Friction Savers

[Bounce]

I mainly use natural and also the ring & ring type friction saver. Natural on removals, and fs for pruning. I recognize that going without a fs isn't going to damage the tree real bad (especially not the doug firs I mainly climb) but its the philosphical point for me. If I went to the doctor to get some stitches and noticed he didn't bother to use a sterized needle or something, and then he tells me "your body has all kinds of bugs in it. A few more aren't going to matter," I'd go find another doctor. Bottom line for me is, I got hired to improve the health of these trees. Just like I feel it is unethical to rip off my customers by overcharging, it see it as unethical to do pruning without a friction saver. This is a personal thing though; I can't condemn anybody for not living up to my standards.

 

[squisher]

Oh boy can O worms, Sean, can O worms.

 

[Ax-Man]

I am going to stick my neck out for the chopping block on this friction saver.

Would any of you guys climb on this homemade FS ??? I can't splice so I have to make due with those cord weaking knots. I made this only because I was never happy with what I bought from the usual suppliers.

This is one of four different FS that I use for when I need something like a mini rope guide for doing small trees with small diameter limbs

I just made this one to replace the one that was almost identical except I was using Stable Braid instead of that Black Max that I never cared for as a climbing hitch. Instead of the pulley shackle I was using a ART mini block that I have found another use for other than on this type friction saver. The ART block is just a tad bigger than that shackle and retrival wasn't all that great. Never got it stuck in the 3 seasons I used this homemade FS but it wasn't as smooth on retrival as I would like it to be. Always took a second or third pull with a little rope whipping to free it. A ring ring retrieved better sometimes.

I am sure I'll get axed for this one. But before I climbed on this I did test it by having two guys on it down on the ground. Up in the tree I have litterally jumped and swung on it harder than normal to see if it would hold while having a second tie in of course before soloing on it.

Let the roasting begin.

Just picking up where we kind of left off before the technical difficulities.

Looks like we are fixed.

 

[NickfromWI]

Larry, nicely done. What is the point of the little ring on the prusik?

love
nick

 

[Ax-Man]

Thanks Nick

The second small ring is for a back-up to the big ring. With the smaller diameter line the coils of the prussik tend to get sucked into the bigger ring. With 1/2 line this isn't such a big concern. With the ring right against the bridge it keeps the prussik rom being distorted so to speak, the coils stay in the same postion all the time. Retrival is a little better using the smaller diameter line than it is with 1/2 " as you don't have so much line occupying space on the big ring.

I don't if everyone is familar with the Petzl Treesbe friction saver. I liked that friction saver, the webbing was nice, it was light, the length was about right for most of my needs but it has the biggest diameter steel ring on the market but it is a thin ring. The Treesbe was works best with a pulley in front of the ring it comes with, but still left something to be desired IMO. The pulley I used wouldn't line up with the ring all the time unless you use a big pulley.

I rigged the Treebe in the same fashion as a Rope Guide with an ART block. The prussik will slip through the Treebe"s ring which is how I came upon using a second ring. That didn't turn out so good either. Needed to have a large and a small ring for it to work. Just thought I would pass this bit of info along in case someone goes down the same road.

That was overkill to me which lead to the homemade mini- rope guide with the back-up ring.

Forgot to add this, we got our picture posting back but the edit funtion is slow. The yellow tape is to stiffen the splice so that pulley doesn't move around so much, which was a problem. Seems to work anyway.

 

[countryboypa31]

Where do you find the ART block? I want to buy one, just the block that is, but can't find it? Any help?

 

[NickfromWI]

I get mine from Greg Good. They run me about $65 each and I use them when people are ordering custom friction savers. They are the best pulley for the job. The cocoon pulley is interesting....

love
nick

 

[Drella]

I couldn't have said it better

The biggest factor in my decision to use friction savers was to reduce my injury to the tree. But I've come to accept that trees live with bumps and bruises and animals chewing their bark without any serious consequences.

Ditto.

I've had the opportunity to examine tens of thousands of trees over my climbing career and I have yet to find a single tree that was compromised as a result of a climber's lifeline damaging a fork..

Exactly.

 

[rbtree]

I disagree. While the damage I've seen from natural crotching is usually rather minor, it is still damage, and could cause some decay.

I like a fs for many reasons besides being nice to the tree. Makes it easy to go up and down, always a consistent friction level....., allows for moving from one side to the other easier....

For years, I've used two biners, one small, one large, and a pulley on one side, to reduce friction. Now I have a couple of Nick's spliced eye lines, with a lock stitched scaffold =knot, to which I added a prussic to make the FS adjustable. Gotta get another one, a lot longer.....Much easier to install and reinstall... a tad bulkier, and more chance of hanging up on retrieval. Cheaper than a RG....can be set from the ground...and works just fine. Just more friction than a RG, but I find the amount to be just right.
I'll take pics.....

 

[Drella]

I've been in the same tree, year after year, and in only one, did I notice any damage done by my line running naturally. It was on a Beech and when I returned the next year, I noticed that it had healed up perfectly. And the only reason it did have damage is because the year before I was showing off by dropping 50' in a matter of a few seconds.

Now, when I was training for the OHISA climbing comps I had set up a pulley in my garage and would hand over hand without thrusting-- till I reached the top.

If you've ever done this, you would know how tuff it is, even in your best physical shape. For this reason alone, I never wanted to run a friction saver.

Is it difficult to do a body thrust with a friction saver? What I mean is, when thrusting up- and just before you slide your knot, is it tuff holding yourself up without sliding down -whilst holding with one hand?

I'm not opposed using a FS. especially when I can use it for spar work as my false top...