Akimbo on Hyperclimb

That’s funny. Can’t believe there’s a market for that. I’m finishing a big pine removal tomorrow that I started today after lunch. Gonna be climbing with my new rrp. How does oils react with mechanical hitches? I have a bottle of that sap zapper if it’s safe to use on a working hitch
 
It's to obtain the babys from some selected/ remarquable trees, before the squirels pick their taxes. Be sure of the origin too and not mix them with some random genetic. You can never be sure when they are already on the ground. So get your ass up there, all the way up, just before the sky, to harvest the best quality. I couldn't do that.
 
Are there any general guidelines for finding seeds in cones, eg length of time after forming, stuck to the tree or not, so on... I've looked a few times, and never saw any seeds.
 
How conifer seeds disperse varies from species to species, as one would expect. Some disintegrate on the tree, as the seed ripens...like Noble fir, for example.

If the species is one of those that the cones remain intact as the seeds ripen, like pines and Doug fir, and then fall off the tree, then the seeds have long since been blown away by the wind on their helicopter blades by the time you see them on the ground.

If you wanted to find seeds in cones of either type, you'd have to harvest them greenish, and allow them to ripen inside something like a burlap bag. See my description in the thread I linked above...near the end of the thread, I think.

If you didn't care if they were fully ripe, you could harvest cones and just dissect them to find seeds layered between the cone flakes.

The more they are flared open, the riper they are and the more likely the seed has flown.
 
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i met some old conepickers, they had some wild storys. they used to only have one rope per team for rescue, they would freeclimb (with spikes) to a sturdy anchorpoint. they would tie (attachment point on the back of the harness) in with a short rope wich had a shock absorber (metal spring). than they would continiue their way to the top. when they slipped/top broke out and fell hard into the rope (injury) , somebody would freeclimb up (with the rescue rope) take a wrap and lower the injured person to the ground. usually you get paid by the kg, they said they were rushing.. also that was during the gdr.

@Burnham what was your technique?

@TINYHULK i have two ropes designated for sappy stuff/canola oil. never used the sap zapper, even if safe for ropes it might be more expensive than canola oil? i use my bulldogbone on those ropes but usually hitch/wrench.

friedrich
 
I've heard some bad stories from Ambro Lauri after the Wall fell and suddenly there was big money in harvesting Normanniana seeds.
 
When I worked in conifers, picking cones or cutting branches for x-mas decorations, which was big busines here, I used a large figure 8.
Not ideal, but the only thing that would stand up to to pitch.
Back in the 7-80es I put in 2 months a year doing that.
 
When I worked in conifers, picking cones or cutting branches for x-mas decorations, which was big busines here, I used a large figure 8.
Not ideal, but the only thing that would stand up to to pitch.
Back in the 7-80es I put in 2 months a year doing that.

hey stig, so you used the figure 8 for descending and a prussik for ascending? i know a crazy guy, his srt system consists of a f-8 and a handascender, he does'nt believe in redundancy.
 
Nope.
Going up, we freeclimbed.
That is how I broke my back in -83.

Got smarter after that.
2 lanyards for climbing up and a rope with a figure 8 for swinging from tree to tree.
Once I got good at the transferring thing, I could climb up in the morning and only come down for lunch and quitting time.
That was for cutting branches, which I did 2 months a year. for some 15 years.
Nowadays that is all done by underpaid Eastern Europeans working from buckets.
Bless the EU.
 
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On the subject of removing pitch from gear... Is it absolutely necessary? Doing my pine this weekend, everything locked up tight from pitch. It was pretty much unusable. I'm checking out some of my gear now, and it seems... not so bad. Will I regret it if I try to use my stuff, especially hitches without cleaning first? Ideally, the pitch will just fall off from use and friction. I suspect it may heat up and get gooey again. What's gonna happen if I use my stuff without removing the pitch first?
 
To a degree it depends on how bad the buildup is, and whether or not you're going to get it pitchy again the next time you climb.

The more often your gear is exposed, the more pitch builds up, and it's easier to clean it more often.

On the other hand, if you're going to be in cleaner trees for the foreseeable future, pitch can wear off, some anyway.
 
I think I'm done with the pitchy trees til winter unless something non optional pops up. I should have known better, and taken more precautions, but now I know how bad it can get.
 
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