# night climbing



## ms200 (Jul 22, 2004)

Was recently taking out 15 black poplars on nightshift, was about 50' with a colleague about 10' above me on the neighbouring tree, after mutual agreement, he felled out a top leader which in theory would pass me if i swung round the side of the tree, the hinge was correct and the weight hanging past me, I gave him the thumbs up and he made the cut...........but a dead stub stopped me moving and a friek gust of wind, I took a 15' top on the shoulders and back, it took hemet, bust my 200 off the lanyard, and a couple of days to feel better(lots of bruising and friction burns from the branches) worst thing was there were 6 grounders feeding a chipper so no one actually saw it happen, with exception of my colleague, who swung over just to make sure everything was ok....lesson to be learned there, take a few minutes to get above the top, and dont be so confident in each others actions , it could have had serious consequences.


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## monkeypuzzle (Jul 22, 2004)

Never get that close. Done it bunches of times, other climber cuts top out while you're in another tree,very close by. WRONG? yes sir. 

There are a few sweethearts that will jump on you for this practice. Funny you never hear them complain about Dale Jr. taking a chance on tha track. "Oh no, slow down there, you may get hurt.'' Same thing to me. But you have to sit down to watch, and I just can't do that.


Why would you have to work at night? Was it an emergency? Maybe a theme park or zoo?


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## Acer (Jul 22, 2004)

Was this on a railway contract by any chance?

I used to work for Fountain doing that sort of work. We climbed at night to take advantage of "posessions", when there would be no trains running for a period (usually from late at night to early next morning). I was amazed that they were able to get away with it. We had miners' lights on our helmets, which lit up next to nothing; they set up some work lights on the tracks below, which generally blinded you rather than helped. One by one, these lights would be knocked over and smashed by ground crew dragging brash around. On some nights there'd be fog as well, so you couldn't see more than half way up the tree you were about to climb !

There's enough to think about in this job without having to do it all in the dark.


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## MasterBlaster (Jul 22, 2004)

My last nighttime climbing was til 2 AM, working an ice storm. Freezing my nads while the pwr guys sat in the trucks and shone spotlights on the trees we were climbing. That was the coldest I've ever been, to date. And I'll _never_ do anything like that again, not as a climber. Maybe in a bucket, with a warm truck to get inside of once in a while. We were completely in the weather, starting at sundown. I had parked my bucket, and rode off in the back of a 4wd utility truck loaded with a crew of climbers. We were excited over the OT pay. _THAT_ faded QUICK!


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## Reed (Jul 24, 2004)

Screw night work and any company that forces it. We're not nocturnal, the only late night activities should be in the bedroom (or living room table or etc.) 

All the religious fanatics that believe our govt. should cowtow to the bible should raise a stink about WalMart's being open on Sunday while closing liquor stores. 

The only thing we should be in a tree for past sunset is attempted procreation or camping out to avoid black bears.


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## MasterBlaster (Jul 24, 2004)

I dunno. As hot as it is during the day, I could entertain the thought of working at night.


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## Trtd61 (Jul 24, 2004)

I worked night shift for 10+ yrs in a factory. Myself I just couldn't imagine working in a tree after dark. Sounds way too dangerous.


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## MasterBlaster (Jul 24, 2004)

Heat strokes pretty dangerous, too.


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## wiley_p (Jul 24, 2004)

Planned Night work is just as safe as day work, There is such a thing as Norweigan sunshine ya know. A lot of jobs are better done in the evening, Business centers, Busy roads in cities, zoos, Disneyland, etc. Also more productive when the daytime temp is above 90 or the humidity and heat combo.


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## Reed (Jul 24, 2004)

Hot as it gets here, we hit the trees early and retire after lunch.

Then on to other things.

Maybe if my eyes worked better and lighting didn't blind me, I could see doing it. B


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## MasterBlaster (Jul 24, 2004)

Everybody could eats carrots for lunch!


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