60 Years Old and Still Foot Locking?!

Go ahead.
That would be interesting, but in no way telling the real truth, since we, who hang at forums, are constantly being reminded of the newest stuff.

I was not talking about SRT work climbing BTW, just SRT access.
 
Around here I can climb any hardwood tree drt with 200' of 1/2" line footlocking dynamic on a Blakes.
May take twice as long as static on double rope but I get up there eventually with less effort and don't have to change over to another climbing system when I arrive at work position ....just go right to work.

Stig I guess I have to jog your memory as you didn't seem to understand my original post about the differences in double rope dynamic and static footlocking.

So my question is have you ever foot locked before :?
 
Sure I've footlocked, been climbing since 83, and levitating was never my strong suit.

I think I may have misread your post.
You are talking about the difference between footlocking on static and dynamic rope. not the difference between footlocking on dynamic rope and SRT on static.

Sorry, my mistake.

Guess I'll have to pull the good old and trusty " English is not my native language" excuse out of the barn again, heh?
 
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  • #32
Very interesting posts guys and I respect everyone's opinion.

What I really hope to hear from is ANYONE who is 60 (or over) and still foot locking and hasn't had any repetitive motion injuries from doing so for years. Or, hear from anyone who knows someone in their 60's still foot locking.

What I would I find a shocker is someone who is getting up there in age, who still climbs and has tried SRT AND has decided to stick with foot locking. I just can't see this happening. Yeah, some climbers may be able to get away with it well into their 50's (and Willard I am really glad that you are one) but what about the old timers still climbing in their 60's?

For me (personally), foot locking is about as useful as body thrusting. Both outdated and hard on the body with better (i.e. - more efficient) methods of ascending. The only foot locking that I ever do these days, is foot locking the tail sometimes if I'm climbing DbdRT and I will still use a Pantin.
 
I footlock on a ring and ring friction saver , Blue Streak and Blakes split tail with micro pulley. Works good for me and I can work the whole tree with just that bit of gear.
I know a few 60 something climbers in the big city who still do it in 80-100 American elms and cottonwood s
you don't mess with those guys ha ha
 
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  • #34
I footlock on a ring and ring friction saver , Blue Streak and Blakes split tail with micro pulley. Works good for me and I can work the whole tree with just that bit of gear.
I know a few 60 something climbers in the big city who still do it in 80-100 American elms and cottonwood s
you don't mess with those guys ha ha

That's awesome, I'm glad to hear it.
 
.....For me (personally), foot locking is about as useful as body thrusting. Both outdated and hard on the body with better (i.e. - more efficient) methods of ascending....

I couldn't agree more, Chris. There is just no comparison in energy expenditures. Foot locking the tail of a DdRT system, which I believe is what Willard is talking about, is easy to do but still not as efficient and just too slow for me.

For what it's worth, when I was young and dumb, I always hated secured foot locking after having done it without ( unsecured ) for so long. It was always throw the rope as high as you could and climb it, then climb the tree to the top. The time it took from getting out of the truck to being in the tree working was very short.
 
I can't imagine not being able to footlock. I have the pantin and the srt ascents down but I still find footlocking to be a very important part of my day. As is a body thrust now and again. What I have eliminated is the long footlocks. 15 feet is about as long as I will ever footlock, if it's more than that, I find an easier way.
 
That certainly seems like it would be a good way of reducing tissue damaging movement, but I wonder. During removal days, if you have 200 logs that need to be hand tossed into the truck, is it ok to use bad lifting form on 20 of them? It does seem that the micro trauma caused from some activities will go unnoticed by the body until changes from those traumas occurs.
 
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  • #40
Exactly David and I guess that that is one of the points that I wanted to make is that we can foot lock all we want when we're younger, but won't the micro trauma catch up to us as we get older?

Kevin, I'm glad to see that you realize that the foot lock does have its limitation for ascending.
 
I haven't footlocked in anger for several years, used to be fairly hardcore too, every day at work and comps too. 19.something second personal best to 50'

The trigger for me was a reappearance of an old knee injury, unrelated to foot locking IMO, and moving to the flat lands where 50' is a tall tree. I just don't need foot locking in my life now, and if I had to start making long ascents again I would set up an srt system.
 
Go ahead.
That would be interesting, but in no way telling the real truth, since we, who hang at forums, are constantly being reminded of the newest stuff.

I was not talking about SRT work climbing BTW, just SRT access.


I'll go with Stig on this one. On my street you can hear a chainsaw a mile in either direction. I often jump on the bike and ride down to see if it's anyone I know locally. I would say 6 of 10 outfits don't have full PPE. . . missing hardhat, hearing protection, eyewear, no chaps on the ground, spiking prune-jobs. Rarely see SRT.
 
Yup they laughed at my kask helmet, was told I looked like a power ranger last week.( guy I used to work for here and there)f'em
 
This old picture of me working aerial with this helmet is kind of embarrassing for me to look at today, those safety glasses didn't help either:D


anna and babies 002.jpg
 
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