It comes packed in a nice small plastic case that includes two protective covers and a ziplock of accessories…spare closure bolt, fid, a split ring, micro snaphook, and an endless loop. These last two items fail to measure up…the micro snaphook is supposed to fit the hole in the end of the stainless steel weight that extends out the leading end of the RK, and doesn’t…the “endless loop” is merely an 8” length of throw line loosely knotted with an overhand.
BTW, I have some decent pictures of the RK and can post some if anyone wants to see the device close up.
I will attach the RopeArmor Disclaimer.
The micro snap hook is meant to be girth hitched to the throwline to use as a finger hold for the one hand throw technique or to mimic a ring to create a loop for the two hand cradle throw or as stopper pin when used with FASTattach system or as a stopper for an internal knotted connection for an easy slip on slip off. The endless loop is a soft connector option. Its purpose is simply to provide a quick and easy way to connect throw line or additional weight or access ropes. Use the loop at either end of the RopeKnight as you see fit. Two lil tools I use. Simple, inexpensive and easily replaced. Some times you need a nail sometimes a screw what sucks is when you have neither. Most times I prefer a good screw.
Cheers
The protective covers do not inspire. The large nerf football-like one certainly would protect any struck item, but using it will render any advantages the RK offers moot. The smaller vinyl cover offers less protection, but still hurts the intended performance significantly, imo. If I felt the need for either in a specific situation, I’d prefer to use a throw bag instead.
Foam Protector Sleeve offers the greatest protection in the industry of any throw weight. I have used it over a greenhouse. Your moot point does not make sense since the foam sleeve will slide off during tip isolation or RopeKnight retrieval. RopeKnight with foam sleeve is approx 2.5” by 7”. This nominal size makes it comparable to standard throw bag size considering throw bags expand and malleable form consistently gets stuck. RopeKnight with foam is more aerodynamic and softer than any weight on the market and is an improvement in targeting and tip isolation..
I have provided the optimum tool for performance and two options for protection of targets, each with only minor sacrifice in performance. The vinyl sleeve is the perfect compromise. Soft smooth vinyl with high impact dampening rubber.
This is our Youtube promo video https://www.youtube.com/user/Ropearmour
Hand throwing is fine if you use one hand…if you prefer the cradle throw, you’ll have to figure out how to attach a ring to the tail end of the RK. See Thomas’ website for help there. You’ll end up with a snag point, I think.
The RopeKnight with the addition of the split/key ring will improve accuracy, we provide an easy to use ring that does exactly as a traditional throw bag ring and is virtually snag free. The split ring is wire in essence and will pull apart and free up the RopeKnight and throw line for retrieval or tip isolation. The snag point referred to is common with throw bags at the ring or the bag itself. Options or alternate solutions and freedom for personal creativity is what sets RopeArmour apart from classic throw weights. When used optimally the only snag point with the RopeKnight is where the throwline enters the RopeKnight point and that is approximately 3/32”. Traditional throw bag snag point is 1’ to 1 ½”.
This is the key difference between bags and RopeKnight. Throw line and RopeKnight are one smooth and continuous device.
If you are a Bigshot user, as I am, I have to say the only way I was comfortable with my personal safety and risk to the rubbers of the sling was with a trigger release. I had bad luck hand releasing, due to the RK not fitting the BS pouch well. A tiny bump against the pole would dislodge the RK from the barely balanced location across the pouch. If you want to launch the RK, I really advise use of a trigger.
I am a BigShoter as well and yes this does happen on the rare occasion. I do not blame the BigShot, honestly it is simply a matter of technique. Also I DO NOT believe in bad luck! The BS can be adapted with a bit of rubber stitched into the pouch or application of rubber cement or other pliable adhesive like silicon or caulking compound to avoid it slipping. The RopeKnight slips and slides thru the tree crown and it will be sure to slip the grip of the pouch if care is not taken. Slip and sliding thru the crown is far more important than the occasional flub imho.
The RopeKnight most certainly does ricochet, unless you can do as Thomas instructs and ALWAYS throw accurately and carefully . I fear I cannot measure up to this bar. It’s worse on BS shots, due to the higher launch speeds no doubt. The problem is especially obvious in the Dougs, where I aim to pass over a branch right next to the trunk. A few inches off, hit the bole, and it flies away crazy.
But here’s the thing…the RopeKnight actually works better than I expected it to, once you get it in the canopy. It does pull free from one or two wraps around a branch better than a bag. Really. The tubular shape and tapered ends drop past a branch without sitting on top of it like a bag sometimes frustratingly will. You can pull it gently up and rock it over a limb without the overshoot that a bag frequently will do. In general, I’d say it is quite superior at manipulations to isolate a tie in point. I don’t buy Thomas’ hype that the “rocket ship” shape flies any truer than a bag, but it truly does work well at isolation tricks.
True, the ricochet I will not try to argue. I will add that the high speed of the RopeKnight coupled with the BS can be toned down. You do not need to crank that sucka so hard. Take it easy, RopeKnight requires less effort. It’s a double ended bullet for Pete’s sake. On the other hand if crown piercing accuracy is a priority than the RopeKnight excels at this ever more important task, up into the crown thru the target thru tree obstacles to the ground thru to tip isolation and then all over again as the RopeShield smoothing over the throw line to access rope transition. Which is what many agree is a great and valuable time saver money making device.
I will suggest the inconvenience of a ricochet is minor in comparison to the RopeKnights added benefits.Rocketships fly better than bags...
For my use, it is a bit light…it doesn’t have enough weight to consistently pull 100+ feet of throw line over a branch and to the ground. The instructions say I can add a piece of steel rod into the cavity of the smaller cone…I didn’t try that, but if one were to pursue it, I see potential conflicts with attachment of the throw line.
The initial kit lost in transport also included the 9/16” brass weight at 2 ounces. The insertion of the brass weight easily allowed for the insertion of the throwline as well as capturing the brass wt with the securing bolt.
I used this added weight for about 6 months and found it superfluous. What I did find is higher, faster and more accurate shoots because of improved focus with less pull effort. The added weight was not needed 1. Because it flies fast and maintains it speed for longer and its bullet shape skates and slips and slides past tree branches with great effectiveness. How much more effective? Well how much faster can you ski down a hill on your ass compared to steel edged skis? Much, much, faster. Right! Either way the option is there for you to easily add weight to the interior with maintenance of the RopeKnight's optimal geometrics.
And those instructions …2 pages of closely spaced warnings, tips, and directions for use. I doubt most climbers I know would wade through it all. There are good tidbits there, no doubt. I spent the better part of 30 minutes on them, and did learn some stuff.
Sorry about the instructions. I think I deserve a gold medal for that alone. I did the best I could without having a team of Lawyers and engineers etc looking it over. It is a difficult thing to instruct with words. Many times I wish I had just stuck to tree work. Sucker for punishment I guess. 30 minutes to read and weeks to write. I feel your pain sir.
One use I was anticipating being very good, didn’t turn out to be so for me…the RopeShield. The smaller cone is sized to fit 13mm and smaller lines, and since I use a spliced eye climbing rope, it doesn’t fit. You could use the bigger cone, but it’s too big, the fit is sloppy and the tapered end is much bigger than the small cone…not nearly so slippery for pulling through a branch union or a friction saver.
I have to disagree regarding the RopeShield.
This video sums it up rather well. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y6U_Vk_KGIg
Many arbos have commented that it is the RopeShield that is there ace in the hole for positioning ropes.
The larger opening end of the smaller cone will smooth over ≤ 5/8” rope or the eye of a ½” rope. I have the pics to prove it. The bigger cone can be used in tandem to create a larger area to slip past an obstacle and is useful for positioning ropes less than an equal to 7/8”
In the end, this review does not constitute a ringing endorsement, I know. On the other hand, as I said it does work much better than I expected. I rather doubt I’d spend my money on one, but I can see where some might, and I’d not think them silly to do so.
I thank you for the endorsement none the less. Ringing well into the future and thankful for your efforts and taking part in this excercise.
Let me also give props to Thomas himself…he went out on a limb with me, knowing I was far from positive regarding his product. That was pretty brave.
The RopeKnight is art, science and technology. Art will always be argued and so will science and technology. The truth is that the science worksat a point in time and that is what gives me and others the confidence to use this to get us home to loved ones on time with a lil more cash in the wallet and to make rope positioning a whole lot easier. You can do your own math. For me and the trees I work in the tool pays for itself the 1st time it gets your lines and ropes into a difficult tree. Its about making money and keeping money in your pocket...
BTW, I have some decent pictures of the RK and can post some if anyone wants to see the device close up.
I will try to get another RK out this week to Nick to start the travels.
Mb each TreeHouser can engrave it with their initial and when the travel ends
we can auction it off and donate the proceeds.
Cheers
Snaky looking or slippery fish. Yes it all makes perfect sense for the work we do and
what we ask of a throw weight.
Yet what I don't understand is the road blocks.
People will say its too dangerous. And all I can see is that it co-operates and that is what makes it safer.
I was happy to discover this thread. I am lazy at heart in many ways, and so I haven’t put the effort into trying the Rope Armor out and figuring how to use this tool to my advantage in spite of the fact I have had it for a few weeks now. (Enough options my mind says it’s going to be hard to learn and kind of shuts down.) I’ll watch the video available again and I’ll keep checking back on this thread for ideas and I’ll take it out of the box and actually shoot it in a tree next time I place a line.
I remember trying not to spend the $180 or whatever. One side of my mind is going ,”You could get by without it, you have been able to...”. And I say, “ yeah thats right I’ll save the money.” Then the other side of my mind comes up with pictures of gnarly dense canopied Cypress trees that all I have to do is get a line in them and pull them over (bag keeps getting hung up). Or dead tight crotched trees that if I could just get secure placement of a pull line I could safely get it down and be done on the job with no risk and no climbing. Next thing I’m talking to Luke and asking him to put one of those torpedo throw weights in the box too.
RopeArmour, Thanks for making the right tool for the right job!
Time to pass it on, eh?! It's going to the next Nick? PM your address, other Nick!
Here's my thoughts on the device. Some isn't mind blowing- but some things worth considering.
1- It wobbles. I think it's something about the way I throw- but at the point of release, the line gets a little oomph added to it and something about that makes the thing rock back and forth in mid air. It's not a big deal, but it did have me wondering if I was losing a lot of power to the wobble. I felt like I had to throw a little harder than I would with a typical throwBAG.
2- Screw the screw. There's a little screw that holds the thing together. I had it come off twice and had to find it in the grass. The reason is that I'm about to carry around a screw driver so I just tightened it as tight as I could by hand by pushing my thumb down on top of the screw. But it got me wondering. I don't think the screw is necessary. If it were mine to design, I'd ditch it in favor of either
a- threading the rope knight itself. or
b- Using some sort of a spring push pin system. I don't know what it's called, but I think you could envision holding the top and bottom pieces in your hand, pushing them together hard, then doing a quarter turn in one direction and letting go and the internal spring would push and lock the whole thing together.
I think the threading might be the easiest thing. I'd also either knurl the top and bottom pieces to make it easier to grip and/or switch from a cylindrical profile to an octagonal one.
3- The ricochet factor is VERY high. On a rec climb out in the woods this thing was fun because I could throw willie-nillie (or should I say, sotc-nillie?!). But I had to be mindful to swap it back out for a normal throwbag when working around houses. It's not that the RopeKnight is more or less likely to break a window than a throw bag is, but I feel like I have better control over a throwbag and there is a dramatically smaller chance of the throwbag hitting things I don't want it to hit. When the RopeKnight hits a limb, but ricochets very effectively!
4- the thing does not get stuck. It does that very well. I did my best to get it stuck and the only time I could do it is when there were so many wraps around the limb that I was fighting the actual limb to throwline friction.
5- It pulls very neatly through the canopy, as it's supposed to.
6- I loved using its rope-setting pull through feature where you use the nose of it as an interface between the throwline and climbing line. It helped me a few spots that would NOT have worked with the standard method. In this sense, it saved me some time.
7- Packaging: The carrying case is SUPER fancy. But once I started using it, the box just was taking up space on the truck. It should have some other purpose. It's a nice box that would not get thrown away. I would just need to find a dedicated use for it. As far as all the other things in it- I never used any of them. Everything seemed either superfluous or to chincy to bother with. When Nick 2 gets them, he'll see that all that stuff is still shiny. I didn't find a fid to be necessary. All my throwlines are spliced and at this time I am using the Yale Longshot which is a thicker line, and I had now trouble threading the eye of the line through the eye of the RopeKnight. On another note, I might consider adding some of that foam inside the box to hold and properly display the rope knight for when the user first opens it. I have a feeling that they'll never put the device back in the box and the box will get repurposed, but I think if someone is paying that much for a throwbag, they will really appreciate the wow-factor of seeing it up on a little pedestal when they open the box.
8- The literature seemed WAY to complicated for me. I don't know what it is, but it was hard to follow and I just stopped reading and just started using it. I think it needs to be streamlined. Cut to the bare bones and make it fast.
So all in all, it totally does what you say it will. I think it can be better, too, by ditching the screw and polishing up the literature and packaging. That said, I don't think I could keep one on my truck for fear that one of the guys on the crew will send one through a window or face!
PM your stuff and I'll send it your way, Nick!
Lemme know if you have any questions and I'll give more details where I can.
My reply to Nicks comments are in Green and Bold.
Thanks to everyone who take the time to read and understand this thing.
Its simply a technological improvement to the thrwo weight with the added benefit of smoothing over throwline to access rope transition and identifying LEAD(Pb) use in th industry and to ahve some fun.
Here's my thoughts on the device. Some isn't mind blowing- but some things worth considering.
1- It wobbles. I think it's something about the way I throw- but at the point of release, the line gets a little oomph added to it and something about that makes the thing rock back and forth in mid air. It's not a big deal, but it did have me wondering if I was losing a lot of power to the wobble. I felt like I had to throw a little harder than I would with a typical throwBAG.
[/COLOR]The wobble, Do your balls hang low? I think you need to get handle on it. Joking! Seriously a dart or arrow will wobble. Did you try the long gun technique? How are you throwing it?
2- Screw the screw. There's a little screw that holds the thing together. I had it come off twice and had to find it in the grass. The reason is that I'm about to carry around a screw driver so I just tightened it as tight as I could by hand by pushing my thumb down on top of the screw. But it got me wondering. I don't think the screw is necessary. If it were mine to design, I'd ditch it in favor of either a- threading the rope knight itself. Or b- Using some sort of a spring push pin system. I don't know what it's called, but I think you could envision holding the top and bottom pieces in your hand, pushing them together hard, then doing a quarter turn in one direction and letting go and the internal spring would push and lock the whole thing together. I think the threading might be the easiest thing. I'd also either knurl the top and bottom pieces to make it easier to grip and/or switch from a cylindrical profile to an octagonal one.
Yeah torque down or check the screw often! You don’t need a screw driver. I have used a button, zipper pull, wood chip, pocket change etc. It’s a hefty size slot on the head of the coupling bolt so most anything is going to fit.
Thanks for your thoughts and suggestion with regards to other connection methods.
We have looked and tried almost every type of method to connect two tubes of same and/or differing diameters and wall thickness, and the bolt is the only system that stands up to the impact tests and keeps it at an optimal geometric form and size. You have to remember it has to fall from 100’ or more and reach maximum velocity and hit hard rock and still be functional plus find its way thru tight crotches and obstacles. Threading the two cones together = fail, Bayonet connection = fail, Compression connection = fail. RopeKnight Bolt coupling method = PASS. Destruction testing is a fun part of product development and a big cost. RopeKnight is near indestructible. That’s how we can give it a LIFE TIME GUARANTEE! Plus its easily field repairable with common tools like file, hammer and screwdriver. Also we have to remember machining is a big part of the cost. What you envision would drive the cost up into 3 0r 4 hundred dollar range, add to wall thickness and add to the weight/size and and still have huge potential for failure.
RopeKnight is designed to go up, down, all around, smooth and easy for a lifetime.
3- The ricochet factor is VERY high. On a rec climb out in the woods this thing was fun because I could throw willie-nillie (or should I say, sotc-nillie?!). But I had to be mindful to swap it back out for a normal throwbag when working around houses. It's not that the RopeKnight is more or less likely to break a window than a throw bag is, but I feel like I have better control over a throwbag and there is a dramatically smaller chance of the throwbag hitting things I don't want it to hit. When the RopeKnight hits a limb, but ricochets very effectively!
OK I get this! I like to and usually make hard throwing shots so as to overcome the throwline sailing/parachuting or drag on the low limbs or understory. If there is a low limb either miss it or throw softer OR I count on stopping the line or catching it in the lower crown. Like throwing any object/bag, ball, grapple, football, baseball, basketball, golf ball etc. See where I am going. You need to think and plan for what you know and what you can predict. If the defense is crowding your receiver you have options; Hard, fast and accurate or slow, soft and accurate. Either way with a RopeKnight its win win because RopeKnight is hard and smooth and flies further, faster with greater accuracy. As I remember my old bags would meet obstacles and fall short, deflect, slow down or get stuck = Nature of the beast/ball/bag.
4- the thing does not get stuck. It does that very well. I did my best to get it stuck and the only time I could do it is when there were so many wraps around the limb that I was fighting the actual limb to throwline friction.
5- It pulls very neatly through the canopy, as it's supposed to.
6- I loved using its rope-setting pull through feature where you use the nose of it as an interface between the throwline and climbing line. It helped me a few spots that would NOT have worked with the standard method. In this sense, it saved me some time.
Time is money; you should try to translate that into dollars over a few months. Might be surprised that it adds up to the cost of one Knight. Cash money in the bank!
7- Packaging: The carrying case is SUPER fancy. But once I started using it, the box just was taking up space on the truck. It should have some other purpose. It's a nice box that would not get thrown away. I would just need to find a dedicated use for it. As far as all the other things in it- I never used any of them. Everything seemed either superfluous or to chincy to bother with. When Nick 2 gets them, he'll see that all that stuff is still shiny. I didn't find a fid to be necessary. All my throwlines are spliced and at this time I am using the Yale Longshot which is a thicker line, and I had now trouble threading the eye of the line through the eye of the RopeKnight. On another note, I might consider adding some of that foam inside the box to hold and properly display the rope knight for when the user first opens it. I have a feeling that they'll never put the device back in the box and the box will get repurposed, but I think if someone is paying that much for a throwbag, they will really appreciate the wow-factor of seeing it up on a little pedestal when they open the box.
The case and accessories for me is no different than any other tool, a dedicated place for all things that one may need, a way to keep organized and at the ready.
8- The literature seemed WAY to complicated for me. I don't know what it is, but it was hard to follow and I just stopped reading and just started using it. I think it needs to be streamlined. Cut to the bare bones and make it fast.
So all in all, it totally does what you say it will. I think it can be better, too, by ditching the screw and polishing up the literature and packaging. That said, I don't think I could keep one on my truck for fear that one of the guys on the crew will send one through a window or face!
That’s what I am sayin, over and over. It works! Nick I appreciate your safety concern with employees. In the same respect how do you trust them with climbing, pruning, rigging, driving etc? You instruct, demonstrate, teach, explain, and answer questions and caution. You set them up for success. Right? We like to use the right tool for the job? Makes work a pleasure.
I was happy to discover this thread. I am lazy at heart in many ways, and so I haven’t put the effort into trying the Rope Armor out and figuring how to use this tool to my advantage in spite of the fact I have had it for a few weeks now. (Enough options my mind says it’s going to be hard to learn and kind of shuts down.) I’ll watch the video available again and I’ll keep checking back on this thread for ideas and I’ll take it out of the box and actually shoot it in a tree next time I place a line.
I remember trying not to spend the $180 or whatever. One side of my mind is going ,”You could get by without it, you have been able to...”. And I say, “ yeah thats right I’ll save the money.” Then the other side of my mind comes up with pictures of gnarly dense canopied Cypress trees that all I have to do is get a line in them and pull them over (bag keeps getting hung up). Or dead tight crotched trees that if I could just get secure placement of a pull line I could safely get it down and be done on the job with no risk and no climbing. Next thing I’m talking to Luke and asking him to put one of those torpedo throw weights in the box too.
RopeArmour, Thanks for making the right tool for the right job!
Thanks Merle!
Reading your words helps stoke the fire!
I am trying a few different things one is a short Stainless Steel cable for the FASTattach.
I am pretty confident it will be a welcome customization.
See how it goes once things dry up here.
Cheers
My experience has been excellent in conifers.
For example last year I had to remove dead tops in approx 100ft x 100 yr old Norway Spruce x 8 of them.
I used the 2.2 fling it and added the brass wt to the interior and the vinyl protective sleeve.
Every shot made it to the ground and from there I added another RopeKnight so two in tandem for smooth tip isolation and back down along the stem to set up a rope walker with a base tie.
A few times the extra wt and RopeKnight weren't needed.
I do not know if you can imagine the gnarlyness of Norway Spruce but the bark, dead wood and hang ups is a freakin pig of a nightmare. RopeKnight saved me tons of time and made me loads of cash on that job.
Hope it makes it your way real soon. We Love to share in this kind of experience!
Cheers
Stephen, I had pretty decent luck with the RK running on Doug fir limbs, which can be both rough and sticky with pitch. No internal weight added, and using 2mm Rhino line over limbs between 50 and 75 feet.
I had more trouble at 100 feet, mostly due to the additional line weight that has to be lifted, though it's inevitable that the more throwline in play, the higher the likelyhood that more friction points will be encountered too. If you have the brass insert, it'll do ok, I think. But that will cut the throw height you can manage. Trade-offs, like most things in life.
I hear ya. I am curious about our notoriuous PITA grey pines. My shots to TIP range 75-90 foot poften enough. I would really like to see how it performs.. They often have very tight crotches.
Only left one once.. One of the indestructable ones. Stuck right next to some primaries... I figured it would make a nice present for the line clearance guys....
I had already made my money and said the hell with it.
The price will be an issue for some, especially if they only throw once and awhile. Even then not having the right tool/system can actually cost much more in the long run. Its rare an arborist budgets for throwlining but when you get hung up a few times and have to resort to other techniques or suffer hours lost than that will come out of someones pocket.
Can we all agree on the advantages?
Mb we can work out the costs of throw balls compared to RopeArmor? This image sums it all up pretty well.
My personal numbers as the principle arborist for my biz, add up to a savings/profit of approximately 1 to 2 Thousand dollars per year. I throw and isolate ropes 3 to 4 times per week. I have gained 1 to 3 hours per week plus the extended life of the throwline. RopeArmour is a throw weight device/access system . RopeArmour is much more than just a throw weight; it is six tools in one. We have done our best to improve the classic throw ball and system. An arbclimber who is searching for something different and an improvement can check out the RopeKnight. RopeArmour advantages are quite clear and so add up to wise investment.
Please, if you can input your own numbers to quantify the saving/profit of RopeKnight in comparison to traditional throw bags.
How many throw bags a year do you use?
Is your throwline being retired prematurely, damaged excessively or replaced?
How many hours are lost due to snags and jams?
How many hours are lost due to throw line snags and jams?
How much time and money are you spending replacing or repairing throw bags?
How much time and money is lost due to uncooperative throw bags?
How much aggravation is your throw ball causing you? Is Life too short for throwing a bag?
Another interesting note is I can now trust my groundies to launch it. With instruction and practice I can trust them to BigShot for me. Actual throwing of a RopeKnight takes much more practice.
For some the numbers may add up in favour of the RopeKnight and for others the Throw ball.
RopeArmour is a task specific multipurpose throw weight device and system that responds and performs
Precisely as we ask of it. Smooth, fast, predictable, adaptable, customizable, strong, accurate, higher, further and safer.
We guarantee it! Our Guarantee is the only throw weight in the industry offered for a Life Time! Plus we guarantee better performance than the traditional bag.
RopeArmour you do a great job of coming up with ways to illustrate/communicate the value of your product. And now asking end users to input their own value/no.s is a brilliant idea. I mean how many tree people are sitting around waiting for someone else to tell them what they should think of something anyway? It doesn’t seem to be a part of our makeup to me.
A little while back I posted a couple of reasons I wanted to have one on hand anytime I might use throwline (tight crotches and gnarly dense growth in tops). And if it were just for those occasions it would be worth it to me. The instant I hit “post” I thought of how much I could have used it for another thing. Most of my work is within 30 mi. of the Pacific Ocean and farmers of old thought it a clever idea to plant Euc., Pine, and Cypess in big long hedgerows and in groves to break the wind coming off the ocean. Great idea, it worked. Then the kids, grandkids, and etc. come along and plant houses within squishing distance of those trees and they now want them all down.
I used to do a lot of work setting lines in trees to safely pull them. I impressed myself by climbing one strategic tree and swinging over to several others where possible as a way to speed things up. Ha! Like Burnham’s tag line statement, I was confident (impressed with myself) only because I hadn’t yet fully grasped that since the big shot has been around (I’ve only been using it a couple of years) I didn’t even need to have climbed 99% of those trees.
Most of the time I do trimming and shaping of trees now. But Saturday I bid and got a job with modest side limb clearing on 25 Cypress trees at a vineyard. All RopeArmor shots because of dense dead foliage. I also gave that owner a bid to take down a one hundred tree grove of Euc.s., only three or four of those trees have such heavy side limbs that I would climb and piece off that side for safety. Seventy % Bigshot line sets (some can just be felled).
Thomas is it? If, as I suspect, you are putting far more into your product than you are getting out of it financially. And if you ever get discouraged of trying to help us see how this would be a benefit to our business and our bottom line please let me know ahead of time. I will want to do what it takes to always have this available to myself as a work saving tool. Thanks for developing this product and putting some of the fun and interest back in tree work for me. Regards, Merle
Yes my name is Thomas and Thanks Merle for the reply and encouragement. Its a hell of roller coaster ride and with good people like you I feel everything will be all right.
Most throwers find the traditional method is good enough to get the work done and for me, like you the BigShot is a game changer.
RopeArmor is also necessity for me for the reasons of missed shots and isolating tips/ropes etc.
In the end it really is about overcoming obstacles in the trees, life in general and the marketplace. At times it seems insurmountable for alot of reasons.
We are here for the long haul and plan on providing other solutions to things we may not even be aware of yet.
Identifying problems and looking for solutions is what we all do, we just looked at our classic bag and said we can improve it.
Imagining our world without a RA solution? Its pretty good science but is it good enough for a generation or two.
I know in my heart it is a positive improvement!
Cheers
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. I fear I cannot measure up to this bar. It’s worse on BS shots, due to the higher launch speeds no doubt. The problem is especially obvious in the Dougs, where I aim to pass over a branch right next to the trunk. A few inches off, hit the bole, and it flies away crazy.
…2 pages of closely spaced warnings, tips, and directions for use. I doubt most climbers I know would wade through it all. There are good tidbits there, no doubt. I spent the better part of 30 minutes on them, and did learn some stuff.
