High Lines

[MasterBlaster]

 

[squisher]

Ya congrats on a job well done. That's some skills for sure.

 

[Eric H-L]

Once made a Hail Mary cut in a heavy Euc top. I had a good tie-in point in a neighbor tree. If something bad happen I could just float away, not slam. I was confident with that, but afraid my safety would pull me tight to the trunk if it split out. So before putting in the back cut I transfered the safety snap to my Levi 501 double tack stitched belt loop. Then revved my ol' Mac SP 81 to the top end and smacked it in the back of that top and powered in without any hesitation. Man, what a ride when that top let go. Shook me like a rig doll and I tossed the saw. Which was tethered to the trunk. The tension in the top broke over a foot of hingewood across the stem, splintered like a broken broom handle, but the amazing part is the belt loop held through it all.

Before I did anything else I looked down to check for stitch pulling on the loop, the material in the waist band was pulled enough to show thread separation, it was going to give first. And that got me to thinking about break-away loops for just those special occasions. Girth hitched to the Dee and snap into it. Engineered to break at a certain load. Less than the breaking point of your back. For expert use and those special moments only, of course.

All fine for hazardous situations, but the whole thing with that Euc top only confirmed to me that the next time I'll go a little higher and take it out in smaller pieces. That's the wiser thing to do. Avoid having to make Hail Mary cuts!

I just wanted to bump this great story! There have been several more recent discussions of the Breakaway Lanyard but this is always worth going back to.

 

[pigwot]

Could have been a Levi’s commercial !!

 

[flushcut]

Levi's are not what they used to be. Skinny jeans with spandex, sad really, and the fabric is not even close weight wise.

 

[flushcut]

Good bump!

 

[Bermy]

I used the old keychain biner in the system the other day...sometimes you just have to think through the 'what if?'

 

[cory]

wow, i somehow missed that gerry story originally. Geez, the one, the only, gerry. amazing story and story telling

 

[lxskllr]

I've toyed with the idea of a breakaway link, and settled on paracord if the need ever arises. Should be stout enough to hold your full weight, but will break when shockloaded > climber weight.

 

[Bermy]

I could climb on paracord...
Don't parchutes shock load paracord when they open?

 

[SeanKroll]

Find your breakaway strength before needing it.

Zip ties.


If you might swing, a ground worker with your climbing line tail and well-communicated plan might prevent an impact.

 

[lxskllr]

Yea, but it's distributed over many lines. Typical paracord is 550# test. The lighter line is about 125#. So figure double the test since you're using a loop, take some off for the knots, and pick the suitable line. The 125# would probably be best.

 

[Bermy]

Is test a minimum or a maximum?
I tend to think that paracord might require several shock loads to reach a point of failure...whereas a zip tie or keychain biner is more likely to go in that instant it's needed...just ramble thinking here...

 

[SeanKroll]

Test it, don't armchair-it!

You aren't going to fully put your weight into it.

100 pounds of force, quickly hitting your system will hurts you, I'm Guessing.

 

[pigwot]

At a Rec climb in Port Herman, California we had a slight fellow Sam Johnson ( Nick Araya was there!) who always used ultralight equipment. We teased that he could probably climb using paracord. We set him up with a standard system as backup and he indeed climbed on paracord. I use zip-ties. I’d rather it fail than my already arthritic bones take the hit.

 

[lxskllr]

I don't like zipties. I've had too many fail from age(not climbing related) that wasn't obvious looking at them. A toy biner is an option, but they have the problem of unreliable clips.

 

[pigwot]

There are higher quality zip-ties that are tensile strength rated. I use one rated at a 100psi to 125psi range. The week before I went to Michigan we had a pick the crane op put a bit too much preload on. It started splitting down past my lanyard. He immediately let up a bit and apologized. I grabbed my lanyard clip and repositioned it in the zip-tie and was ready to finish the cut. Now, I was still hanging off the other lead so it was fairly low risk. It would have been a bit more unnerving had I been tied in on that spar.

 

[Tree09]

John, i think you are missing the point here. This is for situations that only a production climber would ever be in, requiring tying into other trees to access a death trap. The point is something that will hold you leaning back in your harness so you can work, but something that will very easily rip if everything goes south. If you used your regular lanyard you would likely be killed either by the tree pulling you to your death or crushing your intestines out your ass. Paracord at 550 lbs is way too much, and would likely result in your main tip tearing out and you decking. A crappy zip tie, keychain binder, very small twine, etc is what we're looking for here.

 

[stig]

I'm firmly in the Zip tie group, too.

With us doing so much work in taking Hazard trees out for the State forests, I've used them countless times.

Strong enough to hold you while on spurs, and will DEFINITELY break when things go South.

I've only had one break prematurely once.
Was taking a whole top out of a very bad Beech next to a forest road.
Since I was leery that the whole thing would break midway when the top went over, I had my line from a Mable next to it.
As I was cutting the face, the Zip broke and I went swinging.
No big deal, set another Zip and started over.

 

[lxskllr]

I got it. I was planning it for my locust removal, but it didn't really workout for a couple reasons. One is I didn't have a good tie in possible. It would have been a straight drop, then a big swing. Second, was I trusted the tree a bit more after getting in it earlier in the year, so it just wasn't necessary.

I didn't recommend 550#(~800# configured) cord. It comes in all sizes, and some of questionable manufacture. It's also modular, with the core easily removed. It's easy to inspect/test. Something I could tie off and break single armed would be about right when doubled.

 

[pete mctree]

I have used zip ties many times as a breakaway. The ones I use will break with surprisingly little force - I want them to fail not pull me about