Buying a saddle

[Bradley]

Buckingham Versatile. Steel core flipline w/microcender for pines and spars, stiff 1/2" Pmi static w/microcender for recreational climbing or when not on hooks, and like JPS, I have a 35 foot lanyard made of 7/16" Pmi static with a prusik and micro pulley that can be a flipline or secondary tie in point. This long lanyard is extremely versatile and great for a quick double crotch,and chains up to stay out of the way. I carry some 'biners, and a CMI double ended pulley, some slings and a fig. 8. Also 020t, 025, or corona handsaw hang off the side at diff times.

 

[treeman82]

I climb with a Weaver (climber's best?) All I really carry on it is; 2 adjustable buck straps, 1 split tail, sometimes a scabbord with 1 saw, nextel phone, and some other Misc. BS.

 

[Kevin]

... which leads me to ask how many of you chain your ropes?

 

[Kneejerk Bombas]

I use a komet butterfly saddle, and like it.
I like a long lanyard, like john paul, but not quite 30', so I daisy chain the unused portion.
I have aquired a whole shipload of stuff to carry but there's more stuff than I have room, so I pick and choose what I will need for each day.
I find it helps to remove everything from your saddle once and a while to get rid of the stuff that you don't use too often, then start adding the stuff you like back on.

 

[kf_tree]

what kind of tree's are you guys climbing that such a long lanyard is used? i can understand the GA guy with all the live oaks down there. the tree's are wider than they are tall. what kind of tree's are you climbing in WI?

 

[John Paul Sanborn]

Any oak, honeylocust, white ash...

I started on 5-7 ft lanyards, but will never go back. The convieniance is great, I'm on a tippy limbwalk and I can swing the clip up on another limb to stabilize for cutting.

When i prune I climb out to the tips on almost every tree.

 

[Rob Murphy]

B'hM Traverse but looking around at the moment. Just got a new flipline 9' with spectra10mm french prussik on 13mm xtc. It is real smoooooth probably cause its new. Replaced the sliding D's with a Maline Rapid delta. William Spinball'sfor life support.Kong DbL on flipline. Spittail with French prussik 8 mm spectra on 13mm XtC. Have moved handsaw from harness to Calf, seems to work real well.Climbing Oaks,Eucs ,Elms.Will be in some Blackwoods (Acacia melanoxyon)tomorrow till the Bees are removed from the dead Euc we have to fall.
That's all from the Murph Report today.

 

[rbtree]

B'Ham Versatile, (and old pinnacle), 12 foot Feeney (5/8th, green, tight woven,the best)steel core flipline w/ 5/8 gibbs and swivel snap. 8 foot lanyard for pruning smaller trees. I use my lifeline as second ascending lanyard. works same as 30 foot lanyard. (The reason for a long lanyard is to toss the line overhead quickly, besides being double ended, which is nice---I have a funky 18 foot one, so don't use it, need to get one for sure. Of course, lifeline has preattached friction knot on split tail, so it can be taken on and off quickly. One of three lengths of friction saver, both ringed and binered/pulleyed. Several extra biners. Three slings, fig 8 as needed, extra split tail/pulley which doubles as f/c, double tie in, or redirect.

By the way, the 3/8 double braid is working out great for the Schwabisch prussic, works 90 % as well as Vt, so far anyhow. I set pulley in same location as French prussic, for clean setup. It has the advantage of being able to add or subtract a wrap or two to adjust length,ie short for descending, long for ascending. And at about $1.50 per hitch, rather economical, eh?! Thanks Tom D for the tip. You da man!!!

Preferred ascension- SRT, or Ddrt with rope run through overhead pulley which is attached to another line and tied off to ground. Then belayed (Friction knot/ pulley fair lead is the self belay) by groundies, actually pulled up if the guys are heavy enough.Footlock for shorter freehanging ascents. body thrust for short, easy, branched climbs against the trunk ones. Easiest method of all, but crotch load is at least four times body weight, so proper/strong crotch selection is a MUST! Footlock for shorter freehanging ascents. body thrust for short, easy, branched climbs against the trunk ones.

Spike, I started tree work and mt climbing about the same time, in 73-75. but until I joined the ISA in 89, and started reading voraciously and networking, I was old school for sure. didn't think to carry over much mt gear, technique to the trees....While I was capable of doing extremely tough tree work, I used no blocks,or other advanced rigging climbing techniques. Of course, so did few arborists anywhere before about 1985. The current new school, crossover advances really starting taking off around 1996.

 

[Acer]

I'm on a Komet Butterfly, after using a Willans T22 sit harness. I prefer the Komet, tho it took a while to get used to the leg loop style of harness. I had a go years ago with a leg loop harness and suffered chronic testicle entrapment :blob5: Now I know how to adjust it, I don't have that problem any more.

I always take a handsaw - Silky Natanoko. I know everyone likes those curved Zubats, but I often find a sink cut is useful in some situations, and it's more accurate with a straight bladed saw like the Natanoko.

I'd normally have a few strops to help with hand held sections, plus old karabs to link these up if I'm worried about weight of limb. Often, there's a redirect strop, plus various karabs. 5m/15 ft lanyard, friction saver (on the way up) more often than not, personal 1st aid kit. And last, and in fact least, a Stihl 020T

 

[WillClimb]

Komet Butterfly - nice saddle!

Stihl MS200T

Grillion Lanyard - but I plan to look into the longer ones
Blue Streak Split Tail - JPS, like the idea of the 2nd tail. I've just been tying my 2nd crotch (of a double crotch) with a bowline and a blakes hitch.

Couple of extra biners - I like the Petzl Williams

Webbing Sling - daisy chained until I hang a drink from it. Also use it for false crotching sometimes.

My purse - that's what the wife calls it anyway. It's an old crappy small black bag with a velcro flap. It carries smokes, cell phone, hand pruner, business cards to throw out of the tree, etc.

Fanno 13" curved hand saw

 

[kf_tree]

i started with a weaver saddle then went with thebucking ham pinnacle from wespur because they gey them with the larger d rings. its such a comfy saddle. i used to climb with 2 nylon belts but once i went with the sherrill steel core flip line i just carry one belt now. i have a gibbs on my 12 foot line and a petzl (not the micro, its a little bigger)on my 8 foot line. they both work well, the rubber coating on the gibbs wears away quickly and the spings break but they still work fine. i carry some nylon/ spectra weave rock slings with me now. they come in handy for taking doubles and false crotch's.

 

[John Paul Sanborn]

I think the next big thing in saddles will be a new Eruo saddle that Good Rigging is importing, A number of the supplyers are carrying it. It is blue with some orange squiggles on it.

It is designed so a bosuns seat and suspenders can be added, has a quick clip similar to Komet, but ANSI compliant. I may get one after I pay for the winch i just droped a few duccies on.

 

[Tom Dunlap]

Tweaked out Komet Butterfly
Twelve foot double end flip line made from 7/16" static line
Rather than webbing loops I carry a 5/8" super tape daisy chain. having the multiple loops to use makes for a really versatile configuration.

Tom

 

[John Paul Sanborn]

I've abused my power again

Merged a number of threads relating to buying a new saddle.

cleaned up a few of the most off topic posts.

So waddaya think? I think more of this should be done with FAQ threads. It's up to yall.

 

[treeclimber165]

Buckingham Master II

I tried this saddle out today when I was at Vermeer picking up more goodies. It felt great until I actually went out and set a rope in a tree and clipped in. Even with different adjustments and different tie-in points, I was amazed at how much my 'package' was pinched in less than 5 minutes. This saddle would make a great torture device for convicted rapists and child molesters.

I STILL do not like Buckingham saddles.

 

[Tim Gardner]

LOL! You have to know how to use the Master II to climb in it. I adjust the "jewels" after I put mine on and have no problem with it. Took me a few climbs to get used to it. I would never go back to one of those basic buttstrap saddles like grampa climbed with way back when.

 

[seanlarkin]

Brian,
Treeman82 (Matt) went through much adjusting with his Master III saddle, and in the end, was very satisfied. You could PM him and ask if he had the same discomfort in the same spots as you, and what he did to fix it. Just a thought.
-Sean

 

[John Paul Sanborn]

I'm going to look at the Blair Trinity saddle at the TCI on 11/7. Tim Walsh had a lot of imput in its design so I think may work well for me.

 

[treeclimber165]

Re: I've abused my power again

Originally posted by John Paul Sanborn
Merged a number of threads relating to buying a new saddle.

cleaned up a few of the most off topic posts.

So waddaya think? I think more of this should be done with FAQ threads. It's up to yall.

I find it confusing and unnecessary. Many times, people will simply post an answer to a question. If you keep merging threads with overlapping dates, the flow of the conversation is screwed up. If you MUST mess with consolidating threads, could you please confine it to OLD stuff?

I've also gone back to find a specific conversation, it would be a bummer if you had deleted it just to 'clean up'. What purpose are you serving by doing this? Darin has never done it.

(This isn't personal, John. Just a difference of opinion on how you are messing with this forum) :angel:

 

[Stumper]

I'll agree with 165 on this-It doesn't really seem to help the user friendliness of the site. Is there some technical matter that makes combining threads beneficial to site administration?