Spar work

[Treeaddict]

What do you use for chunking or rigging down a spar? Do you just choke your climb line around the tree SRT style or do you use an adjustable friction saver? Been thinking about an adjustable friction saver for false crotches and wondered if it’s good for spars as well.

 

[stig]

Adjustable friction saver.

 

[Mick!]

Climb line around it normally loose under the flip line.
Never cinch in.

 

[Patrick A]

Same as the comment above.

 

[WoodCutr]

frictionsaver works, or a choked system with running bow, or a quickie (SRT only)
on crane jobs I use this setup, not recommended as you cannot rappel quickly!
I only use this setup to tie into the crane quickly to set slings and rappel back down for the next cut
I choke my line with a carabiner sometimes, again not really supposed to as it can cross load your biner, and sets the zigzag up in SRT config without the chicane however there have been many test to show how strong it really is, and ive cross loaded them rigging some massive stuff and never so much as bent one, so im confident in it

an SRT system is much nicer for spar work IMO

yes, my saw was dull

 

[CurSedVoyce]

I cinch SRT and my flip line. If it's my last cut before dropping the spar, adj friction saver.. Also if I come down to take a break. AFS. Or set the Wraptor line and rapple off that.

 

[Treeaddict]

Climb line around it normally loose under the flip line.
Never cinch in.

Are you saying that you never cinch in or that it’s not a good idea to cinch in?

 

[Mick!]

Are you saying that you never cinch in or that it’s not a good idea to cinch in?

Very good question.

1: I never cinch in, purely out of what I learnt/continue to do.

2: There is a school of thought that says is you’re cinched in you’re trapped, if it goes wrong there’s no scuttling round to avoid the lump if it decides to make its own route down.
@WoodCutr for instance (in the above pic) is trapped on that side of the tree.

 

[WoodCutr]

Very good question.

1: I never cinch in, purely out of what I learnt/continue to do.

2: There is a school of thought that says is you’re cinched in you’re trapped, if it goes wrong there’s no scuttling round to avoid the lump if it decides to make its own route down.
@WoodCutr for instance (in the above pic) is trapped on that side of the tree.

if I take a step sideways my system *should* turn with me, might not, but with the wiggle room from my bridge and the bit of slack in my climb line, if I take a step sideways I can move about 90* around the tree in either direction
also a leaning spar so if I take a side step im most likely going to gaff out and have an un controlled swing around it, in the instance of that picture, on a vertical stem it would be fine to step around

 

[stig]

I never thought of that, Mick.
Makes a lot of sense.

Not enough to make me change my ways, but still.

 

[Mick!]

I never thought of that, Mick.
Makes a lot of sense.

Not enough to make me change my ways, but still.

Neither had I till my nephew visited Graham Macmahon in Australia, he gave my nephew a few pointers on the basics and pointed it out (the problem with cinching in)

Not a hill I’m willing to die on, but I do see the logic in being able to move around the other side quickly.
Downside I guess is the possibility of being rattled down the tree.

 

[Mick!]

if I take a step sideways my system *should* turn with me, might not, but with the wiggle room from my bridge and the bit of slack in my climb line, if I take a step sideways I can move about 90* around the tree in either direction
also a leaning spar so if I take a side step im most likely going to gaff out and have an un controlled swing around it, in the instance of that picture, on a vertical stem it would be fine to step around

Trouble is a zigzag self tends you tight in there, you may not be able to get that life line to move.

 

[Naturarbo]

if you read instructions on zz manual that configuration is a no no, the zz may not response as it should.
me on spar the akimbo or rw or zz with chicane.
depending on what you are doing maybe loose maybe tight around spar

 

[Treeaddict]

if you read instructions on zz manual that configuration is a no no, the zz may not response as it should.
me on spar the akimbo or rw or zz with chicane.
depending on what you are doing maybe loose maybe tight around spar

I’m an Akimbo and Unicender guy. Either of them can remain loose and cinch up if the spurs and lanyard slips. The Uni may self tend a bit though.

 

[friedrich]

cinched, i don‘t get this aproach with a drt loosely around the spar. rather than doing that i would just use two fliplines and keep a climbline in a backpack with me.

 

[Marc-Antoine]

I very rarely use a friction saver for what ever reason. I did made one on the spot maybe twice in 10 years.

To buck a spar, I have my both climb lines chocked around it in srt, one in front of me (the working one), the second 20" below (the backup one). Next step down, I undo the top one and chock it again below the backup one, which becomes now the working one. This way I feel sufficiently secure on the spikes (big deal for me), always having a reliable tying mean at all time. And I can still climb down fast if needed. It works even without the spikes on a bare axis pruning. I don't take my wire lanyard anymore.
Akimbo and zigzag.

When I keep a high tying point in an other spar/tree beside, then I configure one climb line as a lanyard on the Ds to be able to move it down without the struggling of the cinching while being held from behind by my main line.

The zigzag works well in srt for me and the self tending appears when there's nearly the full 60 ' of the rope dandling under it, so it isn't a frequent problem in my trees..
I can see the trouble of being stuck there if tight tied. The choked line still can be moved around toward the splice/carabiner's side (not quick tough, just for positionning,). It locks hard if pulled the other way with no slack. But I can't see a quick escape move with a lanyard either.

 

[Treeaddict]

cinched, i don‘t get this aproach with a drt loosely around the spar. rather than doing that i would just use two fliplines and keep a climbline in a backpack with me.

The 2 flip lines are definitely easier but I don’t like the fact that you can’t bail out in case of emergency unless you set up the climb line.

I don’t think anyone is drt loosely but srt loosely. The srt could tighten up automatically and quickly if you start sliding down the spar. Drt, as I see it, wouldn’t be effective on the spar unless an adjustable friction saver is used.

 

[greengreer]

choked srt line and flipline for me, unless there's stubs to double down.

 

[Bermy]

Same as Greengreer, choked HH srt and a flipline.

 

[biggun]

Same here but with a Rrpro.

 

[greengreer]

Having a direct (and fast) path to the ground is paramount, IMO. It's a whole lot easier to stop a bleed on the ground or do any other sort of first aid.
Srt seems to be the best option for this most of the time.

 

[SeanKroll]

SRT trunk choke, or SRT system with an overhead TIP/ redirect in a separate tree, when possible.

After my last cut before dropping the spar,
I'll commonly use a pull-rope with a munter hitch while maintaining my spurs/ flipline as life support when I have finished chunking the stem, ready for the fell. No need to carry an AFS.

@CurSedVoyce Is there a benefit to the AFS that I'm missing?


For ascending a tree/ re-ascending a spar, mostly, I put an SRT device below the Wraptor directly on my climbing line, only using the stretchy Wraptor line if I am not 100% confident in my TIP/ Redirection point . DrenaLine slips a bit in the Wraptor, lately, but the Gibbs will always engage. Barely fuzzed after several years of SRT use.

If I'm solo, I anchor the tail of a speed line at the ground, tension it midline, up top, and use my climbing line to lower my Wraptor out of the drop zone of spar chunks.
Also, if the speed line is long enough to anchor the upper part in the tree at the halfway point, I can lower the Wraptor down the speedline in the other half of the speedline rope.
Alternatively, I will use a 3/8" rigging line for lowering the Wraptor down the speedline, keeping my climbing line free.

 

[CurSedVoyce]

After my last cut before dropping the spar,
I'll commonly use a pull-rope with a munter hitch while maintaining my spurs/ flipline as life support when I have finished chunking the stem, ready for the fell. No need to carry an AFS.

@CurSedVoyce Is there a benefit to the AFS that I'm missing

Probably not.
If it's a tall spar, and you prefer not to rappell on your pull line, you need less rope to be able to retreive your line.
If you hit the ground, maybe feel you would like to take another piece off, you can either return SRT or Wraptor on the same line or even leave a throw line through it to set a line later. Say returning the next day.
Truth is Sean. I rarely use it. I rarely put it on my saddle. I use it more for pruning larg.er pines than any thing. More choices of TIP when exiting the tree.
If I need the damn thing, i have already either incorporated it into my planned climb, or ask for it to be sent up as needed.
Carry on.

 

[treebilly]

I use a double rope spar tie off a lot. Choke off srt with a running bowline and clip a bite of rope from below the system to the spliced eye on my line that is the tail of the bowline. Kinda touchy using some mechanicals. Worked well until yesterday when Tao of us couldn’t get it to release. I spiked back up and installed my friction saver. Should’ve used a retrieval ball because my spliced eye fell right through the dang thing and my friction saver stayed up there.

 

[CurSedVoyce]

Oh well' it'll jump off when you drop the spar