rescue line

[chunkymonkeyjon]

Often me and my close pal who's an older and more experienced tree climber are always debating the use of a climber's rescue line. he says its good to save time yes but realistically it just gets in the way of sections coming down, gets caught on the other lines (climbers line, lowering/riggingline) and that in all his years he's never had to perform a rescue (thank god).

i however believe if you carefully select the location of a rescue line surely you locate it out of the work and drop zone so getting it tangled up is very minimal and if the time ever comes could save you from various life threatening situations when climbing.

when i first started climbing i always used to install a safety line but now i guess being a little more confident and comfortable i've been told i dont really need one. is this true? should i ignore my colleague and use it anyway?

ta

 

[beastmaster]

What you should do is what feels right with you. A rescue line makes you feel more comfortable and secure by all means use one. I my self have only use one a few times over the years. But most the time there is no one who could rescue me anyway, and I always have a climbing line on me I could use for self rescue if need be.

 

[chunkymonkeyjon]

I can relate to this as i have often climbed without rescue trained banksmen and so having a rescue line is completely pointless.

i guess when it comes to rescuing self rescue is always going to be the most common rescue method as a tree climber should always use two anchorage points for safe work positioning in the event one is compromised from chainsaw contact.

if your climbing a huge tree say one longer than my 35 mtr rope, then surely it would be quite important to have a rescue line as the climber's ropes would be off the ground.
j

 

[beastmaster]

if your climbing a huge tree say one longer than my 35 mtr rope, then surely it would be quite important to have a rescue line as the climber's ropes would be off the ground.
j

That is why I always have a figure 8 on my climbing belt. I can come down a single line if my double line is to short, and the groundies could lower me in a pinch if need be on it from the ground.