O.C.G.D. Thread, part two

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  • #801
ok, the young lady is here now. she sat on the couch and I taught her how to tie a blakes. she tied it three times in a row properly with a fig 8 stopper just for the heck of it. then I put a pulley out on the fencepost and she walked towards it taking up slack then 'descended' away from it keeping the rope taught and releasing the blakes. tomorrow more practice, sunday a bit more in the AM then possibly climbing a tree sunday afternoon, if not then next thursday, the next day I have free to go up the outlaws with her and take her up in that willow again. :)
 
Damn Paul, quit screwin around ! Next time you have her over tie her up on the couch. You'll both be glad you did.;)
 
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  • #807
ha, yeah, its the niece, she is 10. but I understand what you were thinking, just got the facts a bit wrong, no harm done.
 
Been buying a lot of goodies latly since work has been good and plentifull.

Had a lot of spiked removals to do, so finally decided to ditch the old second hand kliens I had, and get something more comfortable, out of all the option I looked at it had to be the carbon fibre Geckos.

I got them last week intial impressions were good, but on the first climb a small spruce I found them uncomfortable.
Then on Friday I had the ultimate test for them a big Oak take down, it was a twin stemmed open leggy tree about 75ft with a 4 ft base, one stem had been torn out by a lorry halving the diameter of the main stem, and it was really gusty!
I was a bit scared at the top as the tree was moving about wildly in the wind, I tried the straps on the Geckos loose this time and they were really comfortable and held much better than my Kliens, so I had complete confidence allowing me to totally focus on one of my most challenging take downs to date.

I spent 4 hours in them and did'nt feel fatigued at all, nice spikes.

Also got a double pulley which came in handy as a redirect to stop me being pulled off some of the limbs in the wind, as I was climbing at the same level as my anchor on some stems.

And a hitch climber pulley which I love, it suits my climbing style/set-up perfectly.
 
These days I'm liking knots on my friction cords, but I'll agree on a spliced eye for the climbing line.

Nice shiny stuff!
 
I just sprang for a New Vi Special Saddle from New Tribe. Oh Yeah!. Back when I bought my Work Saddle I was on the line sizing wise and the XL would have meant a backorder.I wound up with a large that was a little small for me-While it was the most comfortable saddle I had ever owned the side Ds were a little far back and I had to open the Delta every time I put it on or off. I replaced with Vi Special XL belt with L leg staps with buckles and a stainless steel Pear. Wow is this a nice set-up! I have finally figured out thta with just about ever saddle style a little big beats a little small. Larger than absolutely necessary gets the side Ds more forward for easier clipping -I have also noticed that loosening up leg straps and wearing them lower often makes a saddle a lot miore comfortable.

Does anyone need a used Work Saddle with sash in size large with large leg loops? $100 plus shipping for Treehousers
 
marc. id be very careful if you are planning on using that config with the hitch climber......the bowline will release the v.t, you should only use a spliced in with the hitch climber. out pete had that problem
 
also marc, they recommend an oval krab for hitch climber. dont ask me how vital it is, i havent tried it with anything else myself.
 
The pic of the HC was for demonstration purpose's, I climb on either a 45m length of Elderid 12mm or Marlow 13mm, both with spliced eye's. But I always tie my prussik cord.

I've not had any problems with the VT being released when using the HC once I played round a bit. Its not to everyones taste, but I like it a lot suits my climbing style.

A couple of observation, I tried it on my modfied dragonfly that use's a petzl swivel on the bridge, this allows it to move 180' positioning the tail where you like. I can't do this on my Tree Magic though.
I'm not sure if you have a swivel Steve but it may be worth a go on your tree motion.

And I found that its easy to side load the biner that your spliced eye of the climbing line attaches to, probably why they reccomend an oval biner, but the ISC biner works well for attaching everything else. I will try the odd Petzl AM'D I have lying round its close to the Petzl O.K in design that they reccomend. I think the best bet is to try some gizmo that holds everything in place.
 
MasterBlaster said:
In that second pic, what is that strap doing passing under your heel?
Click to expand...

It does'nt pass quite under my heel but it is very close, I was a bit dubious of the velcro set-up down there, the calf velcro straps are logical to me.
The lower part of the strap starts under the spike, goes round your heel, over your foot, through the oval above the spike and close's.

In use though it works well and they are held in place very good, even when attached loose which I prefer.
 
i wonder why they set them up like that....ive got the original version with regular webbing straps. its funny how you can wear the geckos loose, thats partly what makes them so comfy to wear i think
 
It would be easy to modify the geckos and put on some normal straps, for now i'll stick with the velcro.
 
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