Do you pack a knife?

[NickfromWI]

but...

Brian, Are you mad? It seems like it. Anyway, you still didn't answer the question. It seems like the solution you suggest is not a viable one. Oh, get back to us ten years from now and let us know how many times you used that lanyard on your climbing saw!!!

intense love
nick

 

[Ryan Willock]

I habitually cary one, I keep it clipped in my pocket. I have never had to use it in the tree though.

 

[Tom Dunlap]

I carry a Swiss Army Knife ALL of the time. I have a lanyard on it that chokes onto my pant's belt. When I put on my dress pants I have to remember not to loop it onto the belt. It looks pretty dopey when I wear a suit

Brian, you're getting a little testy in this thread. Do you think that someone is holding a blade to your throat, forcing you to carry?

Over my career I've NEEDED a knife. One time I was rigging and the limb caught a twig and flipped the lowering line across my chest. I was trapped against the stem and the groundies didn't lower because I would have lost skin to rope burn. I was able to cut the lowering line with my knife. Fortunately, the limb dropped and flipped without doing any damage. A knife works great scraping bark when deadwooding honey locust in the winter. Much less invasive than scraping with a handsaw. There are many other times that a blade is needed.

Since we're only talking blades here, I won't go into all of the other uses for a SWAK.

Tom

 

[jblimbwalker]

pack a knife?

I've been carrying/climbing with a Leatherman for a few years now. As far as climbing, I have only used the knife to clean/scrape natural crotches on pines before running my rope thru the crotch. Also, the small saw blade on the tool cuts amazingly well. Wish I had a dime for every time someone on the crew asks to use my Leatherman.

 

[Kevin]

A knife may be similar to carrying insurance in some ways.
You can carry it for ten years and never use it but if the need should arise then you have it.

 

[Greg]

I carry a spyderco knife all the time, and use it a lot. I lost one while doing tree work, so now I put it in my pocket instead of clipping it to my pocket. It is not as accessible that way but it is still there, and won't get lost. I have a Spyderco Rookie right now, great knife. Those serations just eat through the rope.
Greg

 

[Grigory]

In Russia is present " the safety precautions instruction " (informal). In her is written, that the knife should be! This personal equipment, as helmet, glove....

We use this: http://www.spetsnaz.ru:8080/knives/moskit.html

"In knif-handle are placed: a flat and crosswise screw-driver, crack for are flexible and breaking of a wire, nail drag, nut key, open for bottles .

 

[Tim Walsh]

Something else to cut with in the tree, besides a chain saw, hand saw and hand pruner, can be cheap insurance.

I carry a Gerber tool on my saddle; very similar to the Leatherman, but I like the nylon case over the leather for my saddle. As JPS said, I have used it mainly for tightening the screws on my hand saws.

One thing I do not like about knives in the tree (I do like them on the ground and train with at least 8 blades, but that is my other hobby) is that they will cut everything in their path. Just like when you put too much pressure on your new hand saw and leave a body part in the path of the saw. If I were to need to cut any thing in a tree I would use my hand pruner, my Gerber tool or my trauma shears. This way, only what you want to cut, will be cut.

TMW

 

[John Paul Sanborn]

IMO the current standards for Ariel Rescue are dated. There shoudl be some first aid/stableization requirement.

If resucued I would want the person diong it to get me down in the aafwst, expediant method. Sometimes that may mean disconnecting me from my rope.

There is more then enough tensil in a climbing line to get 500# down on a hitch. I've done it a few times.

I would not be averse to someone climbing my line to acsess me if that were the safeest manner.

Never say never, never rely on one single method.

 

[sonny]

you must be 1 heck of a man that can un snap a snap while a 180 pd. person is dangling from it. Thats doing it in the fastest way possable.

 

[TREETX]

Brian has made a good point and so have I. Good tool but not a necessary piece of safety equipment.

You have big issues if you are in a tree and need a knife to cut a rope. Especially a tensioned rope.

But go ahead and keep giving your what ifs and fairy tales. This one time at band camp, this guy got tangled and had an eagle on his head with a snake and I used my knife and........

In a hurried rescue situation with adrenaline, you are more likely to cut the victim than the rope. Maybe that is why they don't recommend cutting the victim's line. But, like I said, If I am crushed in that crotch and dying, don't cut my line, just stick that knife deep in my chest.

 

[John Paul Sanborn]

In a hurried rescue your more likely to get additional trauma from durring the rescue no mater what.



Stop the bleading
Start the breathing
Treat the wound
Lower to the ground
Protect from shock

 

[sonny]

what ever ! Alls im saying I never leave home without my pocket knife. A few times I have forgot it. & was lost all day.No I dont use it for tree work.Its just part of me as in my wallet.I have carved my name in trees in my younger days.With my trusty boy scout knife.

 

[TheTreeSpyder]

i keep a cheap Spyderco knock off curved, serated knife in my pocket, and look to handsaw for emergency release as Dan says, a pole saw as a remote release of loads (and hinges when bucking).

i carry one of those fox whistles on my belt, can't hear it over everything.

 

[Stumper]

I used to carry a SOG multitool all the time. A great tool which I used upon occassion to work on tools in the tree. I carried it on my pants belt and it occassionally was uncomfortable when my saddle started bearing on it. I moved away from the Sog to a little M4 Sebertool-I still have pliers and screwdrivers but with little weight and out of the way in my pocket. The other front pants pocket has a Swiss Army Knife-A basic model without much bulk. The blade is ALWAYS sharp. I have gone back and forth on carrying a knife on the saddle. I think that it is a good idea but not necessarily essential. The cheap Spyderco knock-offs are a good choice for this particular application since they are light weight, Sharpenable, have a built in belt clip and are CHEAP. The ethics of cheap copies leave me slightly queasy though.

 

[Dan F]

I agree that pruners or the handsaw is probably as good as a knife if needed in a tree. That being said, IIRC, when I was climbing on a regular basis I carried the K.I.S.S. knife that someone else posted the link to with me. More out of habit that out of necessity. I'd take my wallet and keys out of my pockets because they were uncomfortable while wearing the saddle, but leave the knife. (I'd also take my cell phone and fire department pager too- didn't ever respond to a fire from 50' up though!)

I too can't think of a time when a knife would be needed, however, if you don't have it, some day you will need it! Most likely while on the ground and still in your saddle. A multi-tool is usually a safe bet to carry, I use mine many times per day.

As for the K.I.S.S. knife opening on me, no, I've never had it happen on accident. I've had mine for ~3-4 years and carried it on a daily basis. At times the screw gets a little loose and needs re-tightened though. Mine is always clipped on my pocket with the blade on the inside, so that might help persuade it to stay in. The biggest complaint I have is that it is very hard to get (and keep) a good edge on the straight part of the blade, but the serrations work great for cutting twine, rope, ect. Really makes a bad letter opener too, with only one side of the blade sharpened. It's not a bad knife, but I probably wouldn't buy another one, there are better one's out there.


Dan

 

[geofore]

knife?

Case, two blades, about as big as my pinky when folded. Had the old High carbon blades replaced by Case this year with the Stainless Steel blades they put on their new ones. $34.00 plus shipping. Had the knife about 40 years now.
Had a bad experience with a Barlow of a larger size, 265' up in a tower, I slipped and cut my left thumb off, climbed down and took the thumb to the Medical Arts Building in Van Wert, Ohio and they sewwed it back on. It works but doesn't feel much, should of had the Case with me, smaller knife would have been less damage.