Revolutionary "new" tree climbing tool. Upgrade your tree game and on ground!

Arkilogue

TreeHouser
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Oct 25, 2014
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Revolutionary "new" tree climbing tool. Upgrade your tree game and on ground!

Aloha fellow brothers and sisters of the trees! First time poster, long time climber. I'm a certified arborist on the Big Island of Hawaii for 13 years and work in all kinds here: Coastal salt cured Iron Wood, acre covering Bayans, towering Norfolk Pines, groves of coconuts and all kinds of fruit orchards. This tool has allowed me to fall back in love with my job and has increased not only my tree game, but also my capabilities on the ground. It's one of those things you wonder how you ever lived without! I have never felt safer, more at ease, or more capable, but the icing and cherry on top is that I have a lot more fun climbing trees and even dragging branches! It is in this spirit I write to you.

Presenting the Monster X, ice and rock climbing multi-tool by Grivel. I am not affiliated with the company, there are several similar shaped climbing axes from other companies for a lot more money. It's the best I found suited to my needs for the price ($100-150). You might find better...and if you do, let me know!

Here it is in all it's unmodified glory: monsterX.jpg

Looks like a sea horse...I call it my tree horse. It does more work than possibly even my saddle!

Now some tree climbing purists might grumble but chew on this: It is rated for higher impact in a harsher environment for the exact same activity. It turns 130% of your hand holds into the same grip that you never have to let go of (2 new types of grip on branchless trunks, 1 on medium sized limbs, see bonus section). It's a hooking hold that "never" fails in strength, combined with a belt attachment it's effectively a 3rd "arm" that never gets tired. It concentrates all pull-force to the branch collar with a 1/4 inch wide drop-forged, serrated hook that reduces my 4 inch wide hand leverage on any given branch by almost 94%, making it effectively zero, increasing the number of branches I can safely use. And yes there is a high puncture/cut hazard but this is addressed in "Tree uses (modified)". No change is made to the steel/tool itself.

Safety Note: This does not replace any PPE already in use and is not intended as a fall arrest device. It's listed as category 2 PPE and a B rated pick. I use it as a climbing/branch handling assist and work station anchor in addition to local and life lines.


Specs: 18.25 inches long by 10 inches wide, square. 5/16in wide chrome-steel allow shaft w/ 2 contoured grips. 3/4in contoured handle (steel is sandwiched in rubbery plastic, 3 total hand holds. 4 clip holes (3 large 1 small), 1 "collar" attachment point (explained later). Optional rear hammer head (pictured above and the type I use) or shovel/adze head. The tip has a 2in long cutting blade on top with "tanto" style smaller tip blade at angle. Handle "butt-spike" with serrated gripping teeth. "Gate" opening - distance from index finger at bottom whole hand grip to the tip of point - 11 inches. Holding the end of the tool I can effectively increase my reach by 1ft. Comes in several color schemes including "high vis" white/blue and black/yellow which matches many Sherrill brand products. Also comes with about a 10 inch length of rubber gripping that can be cut and applied anywhere on the metal shaft. I put these on the front and back of the second hand position and wrapped them in black grip tape.


Ground uses (unmodified): It can be put to use right out of the box as a pic-a-roon - the shape of the point is triangular, like climbing spurs, and grabs logs with ease pulling them off the ground without bending all the way over, or grabbing them from over the top of a fence. Basically you can tomahawk a handle into any chunk of wood and drag it (or yourself) as you please. The hammer head option is useful for driving wedges within allowance of it's mass (watch that pointy tip! addressed in next section). It's also great for branch dragging as I can make a pile, hook the bottom branch and pull the whole thing without the shifting limbs torquing my hand or twisting my fingers. I use it in reverse position for this so that the hand position are like using a shovel. Handle anything with thorns with speed and ease. Not recommended for use loading a chipper for obvious reasons.


Tree uses (modified): First off; puncture protection: As a slip-on "nozzle", I used a 4.5 inch long peace of clear rubber tubing w/ internal diameter of 3/4in and a wall thickness of 1/8 inch. After it bends/squeezes vertically to max and catches on the blunt serrations this gives me 1 inch of strong cushion between the point and any potentially punctured medium, tree or self. It reaches 1.5 inches behind the tip blade but small cuts occur internally and should be monitored. I have only used this for a few climbs so wear and tear life is unknown and should also be watched. I use this nozzle both in the trees and on the ground, only removing it when I absolutely need to use the point. This way I can swing/drop the tool without worry and strap it to my belt without fear of it cutting any equipment. Strongly recommended.

IMAG0185.jpg

While you could attach this to your belt bridge by an adjustable length rope or cable if you are worried about cut resistance, the pure magic of this tool is "unleashed" with a chain: A 46 inch daisy chain to be exact. The one I use is from Sherrill and rated at 28.9 kN/6500 breaking strength, 650lb WLL @ factor 10.Plenty safe for human weight suspension This is where the 5th "collar" attachment comes into play: Just above the handle is another "scoop" meant for cupping the bottom of the your pinky at the second handhold where the metal shaft dives into the wider handle. This is where I attach the daisy chain directly with a single wrap "prusik" choke - there is no possibility of slipping off and no metal on metal clank or abrasion. The grip tape I wrapped over the metal shaft, under the prusik also provides a tacky surface for the daisy chain to "bite" into and discourages any loosening that might occur. (This where I applied the extra rubber grips on the metal under the tape, often held there during ground use. Also I don't recommend applying them to the bottom of the section of the metal handle directly behind the forged head; it often contacts the wood on large branches and will eventually abrade away whatever you have there.)

IMAG0188.jpg

Here it is in all it's modified glory:

IMAG0183.jpg

Now I'm 5'10 with a about a 2ft grasp reach; the 46 inch daisy chain gives me a fully outstretched reach, with minimum slack from a carabiner in the center of a triple holed pulley on my rope bridge, from the second to last loop. Only 3 inch's of "dangle" and it's another attachment point.

Now here is where it goes from "wow, that's really cool..." to "OMG my life is complete!": Not counting the top loop around around the Monster X, it has 11 more attachment loops! Once I climb to working position and link up locally, I can unhook the daisy chain from my belt and independently hang all kinds of whatever from it! With another micro-pulley at the top loop, I could pull up and simultaneously hang; my climbing saw, a larger logging saw, bag of lowering ropes and gear, a telescoping chainsaw, a 2 gallon water cooler and my lunch box and still have 5 more attachment loops! Also, carabiners can be simply left at regular intervals for handholds as when I use the full, taunt length of the daisy chain, the tool handle is out of reach (I only need 1 extra biner handle). The chain is also "adjustable" as I can reel myself in and attach close at the first loop with one of my other biners or trap the current loop under the gate as I connect to the new one. Using a triple holed micro pulley on my saddle rope-bridge I can attach my life line and friction device on either side and while under full weight, the middle biner is still free and operable to attach/unattached the daisy chain/Monster X combination. Pure, logistics, heaven.


If you are looking to spice up your long standing tree life or just sprouting a career in climbing, I cannot recommend this set up enough!


Bonus Section: The spur-like point allows penetrative purchase in any vertical wood surface, strong enough to pull your body weight. Hooking it around the back of the trunk in a kind of "plumbers wrench" grab allows a "bicep curl" style grab on any trunk within reasonable diameter. It can also grab a medium sized branch in a "torque pinch" between the hook and the first metal section, inline with the limb. This is the least sure of all grabs and is best used as a hand position to push yourself up rather than pull.

The butt spike and teeth allow for a planted fist on any wood surface, also mainly for pushing motions. Using the rear hammer I can drive wedges or "knock on wood" to check for hollows, rot and test the general integrity of the wood before I trust it with my life. In a similar manner I can break dead branches/stubs with hammer swings. Also the all metal shaft is in no danger of breaking/cracking when swung against dead branches as a composite or carbon fiber shaft would be.

IMAG0186.jpg IMAG0187.jpg

If you are working a row of trees or find yourself dangling in mid air (which you should avoid or plan for), the Monster X in combination with your local line can be used as a tossed grappling hook to pull yourself like a pendulum. This would be on a life line over to another tree or back to the one you are in.

I don't have a helmcom or a whistle (I should) but clocking a tree which the hammer repeated got my ground crew's attention over the chipper and running saws.

Here in Hawaii I work in a great deal of palms and often the previous trimmer has left the butts of fronds to harden into a fibrous mass around the trunk - the pick, used as a lever, rips this off with ease without taxing my grip or risk of skewer. (coconut tree "paper" has long running cross-hatched fibers that will impale any hand that slips along them)

Last but not least; the use of the this tool greatly reduces the amount of callus abrasion and dirt/sap accumulation on my hands. Your significant other will appreciate this. ;)



All in all, it makes my working life absolutely blissful. I hope you have enjoyed this little review of an extremely useful tool, happy to field any questions, concerns or further ideas regarding it's uses. Climb safe and have fun!


P.S. There is a very similar tool made also by Grivel called the Lil' Monster. It's 1/3 shorter with no rear head option but encloses the handle with an integrated metal finger guard. You can punch dead branches at will. I have used it but prefer the Monster X due to greater reach and number of handholds, plus if you lay the handle directly against the wood, the top and bottom scoops take the weight and keep the fingers away and safe. The Lil' Monster though, is more packable.

One additional recommend modification is a high vis paint job (if you get the black/yellow version, no need with blue/white). I am going to spray the hook and first section with florescent orange which is why it is so scratched up in my photos. I lost my lil monster in the shadows of a giant cypress hedge. :(

Aloha!
 
I can see real possibilities for the tool.....but would I? Should I? Theree are all sorts of cool tools and techneques that when it comes crunch time I forget about using/learning and just go old school to get'er done. OTOH I love my Sidekick retrieval tool and use that gizmo regularly so maybe I could get dependent on an Ice ax too.
 
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  • #8
You got me reeled in pretty good with that hook.
Pun intended.
thanks man!


Happy to be of assistance! I found it searching around online after years of dreaming of such a tool. I knew I couldn't fab it to specs so I looked up the next best thing. The only thing I would add is a upward facing "pushing" spike on the head for branch/log directing purposes, but I really can't complain. If I wanted to gain that and lose the hammer head, I could order a "quantum race" Grivel axe-head (plus about 50 bucks) and have all the spiny purchase one could hope for!

quantumhead.jpg

Extra caution required.
 
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  • #9
I can see real possibilities for the tool.....but would I? Should I? Theree are all sorts of cool tools and techneques that when it comes crunch time I forget about using/learning and just go old school to get'er done. OTOH I love my Sidekick retrieval tool and use that gizmo regularly so maybe I could get dependent on an Ice ax too.


I hear you loud and clear as I can't stand extra rope dangle or equipment getting in the way of my climb (I keep my 2in1, 16ft local completely stowed in a rear tool pouch). This particular combination with the daisy chain leaves no dangle and the tool stows perfectly on a caratool or similarly placed saddle biner. I can hang it over my shoulder and it even clips into the standard chainsaw clasp that comes on most saddles through the middle hole on the tool. Given all the tree and ground uses, it rarely leaves my grasp. I often blaze through a pile of branches with chainsaw in one hand and the Monster in the other. I never leave the ground without it!
 
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  • #10
I don't see it amusing at all.

What is your game plan?

Me? I thought the "question mark face" followed by "sneaky eyes" translated as "What the heck?!?....hey I can think of a few uses for this thing!" My response translates as "Oh yes you can!" "Heavenward thumb" and "Made in the shade."

My only "game plan" here is a more safe, capable, and enjoyable work experience and sharing of these means with with my peers. Nothing more. Be careful if you try it out though you might just fall in love too!

Like I said, I have no affiliation with the company, this is not a sales pitch that I make money on. Just a personal review of a well used tool that has quickly become my favorite and most used.
 
Thanks for such a comprehensive review. First and only time I've seen it suggested for use in arb work. If people never tried to think "outside the box", we would not have the Rope Wrench or the Hitch Hiker. Your obvious effort to share your experience is greatly appreciated.

Tim
 
Thanks for such a comprehensive review. First and only time I've seen it suggested for use in arb work. If people never tried to think "outside the box", we would not have the Rope Wrench or the Hitch Hiker. Your obvious effort to share your experience is greatly appreciated.

Tim

This could have very well been my first post on the APTA. I can actually see this guy tossing an ice axe over a limb, pulling it back and then sitting on it! I'm not endorsing it, haven't tried it.

I can tell you that people have been resting on axes, and hooks for a pretty long time in ice mixed and aid climbing. Assume mixed results based on competency.

Cheers on coming with a fresh idea!
 
What if it somehow comes lose and flys back and hits you in the face? Is that an impossibility?

The APTA is one thing, this contraption is another.
 
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  • #17
What if it somehow comes lose and flys back and hits you in the face? Is that an impossibility?

The APTA is one thing, this contraption is another.

Good question. I have found it to be extremely improbable. I tested the "loose grab" action of the hook by placing it over a horizontal branch and whipping the line attached to the handle from 3 feet away. It would not come of the tree. I had to grab the tool itself and remove it by hand. With any kind of weight it's not going anywhere.

If for whatever reason it did come back at my face from a failed grab, it's only going to fall 2 feet...which may or may not be enough reaction time to head-butt it away with my helmet. Not worried about the point, I use the nozzle as a constant and only remove it when specifically in use. If it's not in my hand, or my weight on it, it is stowed snugly on my caratool.


Another interesting use is as a chainsaw hang. Sometimes I'm in a situation where I am hooked onto the tree and leaning way out to cut a branch. If for whatever reason I have to single-handedly stow the chainsaw and cannot, I can hang it by it's stand up ring on the bottom handle scoop of the Monster X without ever letting go. Also handy if I am climbing and cutting as I go, I can stow both on the tree together in front of me while I fiddle with other things, then grab them up and keep going.
 
If it works for you or another climber, fine by me, no problem with that. But I'd never in a million years imagine one on my harness. I can visualize absolutely zero uses for it meshing with my climbing styles, even with your comprehensive descriptions.

Welcome, btw :).
 
Interesting.

Don't mind Burnham and Butch, those old guys get a little stuck in their ways:lol:

Video would be good .
 
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  • #20
If it works for you or another climber, fine by me, no problem with that. But I'd never in a million years imagine one on my harness. I can visualize absolutely zero uses for it meshing with my climbing styles, even with your comprehensive descriptions.

Welcome, btw :).

Thanks Burnham, nice to be here!

One of the many things I appreciate about tree work is that it's an art refine-able to the operator, with many different ways of going about the same tasks. This tool is the pinnacle of my particular climbing style in the trees I commonly work in; usually under 60ft and quite widely/thickly crowed. Cypress and Bayan's have tons branches in dense clusters that quickly entangle any long trailing life line. Un-clipping and re-clipping a local while ascending an old Cypress will turn a 5 minute climb into a 30 minute climb. Shooting a line into a workable spot is near impossible. I use only a 50ft life line most days. The hook attached to my belt offers a fast and safe ascent to a tie-in position while being able to knock any dead branches out of my way. From there it becomes my mobile tool station.

Just the fact that I can hook onto/into multiple any size/shape branch/trunk without ever letting go of 1 contoured grip handle is a great ease on my mind and body. Never have to reach my arm in the crevice between the two pillars of a twined top for tricky transitions. Never have to worry about forearm/palm strength/slip while hooking my arm around a 1ft diameter branch. In that case it increases my grab by over 2ft with a much safer purchase. Also makes yanking logs off the ground a snap...but there is certainly something to be said for the squatting log hug!

Do what you know and love what you do, it's all a matter of personal preference. But every once in a while I try something new because I don't know what I don't know and might just love it more!
 
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  • #21
Interesting.

Don't mind Burnham and Butch, those old guys get a little stuck in their ways:lol:

Video would be good .

No worries, I've developed some tough internet skin. One of my playgrounds is a debate forum where atheists, religionists and all manner of people hash out their particulars as humans have been doing for thousands of years. I like to keep tabs on the pulse of the world mind and insert a little navigational intelligence from time to time. Talk about some people stuck in their ways....on both sides of an arbitrary fence!

I'll work on that vid.
 
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  • #22
Thanks for such a comprehensive review. First and only time I've seen it suggested for use in arb work. If people never tried to think "outside the box", we would not have the Rope Wrench or the Hitch Hiker. Your obvious effort to share your experience is greatly appreciated.

Tim

You're welcome! I arrived at this thing through a series of fabricated tools. First was a "hook-a-roon", simply a metal hook and upward point spike on the end of a 6ft pole. I made it for a huge Keawe job (Mesquite) where each tree was covered in 2 inch spikes. Needless to say it made dragging and shoving those gnarly things much less painful.

IMAG0191.jpg

Then I modified an ARS pole saw blade to fit on a handsaw handle for tree use. It has a hook at the top and I found myself using the 1.5ft extra reach quite a bit for grabbing hanging branches just out of reach, or pulling over the very top in a tree with no clear drop. That way I have greater leverage on the branch and it holds onto it for me....long as I hold onto the saw!

IMAG0189.jpg

Obviously it's not meant for weight suspension and I found myself wishing for something stronger so I started searching under "climbing hook" and eventually stumbled upon ice axes, the rest is history.

Another technique I use the hook for is controlling horizontal branches that I have to toss sideways and cant drop straight down (a big stub limb over a fence for instance). I cut sideways with the nose of the chainsaw pointed directly at the ground and grab the far end of the log piece with my hook. Once it gets wiggly I yank and toss it sideways with the hook in one smooth pulling motion.
 
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