saw lanyard

[murphy4trees]

To me a saw lanyard is more than just protection for the saw in case of a drop... I believe it is a piece of safety equipment that should be considerred in a similar category to PPE...
Those that have practiced marshal arts may know that one's reaction to and avoidance of a dangerous event is more often instinctual than cognitive.. That is.. things happen so fast in crisis situation, there is no time to think, the reaction must be like a reflex.
Climbers that don't use a saw lanyard have an instinct to hold onto the saw. In a crisis situation that instinct may counter another instinct for the climber to avoid injury.
When I started using a saw lanyard i was surprised how freeing it was... I was unaware that I had been using a lot of mental and physical energy to make sure I held onto the saw. So a saw lanyard won't make the quantum leap in your climbing that moving to an advanced friction hitch did... and you may find it does bump you up another significant notch.
I highly recommend it and invite others for their suggestions.
I've only used the bungee type from Sherrill... if it's set up right it can actually make clipping and unclipping the saw easier. And I was surprised at how little the bungee actully got in my way.
All that said I need to walk my talk here and re-order cause mine has been missing for some time.
God Bless All,
Daniel

 

[treeman82]

Whenever I am up in the trees with my chain saw I use a lanyard. I tried the bungee lanyard, but will never use them again until they are made more sturdy. I only had mine for a few weeks before it started coming apart at the stitching. I have been using a webbing lanyard for the past 3 years and am very happy with it. I can knick it a bunch with the saw and am not nervous about it. The bungee lanyard... 1 small knick and its gotta be replaced.

 

[rahtreelimbs]

I made a saw lanyard out of the bungee meant for a pair of handled ascenders. So far it works pretty good.

 

[Greg]

I hate not climbing with my saw lanyard. I use a peice of rope with a big opn loop at both ends, one to girth around my saw, and the other to connect to my saddle with a biner. Full length will have the saw hanging at foot level, but I also have a small loop tied on the rope that will allow me to hang it right at my saddle. I have knots tied about every 6 inches so i can quickly pull it up to me by grabing the knots.
Greg

 

[treeclimber165]

Greg

I thought you were getting drunk at a wedding? It's only 11PM!

 

[Stumper]

I spent most of my carreer using a short lanyard on my climbing saw-about a handwidth of strap to grab while clipping/unclipping. Then I switched saws and had Stihl's built-in fold-away ring to clip to. This past year I decided to try a longer lanyard because of the reasons Murph cited. I made mine out of 3/8" Hollowbraid polypropylene. Cheap, lousy rope but fast and easy to splice. I put a snap on the saw end -girth hitched into the eye I spliced-and a ring Spliced into that same eye splice(you can do funky things with hollowbraid). I can hook the snap on my saddle into that ring and carry the saw on my hip while moving around; unclip the saddle snap and cut with the lanyard attached(it is about 5 feet long) let the lanyard run through my hand and have the saw hang below my feet while lowering the limb or snaping and pitching a piece;or I can still unclip the saw completely if I need to. The doubled up lanyard when the ring is snapped at my hip causes few hang ups (some but very few).

 

[NickfromWI]

Lanyards.....that's on thing I love!

I, too, use one of the bungee tear-away lanyards by Buckingham. I clip mine to a carabiner in the side of my saddle. I can clip it and un-clip it quickly with only one hand.
I like the option to just let the saw hang if I have to quickly grab something. I don't see why a person would climb without one. They might get in the way every now and then, but it would just suck if you trashed a saw dropping it on a cement fence or something like that. Saw are sturdy, but it still seems smart to treat them like a lady!
Think about that next time you're up in a tree!

love
nick

 

[Joey]

Does anyone out there still climb with there saw on a seperate rope which takes the weight of the saw? My boss still occasionally climbs with a saw this way. He claims it saves more energy because the saw isn't hanging off his body at all but when he needs it he can easily pull it to himself. I can't really argue because I haven't tried it that way myself, so I don't know. I have always climbed with a lanyard and I try to leave the saw hanging in the tree as much as I can. For instance if I am heading out to one part of the tree and know I don't need it, I'll hang it if I have to come back by it.
I too had the first bungee lanyard I had start coming apart. I just restitched the brakeaway part so it wouldn't break away. The second one I have now hasn't come apart because I don't let it hang down too much.

Joey

 

[Kneejerk Bombas]

I also use a bungee/breakaway lanyard.
It does not get in the way, butit does require that you follow the same path back to the spot on your belt, that you took going from there to the cut.
So if you took it from the right side, under the lanyard and over the climbing rope, to make your cut, you need to follow the exact path back, only in reverse.
Another problem is it's often too short. If it's clipped on the right, it won't reach to the left, with my arms fully extended.
The lanyard is also becoming unstiched at the breakaway part, after only a few weeks.
Is it me, or do you also feel every single piece of arborist equipment sold needs modifying?

 

[mikecross23]

I also like the Buckingham bungee lanyard for all of the same good reasons mentioned. Mine is only about 3 mo.'s old but I carry a small top handle echo and I don't let it hang much. Holdin' up good so far. . .

 

[Tim Kasulinous]

I use a line about 3 ft long and let the saw dangle down my side while I am climbing. I can't imagine working in a tree without it. It is easy to make all my cuts with it and it rarely gets in the way. I used the bungee kind for about a week and iit came apart. Now whenever I need a new one I make it myself and it lasts for quite a while.

 

[NickfromWI]

those bungee lanyards

Tim- the prob you had with those bungee's is that they arent' designed to have a saw hanging from the bungee while you're climbing around a tree. The bungee is there to keep things clean and out of the way.
You aren't bothered by the dangly saw trailing you? I climbed for a while with a guy who did that and the saw was just getting banged allover the tree. I prefer to have my saw clipped directly to my saddle. Have you tried that?

love
nick

 

[d kraus]

The left over tail ends of Cobra cable rolls make great saw lanyards! Easy to splice.

 

[Tim Kasulinous]

i never tried to just clip it to my belt. Sounds like a good idea though. I do run into the problem with it getting banged all over the place but it is all I have ever done. I will give it a try and let you know how it is. Talk to you later Nick

Tim

 

[Tom Dunlap]

What saw do you climb with?

How long does it last, banging around in the tree?

I can't ever imagine dangling a saw as a normal routine. Why would you want to pull it up every time you need to cut? My shoulders would have worn out long ago.

Tom

 

[Kneejerk Bombas]

I saw an eBay auction for a submarine tow rope. It was about three inchs diameter and 2 miles long. The rope need to be shipped commercially and lifted with a forklift.
This would make a great saw lanyard, you could leave the saw back at the shop and still be connected to your belt at the job.

 

[Tim Kasulinous]

when i first started climbing about 5 years ago i used a stihl 019that lasted me about a year due to my own negligence. then I used a few different saws trying to find one that was really comfortable for me ie. tanaka, echo, Husky335. The first 2 were garbage i thought the husky was really nice but within 4 months the engine popped. Now I use a Stihl 020 and I love it I would never by another kind of saw again. It does take a beating though i have to admit. I am going to try to clip it to me like you guys suggested this week. It sounds like a much better way. Like I said i have always had it hanging on me so i am quite used to it. It neveer bothered me to pull it up all the time. Thanks for the input guys I will let you know how it was for me this week

Tim

 

[Jock]

Nick.....its not good practice to climb with an unguarded saw clipped to you're harness, or a saw with the chainbrake engaged, as this can cause unneccesary, cuts when making awkward moves when climbing, ok it may take the hang off your waist, but it's not safe regardless of experience......a method i and a lot of climbers use is to estimate the height of the climb and attach the saw accordingly and when in the tree, pull it up on the climbing rope, then use the lanyard to hang on a branch or limb.......or your belt.......I know where you are coming from Nick, but it's a good idea to keep the saw whether runing or not as far away as possible when making the climb......Jock.

 

[Jock]

OOPS, sorry Nick thought you meant you carried the saw on the big loop next to your waist, when climbing....my apologies....Jock.

 

[NickfromWI]

Confused

Jock-
I know you sort of rescinded that post, but you got me confused. I leave the saw on the ground, then when I am ready to first use it, I pull it up. Then it stays clipped to my side until I am back on the ground. I take it of sometimes when climbing out to the end of a branch.
Does this comply with your suggestions?

love
nick