# Beginner's Climbing Gear



## MorningW00d (Feb 11, 2011)

I'm wanting to get a set of climbing gear so i can start to practice around my house but would eventually like to use it for commercial use. I'm willing to spend the money to get good equipment but i also don't want to waste it either. Input on any piece of gear would be appreciated.

spurs: What would you recommend? Is it really worth getting aluminum or titanium? What about the high boots?
Lanyard: Any suggestions?
Harness: I've heard a lot about the deluxe master. What would you suggest? Fixed D's or floating D's? Should i get the full harness or just the saddle?
Rope: Everyone says they start with Blue Streak i think it is? Is it good? is there an "all-around" rope. What about Anchor ropes?
Rigging: What carabiners, blocks/pulleys, lowering devices?
ascender/descender: I like the idea of something like the big 8 or petzl pirana. What do you think about these? and i like the idea of having a chest ascender to back me up while starting out with climbing spurs. is this a stupid idea? what one would you suggest?

I know this is a lot of info. But i think it will cover all the bases and help a lot of people. Thanks in advance for all the help guys.


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## chad556 (Feb 21, 2011)

Hey I'm pretty new to climbing as well but i will try to help you out. I have a lot of gear at work but I'm starting to get some jobs on the side so I'm looking into getting my own gear. I climb DdRT, never tried the single rope technique like it sounds like you are thinking about. I haven't had an opportunity to try a lot of gear out but I will tell you what I like and why.

Spurs: I use regular steel buckingham spurs with L pads. With regular work boots they are not that comfortable but since its cold out I climb in tall muck boots and the thick neoprene upper part of the boots are super comfortable (as far as spurs go). For my personal pair I will get cast aluminum pads though because everyone says they are the best comfort wise.

Harness: Petzl Sequoia, if you can spare the money this thing is awesome. Super light and super adjustable. Features a great webbing bridge that lets you really move around the tree well and has all the attachment points for tools you could want. Another cheap option that I am going for for my personal harness is the New Tribe Tengu, Half the price, same light weight and most of the same convenient features. I just use the saddle, I havent had a need for the full harness only reason why you would need one is if you wanted a chest ascender or something and I dont get that fancy.

Lanyard: I always climb with two, both setup with rope grabs and swivel snaps. I use a 12' blaze regular rope lanyard and a 1/2" steel core flipline also 12'. Two lanyards really gives me a lot of ways to secure my self in a good working position, also good for ALT (alternating lanyard technique), and necessary for two points of connection when using a chainsaw while spur climbing (i always keep my steel core one nearest to the saw) that way if I accidentally cut one or if it slips off I have a backup to save my life.

Rope: I climb with 7/16" yale Blaze rope 150' of it. Dont know much about blue streak or any other ropes but Blaze is cheap, lightweight, easy to handle, and highly visible. Dont know how it would be for SRT but it works good for double rope technique. Also do yourself a favor and get a cambium saver or false crotch device. real cheap way to double the life of your rope.

Rigging: I dont do much rigging so i dont have much equipment. 150' of 9/16" stable braid, a 3 ton pulley attached to a 6000LB nylon sling (Both 12.99 at harbor freight, I havent and wouldnt try to lower anything more than 200-300 LBS with this setup) It works for my needs but im sure someone could suggest a better setup. I'm trying to get a port-a-wrap as a lowering device but so far I have gotten by using a hitch or brush guard or roll cage of some piece of heavy equipment parked nearby to wrap the rigging line on.

Carabiners: I use mostly Petzl AMD Tri-Acts and I use a pear shaped Kong HMS auto block for my friction hitch and micro pulley.

As far as ascenders and descenders go, i dont use them so i couldnt tell you. I use an 8mm bee line cord tied into a split tail. I tie a friction hitch with that around my climbing line and add a micro pulley for slack tending and use that to ascend and descend and it works like a charm for me.

Also don't forget about the throwbags and throw line. Best setup? Wesspur.com (where I recommend buying all this stuff.) has a kit for about 60 bucks that includes two throwbags (12 and 14oz but they would probably let you choose) 180' of zing-it throwline by samson ropes (i got the 1.75mm one) and a big collapsible cube that you can store everything in (I think these things are essential, they will save you at least 5-10 minutes on every job, just flake the throwline in the cube when your done, toss in the throwweights, fold it up and your done.) If you are only climbing trees less than 70-80 feet tall i recommend you practice and master the "cradle toss" method of tossing your throwline. If you need to get your rope higher than that it is worth it to get the Big Shot, essentially a giant slingshot on a stick that allows you to rocket your throwbag 100'+ with ease.

Ok I hope I answered your questions and didnt insult your intellegence and/or overwhelm you with my opinions but like I said im going thru the same gear selection process and it would be cool to see what other people are using.


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## RacerX (Feb 21, 2011)

How much are you looking to spend and what are your ultimate goals, rec climbing, trimming, removals?

Forget about practicing on a live tree in your yard with spurs unless you plan on taking it down when you're done.


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## VA-Sawyer (Feb 22, 2011)

Wow, He bought his block and sling at Harbor Freight ? And he is giving advice ?
Lot braver than I am. I hope you used all the money you saved by shopping at HF to buy really good insurance. There is a reason the standards call for using proper arborists equipment.
Rick


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## chad556 (Feb 22, 2011)

Yeah, let me stress the fact that you should not try to copy my rigging setup if you are working in areas where you will have significant property damage if things go wrong. I work on a golf course where there is nothing to damage but turf and my boss is a cheapskate. If i asked him to buy a $150 arborist block he would laugh at me. I was forced to cut corners to get everything i needed and therefore went to harbor freight. Even though the working load says its 6000LBS and it feels pretty sturdy, as a rule of thumb i never shock load it with anything i couldn't lift and only load it with 200-300 pounds at a time. It works for what we need it for but I wouldnt go swinging branches over a roof with it lol.


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## MorningW00d (Feb 22, 2011)

Thanks chad, i appreciate you taking the time to go through everything. And you'll never insult my intelligence, the more detailed, the better. 

Racerx, i want to spend the money to get good equipment so it's safe and will last; but i don't want to waste money on the brand name unless it is better quality and worth it in your opinion. And the equipment will be used for tree removal. I live on 100 acres of woods. i know it'll kill it, but i figured better the tree than me.


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## VA-Sawyer (Feb 23, 2011)

chad556,

Fair enough. As long as the only loss caused by failure will be a divot in the grass, then I don't think there is anything wrong using the stuff from Harbor Freight. Just be careful not to put your body in any position where a failure could harm you.
I also didn't want anyone reading your post to think it was ok to get rigging gear at HF for tree work. There are enough guys dying in this line of work already.
Good luck and stay safe.
Rick

P.S. To the OP, if you search back to last fall, I wrote a fairly detailed post about begining climbing gear.


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## tuckerward (Jun 19, 2011)

MorningW00d said:


> I'm wanting to get a set of climbing gear so i can start to practice around my house but would eventually like to use it for commercial use. I'm willing to spend the money to get good equipment but i also don't want to waste it either. Input on any piece of gear would be appreciated.
> 
> spurs: What would you recommend? Is it really worth getting aluminum or titanium? What about the high boots?
> Lanyard: Any suggestions?
> ...


 
Hey man im basically in the same boat your in almost to the t except i have already ordered my climbing gear off of wesspur.com but as far as the knowledge of all this stuff im about the same but i was just gonna ask if you could maybe pass on your knowledge of what you learn as u learn it to me and vise versa maybe we could help each other out in the whole learning process feel free to email me anytime idc if its 100 times a day if it helps save my... life my email is [email protected] and anyone else with begginer advice feel free to email also. please every advice is greatly appreciated thanks


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## MorningW00d (Jun 27, 2011)

I still haven't gotten my stuff yet. I'm in the process of selling my stihl 056. Once that is sold i'll have enough money to buy a 372 and the gear. I think that'd be a good idea to keep in touch to share input. my email is [email protected]. i'll let you know what i figure out once i finally get the stuff


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## DIY climber (Jul 8, 2011)

Wesspurr is a great resource , check treestuff.com also .
Pricing is similar , but I live in Washington state , so any Wesspurr purchases would have been taxed .
Sherrilltree also has a great (free) catalog.
Reading / comparing gear from these three companies , and reading "The tree climber's companion" is a great start.
Asking questions here , and starting "low and slow" is next ...
Armed with that , and a good dose of common sense I was able to take down a few 60'-80' trees in my back-yard .
A Petzl Vertex Vent climbing helmet and Labonville saw chaps made me feel like I was using proper PPE for the task.


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## unclemoustache (Jul 24, 2011)

If you're just starting out, I'd recommend getting cheap spurs - don't go with the spendy ones yet. You can always work you way up. Don't bother with boots. I've sometimes climbed with my tennis shoes and spurs, but when I do wear boots, I use my old Army boots. Never had a problem. (But then, I don't do this every day, and no doubt I've upset a few real arborists ).

As for an ascender, I got the Rock Exotica Unicender. It's an ascender AND a descender, all it one unit. You don't need to add or remove anything from the rope in mid climb. A bit spendy, but very simple to use. I use it with a foot ascender.

For lowering devices, you ought to consider the Port-a-Wrap, but in the mean time you can simply wrap the running end of the rope around a stout branch, or another tree (depending on the species, of course). This results in more damage to the rope and tree, however.

I'll second Jepson's book "Tree Climbers Companion." Lots of great diagrams, descriptions of tools, knots to use, techniques, etc.


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