Spiking....

wow young Ranger
spiking...are you on tree spikes or pole spikes?
wescos help but its not the brand its the heel... the heel holds the spur in place under your foot, if ya dont have a good heel wrap the strap around the spur then thru the buckle so it bites down on itself, keeps it from flopping around
a boot with a good heal and steel shank in the sole for support helps.. i can climb in 40 dollar wally world boots or i can climb in 400 dollar wescos...its all about comfort
learn to spur no handed,
learn to spur lightly and quickly,
no need to dig in so deep every time
learn to sharpen your spurs some wood takes a sharp spur better than a dull one,
stay at arms distance away from trunk, i keep both hands on the ol flip line, and its a high flip, shoulder level, followed by 4 mini steps, flip 4 mini steps flip..to the tie in, split tail is nice so ya can pass over limbs till you get to your tie in.
tie in, hang rigging, rappell to your 1 st limb and have a blast..i preffer to get a tie in 1st if possible just to take the weight off my feet, im usually on spurs for a lot of hours, its also more comfy to be tied in and above all that will be falling down.
good luck have fun, and if ya ever hit the west coast we'll send ya up a giant with some spurs on. let ya get a feel for big trees
be carefull of dead trees, bark may fall off or cause a spur to kick out, and you may skin your nuckles a bit, that sh1t is no fun!!! thats why a tie in 1st is nice...i did this on a 4.5 ft dia pine a couple years back, hurt a knee and skinned my fingers so bad, tore flesh and part of a nail right off, fingers caught under a wire lanyard..ouch
stay safe young man, and have fun, this is what lifes all about
 
I believe "no handed" in this instance is referring to keeping your hands on your lanyard and not holding onto the tree.
 
Or to just lean back and walk around the tree sans any handgrip, just to feel more secure using your gaffs.
 
woodworkingboy said:
What is meant by "no handed"? Do you mean without holding your lanyard? Ever confused......
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yeah man
ever walk around a tree with a big saw in your hands, without using your hands
lean your body round and take sideways steps, and twist yer way round, kinda like leaning into a turn on a motor cycle, sometimes ya lean in a fuzz to create slack and then do it, never been a problem for me.
 
Oh, so you mean moving while at the same time keeping tension on your lanyard, without holding on to your lanyard. I was wondering if that, or the no hands on the tree. I couldn't imagine you experts advising moving around without holding on to the tree.
 
woodworkingboy said:
Oh, so you mean moving while at the same time keeping tension on your lanyard, without holding on to your lanyard. I was wondering if that, or the no hands on the tree. I couldn't imagine you experts advising moving around without holding on to the tree.
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I'm no expert by any means, but depending on the situation I sometimes move up and down the tree with out keeping my hands on it, its all about leaning in sliding the lanyard up and taking the right amount of steps. Theres also been times when I've had to go on limbs with the really hairy angles, the kind that you could almost walk out on but not quiet where the climb line and lanyard are your only friends. I've been trying really hard lately to break my self of the habit of when I get to a limb to grab a hold and use it to pull myself up. I'm starting to realize how much energy I waste by doing things like that, and not sticking with small steps.
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #36
We got rained out. It's been raining off and on for the past week here. This weekend is when it really picked up. Next weekend is looking good though. Half a day or so at another volunteer event at Ashland, just going to be Dad and I as climbers. After that we should have time to knock out the removal.
 
rangerdanger said:
We got rained out. It's been raining off and on for the past week here. This weekend is when it really picked up. Next weekend is looking good though. Half a day or so at another volunteer event at Ashland, just going to be Dad and I as climbers. After that we should have time to knock out the removal.
Click to expand...

I'll bet you and your old man are having fun.
 
MasterBlaster said:
Or to just lean back and walk around the tree sans any handgrip, just to feel more secure using your gaffs.
Click to expand...

Another good exercise is to climb gaffs only (no lanyard) with a lifeline for safety. I start every tree that way and go until I'm either skeered or tired, then I lanyard in. It helps you learn to get around big boles and stuff where a lanyard is awkward, It also tunes you into subtle changes in lean... just keep your slack tended.

Learning to trust your spikes will speed you up without adding any extra risk.
 
Blinky said:
Another good exercise is to climb gaffs only (no lanyard) with a lifeline for safety. I start every tree that way and go until I'm either skeered or tired, then I lanyard in. It helps you learn to get around big boles and stuff where a lanyard is awkward, It also tunes you into subtle changes in lean... just keep your slack tended.

Learning to trust your spikes will speed you up without adding any extra risk.
Click to expand...

same here.......cept now I ride the Wraptor if the wood is sound...lazy, I know:D
 
I learned a nice trick working for NoBivy a while back that I use a lot.

Set a rope up high, but don't isolate it. Attach yourself to the eye-spliced end, and attach the other end to a belay device (gri-gri, figure 8, etc...) at the base of the tree. Then just spike up, lanyard or no lanyard, following your rope until you get to your tie-in, tie-your hitch, and get to work. Make sure your groundie (ie. your dad) is comfortable with a belay device.
 
I do something like that but I isolate the line and use my ascenders to slide up the rope until I'm ready to use a hitch.
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #45
Blinky said:
Another good exercise is to climb gaffs only (no lanyard) with a lifeline for safety. I start every tree that way and go until I'm either skeered or tired, then I lanyard in. It helps you learn to get around big boles and stuff where a lanyard is awkward, It also tunes you into subtle changes in lean... just keep your slack tended.

Learning to trust your spikes will speed you up without adding any extra risk.
Click to expand...

That's a good idea. Might have to try it sometime after I learn to trust my spikes, which is a tough part for me.
 
Come to Hawaii and climb coconut trees, especially the old ones that have been spiked 1000s of times and the only thing left is rock hard that even new gaffs will only go in ¼ inch. After one day you will be an expert.
 
OK, since this is a tree expert site, I should have said coconut palms. Old coconut palms that have been spiked a lot get real hard, but not as bad as royal palms. Most climbers I know are afraid to climb tall royal palms and I refuse to climb them. The trunk is like trying to spike into a concrete pillar and if you ever have your gaffs kick out, it is highly likely you are going to slide all the way down to the ground. I have seen several climbers slide down that way and it happened to me once. As long as you have your lanyard around the tree you won't get hurt too bad, but you will end up with slide burns and your face might get bounced on the trunk a few times. If a lift cannot get to it, I will use an extension ladder and then tree steps to screw into the trunk. I just don't trust spiking those. If they are over 30 ft., I just don't take those jobs without a lift.

Guys here charge 2 to 3 times as much to trim a royal palm compared to a coconut.
 
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