starting simply
I’m not sure all the kit and jingle is the best place to start. You could begin simply, add equipment slowly, as your level of proficiency requires.
Go and buy 2 Locking carabineers or snaps and 125 feet of three strand rope, ½”, polyester, hard lay (it will feel stiff in your hands), tree rope. 50 years ago it was manila line, full of splinters and smelling like some far off place. All a climber needed was a few feet of rope and a handsaw.
Cut 25’ off and learn to tie a swiss seat. This is your saddle. Tie it so the finishing square knot is in back, one end should be about 6’ long the other 2’, make a loop in the short leg and tie a snap onto the long leg. This is your lanyard.
Cut 100’ off. This will be your climbing line.
Find a likely tree, one with well-spaced branches starting 10’ or 12’ off of the ground. Approach with caution, they are dangerous. Never trust a tree. You are about to go into harms way, and if you don’t pay attention and follow instructions you will die or become crippled. Make sure the tree is healthy and strong, no carpenter ants or exposed roots. No bees or squirrel nests, No power lines.
Tie a small locked coil in the climbing line and throw it over a good stout limb. Untie the coils. Tie the line to the snap, leave 3’ of tail. Attach the snap to your saddle, just below your navel. Now use the 3’ tail to tie a rolling hitch around the standing line. Your all tied in.
Pull down on the standing part while pushing the rolling hitch up the line. Stand on your tippy toes; pull the line up as tight as you can. Now sit down, you should be suspended a couple of feet off of the ground.
Put your feet on the tree, grab the standing line with your secondary hand, and grab the knot with your primary. Now this is tricky so pay attention. You must simultaneously pull down with your secondary hand, push the knot up with your primary, and thrust your pelvis forward/up. You should be able to gain a few inches, as you get better at it you will go faster.
Repeat this process until you are up to your tie in point. Take a rest, you earned it. Now grab the rolling hitch and massage it down, slow and easy. You will fall a little bit, but as soon as you let go of the knot you should stop, there, try it again, get the feel of it and come down.
You just climbed your first tree. It will have been painful, very much so. Get used to it, there is plenty more to come.
I don’t expect you to start this way, very few people do anymore, the lure of jingle and comfort is too much to resist. I only write about it so you know there are options. The work can be done without 2000$ worth of stuff.
The real important things to learn about trees and tree work are very subtle and easily overlooked. The less you bring up there with you the more you will be able to absorb from the trees themselves. If you drown yourself in kit and jingle you may miss them entirely.
Pain doesn’t necessarily mean you are being damaged.
Why is tree time different than ground time? How does this affect your work?
What does violence look like in tree time?
What does a healthy tree look and feel like? What about an injured or dead tree?
Is there a difference in the way you feel while climbing trees of different species? Why is this so? What is the difference between fear and caution? What does it feel like when you’re killing a tree? Does the energy come from you or from the tree?
Good luck.
