Drift HD camera

[Reg]

Change your youtube settings to HD for better quality....bottom right corner of the video screen. Otherwise it will look like ccrap.

Some footage from an Arbutus Tree removal just recently: Treework - Drift HD camera.wmv - YouTube

The camera is the Drift HD: Drift HD Camera - Small HD Action Camera From Drift Innovation - PointofViewCameras Vancouver BC Canada

The wide angled lens makes for dizzy viewing at times until you get used it, then its actually watchable in the sense that you get to see everything that the climber sees.

The HD obviously brings out the colour better than my old camera, but having said that it also looks a little blurry and lacks the sharpness in motion. The sound is very weak and nasal; the files are massive; the wrist remote was not reliable at all as I realised later that I'd missed lots of clips where I thought it was recording....maybe I'll try a new battery and a plug-in microphone next time.

The camera unit itself which fixes on top of your helmet is surprisingly light and compact.... and the domed shape lens doesn't seem to collect the sawdust which is also a big plus for shooting treework.

Overall I think its pretty good value for money, and a relatively cheap option for anyone looking to make a budget video to promote their business.

The tree-work in the video is nothing too fast or exciting....I just tried to show a little climbing and organizing to showcase the wide field-of-view that the lens offers. Arbutus can be of very slow, taper (as was this one), yet evidently very strong...much like a Euc in fact except with bushier foliage.

 

[SoiLLclimber]

Really liked the vid Reg. Great work as usual. Always like your videos. Especially all the views to show your expertise at rigging.

 

[Youngbuck20]

how tall was that tree?? wish i had that kinda confidence. just a newbie

 

[mic687]

As always great work Reg keep the vid's comming

 

[Reg]

Thanks

how tall was that tree?? wish i had that kinda confidence. just a newbie

Probably about 80ft, but longer from end-to-end because it was a leaner.

In many ways being a newbie is the best place to be....all the good stuff is ahead of you. The oppportunity to learn and master new stuff is a huge + in any line of work, and this one is no exception. Good luck

 

[dts99]

that was the last straw, i just ordered a rope wrench, ive been wanting one but hesatating because i havent seen it in action enuff

 

[Brenda666]

Really liked the vid Reg. Great work as usual. Always like your videos. Especially all the views to show your expertise at rigging.

 

[treemandan]

that was the last straw, i just ordered a rope wrench, ive been wanting one but hesatating because i havent seen it in action enuff

When SRTing through a tree I think you will find its fine going down but not so good getting back up.

And Reg, if yer gonna go waving that 20 around like that shut it off.:msp_tongue:

 

[Reg]

When SRTing through a tree I think you will find its fine going down but not so good getting back up.

Danno, to save me alot of time I'm gonna copy and paste a couple of posts I made about the wrench and SRT I added on another forum....I'd only used it a few times at this point.

It might take you 5 minutes or so to read through but if by chance you have a change of heart and decide to stick around the game a little longer then you might just take something from it....I'm being serious now, no kidding.

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first
FYI, let me start by saying I weigh about 11st, have done since I was 20. What strength and conditioning I do possess comes solely from tree work over 22 years, although my DNA and attitude probably comes into play also. All-in-all I have what I'd consider power-to-weight Ratio for tree climbing.

I’ve been using a RW (for-pruning) for a couple of days now. Felt a little strange at first, the whole SRt thing really, but then I got the feel things.

After the second tree on day one I couldn't think of a single reason to why I'd ever want to go back to DdRT (doubled rope technique)....I still cant believe I'm actually saying this

I was always put off SRT for tree work after seeing photos of guys with lots of gear (clutter) that I assumed you needed to make the whole thing work. When in reality you really don’t need half of that stuff, just your hitch, the wrench, lanyard and a pantin. These guys, while they probably know their stuff paint a quite negative picture in the tradition of tree work, more likely to scare than convert anyone.

Re-direct slings are really handy also, with the line being non-moving you can snap them on anywhere along your route that might give you a better line-angle or potential swing reduction

For long ascents a basic frog-walker system is easy to compile by adding a grab and a sling for your foot, along with the stuff you already have. Hang it on the back of your harness for when you need it....but even 20-30ft ascents with a sole pantin on the left foot is still way faster and easier than any DdRT frictionless system that I've ever used....although having a pair of gloves does help a lot when raising you foot/pantin each time.

The base-anchor technique obviously has the rescue option and non-required limb isolation with your throw-line. You do get a little extra sit-back which can put some wear on the cambium so that’s something to consider depending on what your working on. Also, you can judge exactly how much line (tail) to use relative to a particular tree as the base-anchor can be set anywhere along the length of your line....so you've not got 50ft of line hanging below that you don’t need.

Limb-walking, in or out, just get on with it, there's nothing to it....grab the rope and tend the slack, find your balance.


The recent DMM/TM pulley-savers and ART stuff, while very well thought-out and engineered to the highest standard are realistically as good as it’s gonna get for DdRT....while SRT, for me at least is already way faster and yet still in its infancy.

Again, I can only speak relative to my own experiences and climbing ability.

My wrench was given to me to trial, I didn't pay for it and otherwise would've been happy enough to carry on never knowing. I reluctantly accepted it only because the guy seemed to know how to put its best points forward. Glad I did, and don’t regret not having one earlier as I now have it all to look forward to.

Taking nothing away from Morgan Thompson’s ingenious unicender, but tree-guys generally feel better with a hitch, they know exactly what to expect....and the simplicity of Kevin's rope-wrench offers that feel and familiarity that we all know.

I don’t have the quick-release pin yet and am not too bothered for now....it’s not that difficult to work around. I have yet to do any removals but don’t foresee too many sticking points there either. Still early days but my feeling so far is that this device and the technique (SRT) it complements is a huge step forward for better efficiency in comercial tree-climbing

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Originally Posted by High Scale
Say if your TIP is on one stem and you are working on another stem maybe some distance away, you get into some difficulty for some reasons and your TIP gets compromised by something, if you are tied to that point how do you untie that TIP remotely without having a long tail on your TIP knot? Or, if you are tied at the base of the stem it's still a bit of a faff to pull your line through to re-tie your main line TIP, but I am probably missing something?

EDIT: I am not slagging off SRT as I find it very useful, especially now with the RW.

my reply to highscale
Has this ever actually happened to you Carl, where your TiP has been compromised and you've had to quickly re-tie elsewhere? I can only envisage my TIP about to collapse to force such a drastic measure in which case I'd just un-clip and let the whole thing go whether SRT or DdRT.

Working on adjacent trees is easily achieved Re-directing via natural or false crotch....very straight forward procedure and the static line means there is obviously no compromise in the performance of the components....unlike DdRT. Regardless, on residential tree work where help is generally at hand down below, there's nothing that can't be pre-planned and overcome within reason....ask for a second line if it comes to that.

You can throw any amount of unlikely what-ifs at both techniques, but that doesn't always make for a practical argument i.e. I heard of a climbers tail-end getting bogged down in brush when I was working in Sidney many years ago, no big deal until he hit a bees nest and then couldn't get down because his rope wouldn't budge at the bottom, you don’t need to know the rest....but it wouldn't have happened with SRT no matter if even the chipper was parked on his line. How many DdRT lines have been dragged towards and even through a chipper?....but still not really justifications to discard using DdRT either.

My personal reasons for going with SRT is because it makes for way faster and easier access up and around the tree with about half the effort....the rescue option is also invaluable. Period!

Why in the world would I want to continue pulling all that line through combined friction savers, hitches, micro-pulleys, redirect pulleys to gain just 1 foot for every pull....when I can otherwise stride a yard at a time and simply slip my hitch up the static line as and when I need, regardless what route I decide to take?

Why would I want to carry on using my arms to physically hoist the weight at of my body (Ian's avatar) at a rate of 1 foot per pull/thrust when I can just walk up the dam rope in half the time, for any distance at any given moment?

When I put such questions to my self I really have no answer!

I remember a time when I didn't need a lowering device or rigging blocks either, because we still got the job done and I never really felt we struggled with anything using the methods and skills relative to the equipment we had. But when I did eventually get into rigging-hardware, the options and productivity made the old ways seem incredibly wasteful, foolish even.

Listen, it makes no difference to me whether people get the RWrench or not....I know Kevin a little but I have nothing whatsoever to gain by promoting his product. But the fact remains that the man has changed 22 years of previous habit over the course of just 2 hours, and by far for the better....on a chance happening that I was given the device for free. With that said the very least I can do is share my findings with anyone who might have an interest, might even stretch to buying Kevin a beer one day in the future!

Big thankyou to Rich Hattier also for kindly supplying the device in the first place

 

[Blakesmaster]

Danno, to save me alot of time I'm gonna copy and paste a couple of posts I made about the wrench and SRT I added on another forum....I'd only used it a few times at this point.

It might take you 5 minutes or so to read through but if by chance you have a change of heart and decide to stick around the game a little longer then you might just take something from it....I'm being serious now, no kidding.



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All right. You've about got me convinced. Had you ever tried ( I think it was Kevin's ) earlier concept, the F8 revolver? I played around with my own version of it ( made from a D ring and a biner ) a few months ago and was really impressed, never actually put it to use on a job though. Just wondering if the rope wrench is really that much of an improvement over it to justify buying one.

 

[Reg]

All right. You've about got me convinced. Had you ever tried ( I think it was Kevin's ) earlier concept, the F8 revolver? I played around with my own version of it ( made from a D ring and a biner ) a few months ago and was really impressed, never actually put it to use on a job though. Just wondering if the rope wrench is really that much of an improvement over it to justify buying one.

I never tried that revolver thing but the fact that it never really caught fire, unlike the wrench suggests that this latest technique is superior by far. Furthermore if the revolver8 was all that then I guess the wrench would've never come about.

You definitely need a pair of gloves (unless its wet) to hold your weight on the single line, and the foot ascender is imperative for moving up the line.

For spur-climbing there's obviously not as much to gain, but for pruning and stuff its superb. If you have a big-shot or are otherwise deadly at throwing then you can do half the tree on the way up and the other on the way back down using the base-tie. There's plenty of related stuff on youtube, some good some vey bad. Buy one, use it exclusively for a week and see how you feel, its not a lot of money.

 

[Blakesmaster]

I never tried that revolver thing but the fact that it never really caught fire, unlike the wrench suggests that this latest technique is superior by far. Furthermore if the revolver8 was all that then I guess the wrench would've never come about.

You definitely need a pair of gloves (unless its wet) to hold your weight on the single line, and the foot ascender is imperative for moving up the line.

For spur-climbing there's obviously not as much to gain, but for pruning and stuff its superb. If you have a big-shot or are otherwise deadly at throwing then you can do half the tree on the way up and the other on the way back down using the base-tie. There's plenty of related stuff on youtube, some good some vey bad. Buy one, use it exclusively for a week and see how you feel, its not a lot of money.

I have my own thoughts on why the F8 got shelved and the rope wrench came about, mostly based on creating a marketable product that could be sold, but either way, like you said, it doesn't cost much. I've done SRT entry for pruning since I started ( switching over to doubled rope technique once at TIP ), and now own a wraptor, so that's portion is not of interest to me. Mainly I like the redirect capability of SRT.

However, I still take issue with the anchoring of it. If anchored at the base, it's an additional line to get tangled in brush/rigging ( or worse yet, cut ) , and if tied at top ( as in the vid ) you must go retrieve it. Pros and cons to weigh, I am gonna try it out if my gd phone ever starts ringing again. Good work, Reg, keep posting your vids.

 

[treemandan]

I never tried that revolver thing but the fact that it never really caught fire, unlike the wrench suggests that this latest technique is superior by far. Furthermore if the revolver8 was all that then I guess the wrench would've never come about.

You definitely need a pair of gloves (unless its wet) to hold your weight on the single line, and the foot ascender is imperative for moving up the line.

For spur-climbing there's obviously not as much to gain, but for pruning and stuff its superb. If you have a big-shot or are otherwise deadly at throwing then you can do half the tree on the way up and the other on the way back down using the base-tie. There's plenty of related stuff on youtube, some good some vey bad. Buy one, use it exclusively for a week and see how you feel, its not a lot of money.

Yes, I would think the drawback of this and other srt systems is the inability to pull yourself up and out of wherever you managed to get yourself into. But other than that, no real problems come to mind. Well having the base tie off in the way is one. Switching TIPS is another. Then the fine tuning for position you have with drt ...
Sure i initially go up srt cutting my way in but chose drt to work on.

And I was being serious too, shut that saw off quicker after the cut... espcially if yer gonna go waving it at your rope. Yeah, I saw that.

 

[Blakesmaster]

We are on the same page and even using the same gear.


I do not like a base anchor when working the tree for the most obvious reason.

Oh noes! Now I'm gonna hafta get me a rope wrench. Don't want to be associated with the likes of you. :msp_scared:

 

[treemandan]

BTW, it only took me 2 minutes to read that whole thing... twice.

Reg, did you mention something about thise wrench system not being able to support a man's bodyweight?

 

[Reg]

Yes, I would think the drawback of this and other srt systems is the inability to pull yourself up and out of wherever you managed to get yourself into. But other than that, no real problems come to mind. Well having the base tie off in the way is one. Switching TIPS is another. Then the fine tuning for position you have with drt ...
Sure i initially go up srt cutting my way in but chose drt to work on.

And I was being serious too, shut that saw off quicker after the cut... espcially if yer gonna go waving it at your rope. Yeah, I saw that.

I was too entranced in willing that branch to beat those snags and that young fella keeping the line running. Wasn't wavin, just wobbling a little on the spar, thumb over the off switch. He did good.

The pulling yourself out of situations thing Dan, ya just do it, plan ahead, climb. Over analizing the what if's here is pointless because your experience and instict just takes over and sets the boundaries on the task. It's not the big thing I promise you, somethings are just better experienced than described.

The base-tie thing always looked bad to me also....in fact, it just looked like a non starter altogether. But like most things, its feels a lot different in reality. Like many others undoubtedly, my the biggest fear is always the risk of a groundworker accidently cutting the line at the bottom, but then I considered how many times this has happened over the years to my lowering device similarly positioned, and the answer is none. Obviously there are times when you wouldn't use it, but it still remains a great option if the circmstances feel right on the day.

You do have to consider that the base-tie could potentially become a force multiplier (2:1) on your high point depending on the line angle and perhaps the amount of friction the rope gets from the tree on the way up, I've heard of people spiraling it around the tree in an effort to mitigate this....but I'm not going to go on too much at the risk of making it sound more complicated than it actually is, when the fact is its the siplicity and logic that actually makes SRT so good for treework.

Like I said, there are lots of guys bigging it up on the net but making it look and sound really complicated and gear intensive....which is perhaps more a reflection of them than what is the reality. I do hope they dont find this thread for fear they might join in.

None of this is advice BTW, I'm just passing on some info as to how its worked for me....and I wouldn't recommend SRT to anyone who hasn't spent at least 2-3 years building their skills and conditioning on DdRT first.

 

[treemandan]

It's not that it's not able to, it's that in the system it's designed to work in it doesn't.


It takes a large percentage of the climbers weight off of the hitch allowing the hitch to be moved much more freely when descending.


If you've ever tried a vT on a single line, and I imagine you have, you know how it locks up pretty tight. That is what it overcomes.

Yes, I got that.

 

[treemandan]

I was too entranced in willing that branch to beat those snags and that young fella keeping the line running. Wasn't wavin, just wobbling a little on the spar, thumb over the off switch. He did good.

The pulling yourself out of situations thing Dan, ya just do it, plan ahead, climb. Over analizing the what if's here is pointless because your experience and instict just takes over and sets the boundaries on the task. It's not the big thing I promise you, somethings are just better experienced than described.

The base-tie thing always looked bad to me also....in fact, it just looked like a non starter altogether. But like most things, its feels a lot different in reality. Like many others undoubtedly, my the biggest fear is always the risk of a groundworker accidently cutting the line at the bottom, but then I considered how many times this has happened over the years to my lowering device similarly positioned, and the answer is none. Obviously there are times when you wouldn't use it, but it still remains a great option if the circmstances feel right on the day.

You do have to consider that the base-tie could potentially become a force multiplier (2:1) on your high point depending on the line angle and perhaps the amount of friction the rope gets from the tree on the way up, I've heard of people spiraling it around the tree in an effort to mitigate this....but I'm not going to go on too much at the risk of making it sound more complicated than it actually is, when the fact is its the siplicity and logic that actually makes SRT so good for treework.

Like I said, there are lots of guys bigging it up on the net but making it look and sound really complicated and gear intensive....which is perhaps more a reflection of them than what is the reality. I do hope they dont find this thread for fear they might join in.

None of this is advice BTW, I'm just passing on some info as to how its worked for me....and I wouldn't recommend SRT to anyone who hasn't spent at least 2-3 years building their skills and conditioning on DdRT first.

I caught my srt anchor with my saw once about 15 years ago... which makes me think i ought to retire that ascender.
No, I never used The Wrench though I have srt'ed out on limbs and gotten horizontal, getting back up would have been easier with a little hip thrust on drt.

I don't really like working a tree with a foot ascender on, sometimes i do, it bothers me after awhile, I usually take it off once I get up.

Now I am not bashing The Wrench or the concept though , for me, its not nesassary and probably wouldn't make me more effecient.

Maybe I will take a poke at these RW srt guys: What are they trying to do, make treework easier or something? I had enough of that and those wussies.:msp_biggrin:

 

[treemandan]

And Reg, you also mentioned something about better grip on wet rope. Wet rope? My Gawd! How does that happen?

 

[Reg]

I caught my srt anchor with my saw once about 15 years ago... which makes me think i ought to retire that ascender.
No, I never used The Wrench though I have srt'ed out on limbs and gotten horizontal, getting back up would have been easier with a little hip thrust on drt.

I don't really like working a tree with a foot ascender on, sometimes i do, it bothers me after awhile, I usually take it off once I get up.

Now I am not bashing The Wrench or the concept though , for me, its not nesassary and probably wouldn't make me more effecient.

Maybe I will take a poke at these RW srt guys: What are they trying to do, make treework easier or something? I had enough of that and those wussies.:msp_biggrin:

You know Dan there's a big part of me that was delighted to read your response, the part thats constantly looking over my shoulder.

Along the same lines I tell the guys/climbers that I work with around here that the wrench and SRT is really tough, but that I've got it on trial by way of a favour to a dealer. I'm not gonna say any more about it.