading or academic studying?] but it may be worth using a highlighter pen to mark out some of your favourites - I have.
DECORATIVE OR PRACTICAL
The ABOK brings Marlinspike Seamanship [which historically has been the largely nautical discipline of ropework & knot tying] to a whole new audience. Chapter 30: Flat or Two Dimensional Knots, can be put to great use on those rainy weekends to teach you how to make ornamental mats out of old rope. I have a few projects in mind for the floor of the Hilux & a front door mat for my new home. You may also find that all of your stopper knots start becoming a lot fancier once you’ve read Chapter 5: Knob Knots, Single-Strand Button Knots…
Due to its encyclopaedic nature, the ABOK has become something of a reference text, consequently the text is often cited by others because of its consistent & internationally accessible format. Readers may find themselves coming across descriptions such as - “The Bowline Knot (ABOK #1010)”.
For the more advanced readers it is worth noting that the ABOK was published before the advent of most man made synthetic fiber ropes. Therefore if there had to be any shortcomings of this book it would be that there is no commentary on the behaviour of knots when tied with rope of a double-braid construction made out of modern synthetic fibers. There is a significant section on splicing, but again this does not cover braided ropes. It does however cover laid rope comprehensively & with great detail.
The book is still in print and is readily available from a range of retailers. Amazon has it for around $50.00 [USD] which equates to less than two cents per knot. Pretty good value for money don’t you think?
NUMBER OF PAGES | 610
KNOTS | >3800
DRAWINGS | 7000
WEIGHT | HEAVY
FIRST PUBLISHED | 1944
ISBN | 0 571 09659-X
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This week we’ve decided to discuss ten of the best friction hitches that every climber should know. There always seem to be new ones coming out and it can be hard to keep up to date with it all. That isn’t to say that there aren’t still some classics out there that have stood the test of time but not to worry - I’ve collated a representative selection for you all to take a look at.
A FEW POINTS BEFORE WE GET STUCK IN
1. I’ve decided to use an 800 mm [eye to eye] length of 10 mm hitch cord [Yale Bee-line Blue] on an 11.7 mm rope [Yale Scandere Code Red]. Hitch performance and characteristics are VERY dependent on the relationship between the chosen hitch cordage & rope - there are innumerable options so just experiment and find one that works for you.
2. A hitch that works well for DdRT [Dynamic doubled Rope Technique] may behave surprisingly differently when paired with a Rope Wrench for SRT [Stationary Rope Technique]. It’s not immediately clear why this is but it has a lot to do with the fact the Wrench doesn’t actually take 50% of the load [as one length of rope would in DdRT]. Again, experiment for the best results.
3. The industry has gone in the direction of a stitched eye being the best termination for a hitch cord. It’s quick, relatively low cost and keeps the stiff section above each eye as short as possible, thus allowing for the most compact hitch possible.
4. Without experimentation there wouldn’t be any innovation so please go ahead and try and come up with your own hitch. Just remember, practice with it low & slow before bombing out of the biggest tree you can find.
SOME TIPS & TRICKS
ADVANTAGES
It doesn’t make for a particularly sophisticated climbing system but it has one extremely redeeming feature that sets it apart form the majority of the other friction hitches out there. This is that it functions effectively on rope of the same diameter as the cord being used to tie the friction hitch. No climber should leave the ground without knowing it because in an emergency you may need to set up a “three knot system” and use it to descend out of the tree. Other uses include minimalist rigging where you want to incorporate progress capture into a system but you only have the rope used for tensioning. Don’t forget a stopper knot if you’re using it for PPE.
DISADVANTAGES
ADVANTAGES
For many climbers this was the first “advanced” friction hitch that they ever learnt. It combines reliable grabbing with relatively smooth opening into a sophisticated and still very relevant hitch. Once a decent amount of rope weight is underneath it it will generally self tend very well if the rope & hitch are clean.
DISADVANTAGES
ADVANTAGES
A slight variation on the VT, it tends to open up more easily but can fail to grab as reliably. I’ve been shown a few slight variations on how it’s tied but the important part is that one of the braids crosses over itself rather than around the rope [hence the “X”].
DISADVANTAGES
Short & tight.
ADVANTAGES
This makes an excellent “compact” hitch ideal for lanyards & climbing systems where the climber wants to avoid sit-back. It also has a cool name.
DISADVANTAGES
Hardware free tending!
ADVANTAGES
This was first shown to me by Joseph Hawkins [Instagram @foregnarms] but invented by the eponymous Matt Cornell. This is one for the gear minimalists because it somehow manages to tend smoothly without any hardware aid whatsoever.
DISADVANTAGES
Looks weird but works.
ADVANTAGES
First shown to me by my manager at Asplundh in NZ [Aaron Clifton] who in turn was shown it by Drew Bristow - however that story gets told a little differently depending on who you ask. Check out Drew’s excellent instructions on how to tie this hitch and be sure to give him a follow on Instagram @dbtree. I’ve found this one to be an acquired taste: those that like it tend to LOVE it. It can be kept nice & short & the spare leg is often tied to the becket of a Pinto pulley. It self tends well and stays open reliably.
DISADVANTAGES
Good for doubled rope.
ADVANTAGES
Most climbers’ experience of this hitch will be as a footlocking prusik for use in the [now redundant] footlocking event of climbing competitions. It grabs well on doubled rope and is easy to tie.
DISADVANTAGES
Good for lanyards.
ADVANTAGES
It’s fairly similar to the Knut in characteristics but which one is superior depends on who you ask. I’ve found you tend to need a lot of wraps to get it to grab reliably but this then gives you a lot of control for smooth adjustments when releasing under load.
DISADVANTAGES
Adjustable quick release.
ADVANTAGES
So this one has a lot in common with a prusik but incorporates a “slip release” element into it. With this inclusion you can create a slight mechanical advantage system which can then be released with just one firm tug. It lends itself towards guyline restraint systems when rigging.
DISADVANTAGES
Did you think I’d forgotten it?
ADVANTAGES
I hoped to avoid writing about something as mundane as the lowly prusik but what article about friction hitches would be complete without it? If you can’t tie a prusik then arguably you shouldn’t be working at height. I include a slight variation on the original in that it is tied around itself to form the “Purcell Prusik”. This may be more familiar to rock climbers & those working in Search & Rescue as it forms part of an emergency ascent/descent system.
DISADVANTAGES
It only makes for a rudimentary [but still very useful] ascent/descent system.
]]>Richard Tregoweth.
JOB TITLE
Founder & Managing Director of TreeTools NZ.
LOCATION
Auckland, NEW ZEALAND.
YEARS IN THE INDUSTRY
10 years running TreeTools but Richard has been running businesses for more than 40 years.
BEST KNOWN FOR
Founding TreeTools NZ.
For arborists in New Zealand, Richard & the team need no introduction. On the surface, Treetools is an arborist equipment supplier based in Auckland. However what’s hard to convey through this interview is the level of support [both financial & personal] that Treetools provides to the arboricultural industry in New Zealand. As far as I can tell, Richard is a “businessman” in all of the very best meanings of the word; an unparalleled networker & “go-to guy” for anything climbing equipment related.
Far from it for me to comment on Richard’s age but something that has always stood out is that he’s equally at home talking to arborists [that I assume to be] less than half his age as he is industry veterans. This allows for a well needed exchange of information between generations who might not otherwise come into contact.
Richard tells me that that his ambition when setting up Treetools was to be the best arborist equipment shop in the world. I haven’t been to all the arborist equipment shops in the world but I’d say he’s got a fair shot at reaching that goal. The shop is immaculately presented & you can be sure that within minutes of entering that you will be provided with a one on one customer service experience that would put Harrods to shame.
Treetools celebrates its tenth anniversary this year and so it seemed like a good chance to have a look at the business. See below for the transcript of the interview between myself [Sam Turner] & the man behind Treetools - Richard Tregoweth.
Q1 “In your own words; could you give us an explanation of what is that you do?”
*Richard laughs quietly and with an air of experience*
A little bit of everything really, I have specific people responsible for specific roles within the company so a lot of what I do is “everything else”. A lot of web related stuff falls to me, as well as listening to the market and filtering information from both customers & suppliers.
Q2 “Who do you consider your greatest inspiration and why?
I couldn't give you a specific figure but I read a lot of books about business and like to pick specific ideas from specific people. The business [Treetools] is somewhat unique and therefore its hard to have an exact role model.
Q3 “What do you consider to be your greatest achievement?”
When I first entered the arboricultural industry it shocked me to find out how little some of the highest skilled arborists in New Zealand were being paid. Treetools [& others] have made a conscious effort to remedy this by raising the professionalism in the industry and to a certain extent there has been a noticeable difference. By no means have I been wholly responsible for this but it was definitely a conscious decision.
Q4 “What was the hardest part of your journey to success?”
From a retailer’s perspective something as seemingly routine as getting stock to arrive in the appropriate quantity & on time can be a real challenge. Another major hurdle was managing the change from an entirely family run business to one that included more than just family.
Q5 “In your opinion, what are some of the biggest challenges facing the industry in the future?”
In terms of gear - the flood of non certified product could be an issue in the future (particularly from a retailer’s perspective). Whilst I can see both the pros and cons involved in going through a certification process, a key feature is that it involves an independent third party check. The growing size of the market for non traditionally sourced products could also be problematic, in particular those from South East Asia. It’s been seen before where high quality European tools & equipment have been superseded by a lower cost alternative. This isn’t always synonymous with lower quality equipment, but if a socket set breaks because it wasn’t made properly, this is much less significant than if a karabiner holding someone’s life fails!
Q6 “What advice would you give to someone starting out in the industry?”
Continuous professional development - this is largely missing in the arboricultural industry at the moment - although there has been some change in the last ten years. Really I think an arborist’s salary should be proportional to the level of professional development carried out by the staff member & without this its hard for an employer to pay their staff fairly.
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First of all, in the interests of transparency I felt it best to open with the statement that I am and have been a diehard husky fan since the start of my career. So when Hayden Ritchie [Husqvarna NZ North Island Commercial Manager] came knocking to ask if I was interested in trialling their new 70cc saw, I certainly didn’t have to think twice about my answer.
There’s much to be said about the rivalry between the two main chainsaw brands & I don’t intend to delve into that quagmire here other than to recant an excellent analogy that was brought to me by a former manager. This goes something like this:
“IF A STIHL IS A V8 SUPERCAR THEN A HUSQVARNA IS A FINELY TUNED FERRARI”
You can take from that what you will, but that’s enough about the great divide, let’s talk about the brand new Husqvarna 572 XP!
At 70cc, the 572 XP has ample power to do the majority of tasks encountered by the production arborist, I found it equally useful in the tree and on the ground, it has the grunt you need for cross cutting big wood but also the dexterity required for use during crane removals. This brings me onto the main thing you need to know about this saw - the handling.
“IT FEELS LIKE A SAW HALF ITS SIZE”
At 6.6 kg [excluding bar & chain] this saw is by no means heavy but it feels like a saw half its size. My understanding is that Husqvarna have put a lot of work into keeping the saw width & weight down. The reduction in flywheel size & newly designed crankshaft allows for noticeably faster acceleration, resulting in an extremely responsive trigger. Once you combine all these weight savings with an updated AutoTune system & a 70cc engine, you end up with a saw that is both highly productive & a pleasure to use.
We worked the saw hard on its first day by crosscutting a significant quantity of dead wattle [Acacia sp.], for this the extended power band really came into play. My favourite day with the saw was whilst removing a mature Norfolk Island pine [Araucaria heterophylla], for those that don’t know, these are extremely sappy trees and regularly reach heights of over 50 metres.
One thing that I noticed first hand was the saw’s ability to avoid clogging, this is something that Husqvarna claim to have worked on and it’s clear that they’ve succeeded - the saw handled the Norfolk Island pine sap effortlessly. We ran a 20 inch bar on the saw, personally I thought the saw was a weapon in this configuration but technically it sits in the middle of its bar length range. My next challenge for the saw is to see if it can take the rigours of helicopter work whilst running a bar at the top end of its capacity [28 inches].
I only had the saw for a week so it’s not possible for me to comment definitively on durability, but the redesigned side cover & updated AutoTune suggest to me that it may last well.
Release dates vary across the globe but the saw is already available in parts of Europe, it should reach the UK by Spring 2018 with the Australia & NZ markets following after that. Below is a summary of the key features you need to know about this saw. If you’re interested in more detail then head over to Husqvarna’s page for their full press release about the saw.
What must have climbing equipment is on your Arb harness?
Lanyard: CUSTOM
Carabiners:
Other:
DESCRIPTION
Keen readers may notice similarities between items on my harness & items that I recommended every climber will love (from my last article…). Anyway here’s an explanation of why it's all on there:
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Solid and rapid.
Price: Approximately $40.00 [AUD]
Availability: International
Weight: 8, 9, 10, 12, 14 & 16 oz
Colours: Various - including limited edition special runs
The original high quality throw weight from three times New Zealand tree climbing champion and World class competitor Andy Harrison. Andy is keen to emphasise that whilst he carries out the analysis and testing of the product, his wife is very much responsible for the manufacturing. The attention to detail and durability in this hand made product is outstanding. If ever there was an example of a product made “by arborists, for arborists” then this would be it.
Equally at home being thrown manually or for use in a Big Shot or APTA, 12 oz or above is the best for a good fit inside an APTA barrel. Users will notice that the high strength and extremely compact D-ring snags on small branches far less readily than larger ringed alternatives. The densely packed internals also help for an aerodynamic & precisely targetable bag. A solid attachment loop on the bottom of the bag allows for quick attachment to the climber’s line with a small karabiner, meaning that the bag does not require removing from the throwline. The newly available 9 oz bag fills the niche between 8 & 10, allowing for a bag which can be thrown to a decent height whilst having enough weight to overcome stem friction & return to the climber effectively.
Life saving gear.
Price: £63.96 [GBP]
Availability: UNITED KINGDOM - (ask TREEKIT about international delivery)
Weight: Approximately 250 g
Colours: Orange
Mike & the guys at Silver Bull have combined a Combat Application Tourniquet (CAT) and a six inch emergency bandage (often referred to as an Israeli bandage) into a compact and waterproof package which can easily be opened with one hand. It’s great to see such a good example of insight driven design providing a solution to an essential safety requirement. Although this one pushes the $100 limit somewhat (depending on exchange rate), it was too good a product not to make the list. Besides - how can you put a price on safety?
The CAT & emergency bandage are stored vertically in the pouch which is installed on the climber’s harness. Ease of access with one hand is crucial in an emergency situation where a catastrophic haemorrhage is involved. Just pull on the black velcro tab from the bottom to open the pouch, then pull on the red tether to lift the two items out of the pouch. Hopefully you never have to use it but if you do then these few seconds could mean the difference between life & death.
Every now and then a product comes along that means you can’t remember what things were like before it. This sets a new standard for arb specific personal first aid kits.
Never stop learning.
Price: $49.95 [USD]
Availability: International [digital download from treestuff.com]
Weight: N/A
Colours: N/A
There are many online videos teaching you how to splice, many of them are free and as a reference tool they’re great. However, in terms of arborist specific, clearly presented, quality content, the choice is far more limited. If you’ve never spliced anything and want to learn, this is the perfect place to start. With the reduced price of $49.95 USD (originally $99.95) this is great value for money and you can’t lose or break it!
Once you’ve made the purchase you will receive a link to a digital download (no physical copy available). From here you can stream any of the videos in the series, it's probably best to give each video a full watch before you attempt the splice. Then you can follow the video whilst attempting the splice. Aside from all the benefits of being able to create your own rope tools, splicing will really help improve your understanding of the materials that you work with every day.
Versatile by design.
Price: Approximately $60.00 [AUD]
Availability: International
Weight: 128 g
Colours: Pale Blue (occasionally black/grey)
Way more than just a figure eight, the Totem was designed with the intention of being the most versatile rigging & rappelling tool available. If you subscribe to the notion of “everything on my harness should do more than one thing” then this is the tool for you. Rock Exotica have stuck to their strengths by CNC milling the whole item from one piece of oversized aluminium. The result is a precise, smooth & solid item with curves where you want them and flat surfaces where you don’t.
Versatility really is at the heart of the Totem’s purpose. Possible uses include as a rigging plate, figure eight, sticht plate, auto-blocking plaquette device and many more. Arborists will love it for descending during spar work, SRT stem redirects or as a friction device for a lowerable basal anchor system. Originally designed with canyoneering in mind, the field of use for the Totem is now significantly larger than just one industry. You will find a use for it in arboriculture, industrial rope access, rock climbing, mountaineering, caving, rappelling and search & rescue.
Tiny but tough.
Price: Approximately $20.00 [AUD]
Availability: International
Weight: 8.1 g (!)
Colours: Various
An accessory karabiner but not as you know it. An incredible 4 kN rating (MBS) makes this little guy really punch above his weight (literally). Yes that’s a 400 kg static load before you break a piece of aluminium weighing less than ten grams. A hot forged I-beam construction provides strength whilst keeping weight to a minimum. The symmetrical oval design makes for perfect orientation every time and the key lock nose minimises rope snagging.
Great for any conventional non PPE attachment purposes, including but not limited to: small tools, key rings and tending points for SRT devices. Where these excel is for PPE related tasks which therefore require a good amount of strength without racking up the weight. For example: attachment points for neck elastics, knee ascenders and foot loops; they’re also effective as a means of locking foot ascenders onto the rope so you can’t slip out. Perfect for connecting throw-bags onto your climbing line and just the right size for retrieval of many cambium saver type devices. If you’re ever worried about strength then you can double up and reverse one for extra security.
NOT FOR PPE
You obviously love Reecoil products (that's why you're here). If none of those "out of the box options" helped, and you're still stuck for Christmas.
Happy Christmas and Happy Climbing! :)
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Rainforest Connection is an amazing organisation started by Topher White that is protecting forests and nature reserves around the world, from illegal logging and poaching.
They do this in an ingenious way, by recycling old cell-phones and transforming them into solar-powered listening devices, that can monitor and pinpoint activity from a great distance.
This changes the game by providing the world's first real-time logging detection system, pinpointing deforestation and poaching activity as it occurs, and providing the data openly, freely, and immediately to anyone around the world.
For the first time on a scalable level, responsible agents can arrive on the scene in time to interrupt the perpetrators and stop the damage, and the world can listen in as it occurs.
Rainforest Connection currently has their devices installed in Brazil, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Cameroon and Sumatra. It is really amazing that they are protecting forests and wildlife on four continents, using this technology.
On top of all the work they do, from development of the device, to traveling the world installing them and liaising with sanctuaries and authorities. They have also brought the Rainforest to you through their app.
Featuring live 360 audio and video from jungles in Brazil and Ecuador, to the forests of Romania. You can have a look around the canopies of these trees. Live streaming, with the possibility of seeing the local wildlife in action.
Seeing the work that Rainforest Connection does is truly inspirational.
From Reecoils stand point, creating equipment for the Arborist industry is a big part of what we do. We are proud of the fact that Arborists manage the interaction between humans and trees. Often allowing trees to remain in close proximity to houses and other infrastructure, through correct management and pruning techniques. Keeping some trees in situ for years longer than expected. Where they otherwise would have been completely and prematurely removed.
Alongside of Reecoils day to day work, we also have the pleasure of volunteering in climbs, to measure and document some of the biggest trees in Australia (and the world).
Climbing trees is great...but climbing trees in the forest is better!
Eucalyptus Regnans measure
We know the need for a more sustainable human existence, because we want to pass a healthy planet on to our children.
Rainforest Connection has created a way to take direct action, something that has been lacking for so long.
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How much do you love your job? Enough to get a tattoo of it?
There's not a lot of people out there that love their industry enough to get a tattoo of it. I’ve not really looked, but I don’t imagine there’s many accountants or lawyers getting their jobs tattooed on themselves*.
Clearly there’s something about being an Arborist, or actually climbing for a living that makes you feel really connected to it.
Maybe it’s working in a high adrenaline environment and doing things most people wouldn’t. Or maybe it’s just because it’s a cool job to have.
Either way, I wanted to share some of the best Arborist Tattoos I’ve come across.
As well as those awesome Chainsaw Tattoos and Tree Tattoos. I think Arborists may have some competition in the tattoo department, coming from Tower Climbers.
I’ve never done any tower climbing, but have done a bit of rigging. You’ll be working at height, in a stressful environment, with cranes landing steels on and around you. While you’re swinging heavy tools, pinning and bolting everything together… so you are definitely doing things most people wouldn’t. And it’s a cool job!
Because of this, I couldn’t help but share some tower climbers and riggers ink too. Maybe some inspiration for your next piece ;).
If you’ve got any Tree Tattoos, Rigger Tattoos or any other Climbing Tattoos. Share them with us. It would be great to see them and to inspire other climbers and their ink.
Happy Climbing!
EDIT
Just received a submission that's too good not to include
]]>Clearly tattoos say a lot about us. And they've not got the negative connotations that they once did.Feel free to share your tattoos with us!
Don't worry! It’s actually an exciting time for current and up and coming Rope Access Technicians. The Renewable Energy industry, especially Wind Turbines, is developing rapidly and with it comes the need for more qualified staff. Recent years have seen considerable increase in the construction of Wind Turbine farms around the world.
In the US, the solar and wind industries are creating jobs 12 times faster than the average US economy, according to this report.
The rapid growth is, in part, driven by the significant reductions in installation costs and manufacturing expenses. In the US, there are also federal subsidies and tax credits which have bolstered the increase in the renewable energy industry.
What does this mean for Australia?
Australia is experiencing similar growth in the sector with 5 Wind Turbine Farms becoming operational in 2016, taking it to a total of 79 wind farms across the country. This placed Australia 17th in the world for Wind Turbine Renewable Energy. In addition, 16 projects with a combined installed capacity of 1,861 MW are either under construction, constructed or will start construction in 2017 having reached financial closure.
Along with the US and Australia, these countries China, Germany, India, Spain, the UK, Canada, France, Brazil, Italy, Sweden, Turkey, Poland, Portugal, Denmark and the Netherlands have significant investment in Wind Farms.
Rope Access Technicians are required during both the construction phase and for ongoing maintenance of the Wind Turbines (blade technicians etc).
For example, the widely used GE 1.5-megawatt model turbine. Consisting of 35 metre (116-ft) blades atop a 65 metre (212-ft) tower for a total height of 100 metres (328 feet). That is taller than Big Ben in London. With the blades sweeping a vertical airspace of just under an acre (4000 square metres) is a common model around the world.
Why move to a Rope Access career in wind energy?
The role of the experienced technician, working at heights, through construction and through maintenance is vital.
For many years, the mining industry has been a major employer of Rope Access Technicians. Recent reports, however, have indicated that there will be a decline in job prospects in this industry in future years due to automation and robotics, especially in the larger mining companies. Understandably, this has cast a feeling of uncertainty through the workers, with many considering whether their trades and skills are valuable into the future, or if they should be retraining in another field.
Excitingly, with the continued expansion of Wind Turbine Farms in the Renewable Energy Industry, the requirement for these construction and maintenance roles will continue to increase around the world. The need for precision Rope Access workers is a necessity for the foreseeable future.
It is an exciting time in the Rope Access Industry to see career opportunities expanding. With many other trades and careers disappearing, with the introduction of technology. The reverse is true in this instance. The positive impact on this industry’s career opportunities is due to technological developments which are directly increasing the need for this skilled career. Energy costs are coming down with the adoption of wind. Wind energy costing less than Nuclear Energy and Gas, with costs coming down post infrastructure builds and technological advancements.
Not only can there be opportunities in your home country. International travel and career advancement are available and growing around the world.
So whether you’re a business owner in another industry that keeps having to compete on price, or a climber that is seeing a shortage of work. It is reassuring to see that the prospects in wind energy and the growing renewable industry, are looking secure for years to come.
We'd love to hear from you! If you are currently working on wind turbines or looking into a career in the renewable energy sector. Let us know your thoughts.
Also subscribe to our articles, to stay up to date with everything Reecoil.
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They’re the tools you carry in your mental toolbox, that help you to get the job done and can get you out of a sticky situation.
1. Knot: Munters hitch
This is a great example of a “get out of trouble” knot! As an Arborist, if you ever find yourself in the situation that your rope prusik or mechanical prusik just isn’t grabbing (your Spiderjack cam is seriously worn, or your prusik isn’t grabbing) and you have nothing else. USE THIS KNOT.
Especially now with so many people climbing SRT with a rope wrench. If your prusik isn’t grabbing, you can find yourself descending pretty quickly.
If this is the case.
If you’re in show/stage rigging, the Munters Hitch is great for lowering heavy or awkward motors down from the catwalks etc.
You can even use it in reverse to capture progress because the knot flips. Get a mate to start pulling up the motor from the ground while you take in the slack using the Munters Hitch. Then he can have a quick rest mid haul, while you hold the tension on the Munters hitch.
Uses:
Demonstration animatedknots.com
Another staple is definitely the Bowline. It’s great because it creates a fixed size loop in the end of a rope (that doesn’t slip) and can be heavily loaded and still undo.
2. Knot: Bowline
Uses:
Demonstration animatedknots.com
If you’re on the ground for a climber and find yourself having to send up spare ropes (rigging lines pull lines etc) the Sheet Bend is great.
If you want to keep the climber even happier, tie a Slippery Sheet Bend instead, for a bit of extra untying speed.
3. Knot: Sheet Bend
Uses:
Demonstration animatedknots.com
4. Knot: Alpine Butterfly Loop
Uses:
Demonstration animatedknots.com
Here’s an easy one, but you’d be surprised how many people get this wrong, when sending chainsaws up to a climber.
5. Knot: Slip Knot
Uses:
Demonstration animatedknots.com
6. Knot: Girth Hitch
Uses:
Demonstration animatedknots.com
7. Knot: Prusik Loop
Uses:
Demonstration
This is a super simple Hitch, but can have a massive impact on your climbing and rigging.
Eg, a 1 tonne rated sling connected in a Basket Hitch, can be used for 2 tonne. But that same 1 tonne sling choked (in a Girth Hitch) is down graded to 0.5-0.8 tonne.
8. Knot: Basket Hitch
Uses:
Demonstration animatedknots.com
9. Knot: Clove Hitch
Uses:
Demonstration animatedknots.com
While not actually a knot … this is equally important. If you’re not using rope bags, coiling your rope correctly can save so much time and hassle. Practice Coiling Rope to avoid having to untangle meters of rope mid job.
10. Coiling Rope
Uses:
Demonstration animatedknots.com
]]>What have we missed? Are there others that you use regularly?
Leave us a comment below on other knots we should have added.
When I was climbing full time, I prided myself on being an Arborist that was efficient at removing hazardous trees. Using up to date rigging techniques, up to date equipment and working to the upper limits of the situation.
A lot of times, even on large trees, we'd get the crown stripped before lunch and be ready to block down the trunk, (if there wasn't the space to fell).
This is often where things slowed down...
I'd find myself on big trunks with a Stihl MS661, or Husqvarna 395XP wanting to use the pulling chain to save some energy (it had been a big morning climbing around the crown of the tree).
Only problem was, when I wanted to use the pulling chain on the opposite side of the trunk...
The chainsaw lanyard would never reach!
I'd dig the dog teeth into the side of the trunk, pivot the saw on the dogs to start cutting in and STOP! I couldn't make the cut because the lanyard didn't reach.
This would either leave me having to spur around the trunk, or having to take off the chainsaw lanyard from my harness and re attaching it some where else (doing this one handed, to keep a hold of the half cut in chainsaw).
All this while I was feeling knackered, after shovelling down some lunch and getting back up the tree.
I'm only 5'7" and I needed a longer chainsaw lanyard. So anyone taller than me spurring around big barrels, must do too.
As well as this, I never liked using those small chainsaw lanyards with the big chainsaws.
If I really had to let the saw go, to steady a big block. I didn't trust that they would hold my saw.
This is why I needed the Big-Boss
Our 4 ply girth hitch loop is designed to be low profile and also perfectly sized to pass the Big-Boss coil through. While cinching down at the correct point for the correct hang carabiner position, close to the saw.
The Big-Boss lanyard features a tapered carabiner loop, on the opposite end from the girth hitch loop. The tapered design fits a wide range of carabiner sizes allowing the gate action to remain clear and easy to use.
Sticking with our signature coil design, allowed us to maintain the short recoil length of the Big-Boss lanyard. We however needed to redesign the coil circumference and spring strength to achieve this. It took a lot of extra time and effort to get it right, but was worth it because the Big-Boss lanyards coil section, measures in at 35cm recoiled (even shorter than the Full-Reach lanyard) and still maintains a great reach of 170cm.
To hang your saw up, we’ve integrated a single ply webbing loop. This is not to be used to arrest the fall of a tool, only to hang your chainsaw. The single ply is to maintain a low profile design, while keeping the all black webbing loop easily distinguishable, from the high strength loops at either end.
The Big-Boss has an MBS of 7.5kN (750kg), WLL of 1.07kN (107kg) and a Safety Factor of 7:1.
To ensure you are working at or below the WLL of 107kg. We have a recommended MTW (Max Tool Weight) of 12kg. 12kg dropped at a Fall Factor 1.5, remains safely under the WLL of 107kg.
To help with correct use, inspection and record keeping purposes, the Big-Boss lanyard is labeled with:
To finish off the Big-Boss lanyard, we’ve also added a rubberised Reecoil logo. For quick and easy recognition of quality equipment.
To find out more, check out the BIG-BOSS product page or drop us an email. We are always happy to talk.
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With that first product, the easy option would have been to put it in a plastic bag, add a header card to it and away we go. So many products on the market are packaged just like this (especially in our industry) and it’s fine. I just REALLY didn’t want that and for some reason it didn’t sit very well with me. So I put pen to paper and away I went...
It was an all over the place type process the first time. I was looking at packaging in stores, looking at what else was in the industry and Googling “best packaging design, innovative packaging design etc” and coming up with not much.
Most of what I saw was either products in a plastic bag, or products put into a pretty standard off the shelf type box. Googling “product packaging design” only really came up with designs that focused on the graphic design work and not the actual box construction design, which is what I was really looking for. It looked like it was going to be up to me.
After countless hours of drawing, making, scraping and reworking I finally came up with something I was happy with. Although it looked a bit ridiculous, I knew what it would finally turn into.
What you can’t see from those pictures is the 2am packaging design sessions, with chopped up cardboard everywhere. So many of the packaging designs going to scrap when it didn’t quite sit right, or it distorted the product in the packaging, or I thought it was perfect only to find didn’t fit in the correct postage satchel…
The great thing about going through the packaging design process from the ground up, is that I can now create unique and innovative packaging designs quickly and have our products rolling out of the factory fully packaged and presented, ready to look great on display in store or landing on a customer’s door step.
Firstly a quick caveat. I have never had any formal packaging design training, although thousands of products have rolled out of factories wrapped in my packaging. So I’m sure this packaging design process will work for you too.
WAIT! Before you go 100mph into drawing, cutting and pasting and looking like a prep school art class, it’s a good idea to idea to brainstorm your product packaging criteria. The good news is that this will most likely not change for future/multiple products.
The key criteria I work to is:
With your key criteria in mind, I’d recommend a workflow that goes through:
You may want to take step 3 to your design software (Adobe Illustrator etc) and print it. I choose to do this part of the packaging design physically, as it allows me to change and iterate very quickly.
On the picture below: Red line = Cut, Blue line = Fold
If you've got any questions and are in the design process yourself, please feel free to get in touch. I'm always happy to help. Thanks, Dan.
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