So I emailed Mr. Todd back explaining how we set the line from the ground.....here's the email I sent him..
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Mr. Todd. I emailed you with a question a while ago about the potential hazards of side-loading carabiners. Thank you for your immediate response I still have some questions. I will refresh you because it's been over a month now! I was inquiring about attaching a carabiner to the end of a rope, Wrapping this carabiner/line around a brach, then clipping that carabiner back to the line itself, choking the line with the carabiner.
Your solution was to just attach a sling to the branch and clip the
carabiner to that. I am not a rigging expert, but I know enough about rope and rigging to know that there is no doubt that your solution is a better setup, but there are other things to consider here.
Among other things, I am an arborist. It is in the trees where I'd want to use this setup. The rope is installed in the tree without ever leaving the ground by throwing a weigthed throwline over a branch, then attaching the climbing line to the throwline and using the throwline to haul the climbing line into position. This will usually leave a line doubled over the branch. Now we can attach a prussik sling over both ends of this doubled rope and
ascend into the tree. Now say you have a 120' rope. This would allow you to tie in at 60' (since the rope is doubled over). If you throw your throwline in at a branch 70' up, you cannot ascend using this normal technique. The rope would be dangling ten feet above the air!
Your solution of affixing a sling first to the branch then clipping to
that would not work. It requires you to be in the tree to set it up.
To remedy the short doubled rope, we can cilmb the single line. Tie a running knot (a figure eight or a bowline) and put the tail of the rope in the knot and run it up....VIOLA! You now can climb a tree to any height up to 120' (minus the little bit of rope it takes to tie the knot).
We (me and my arborist/tree climbing buddies) want to know if, instead of a knot, can we clip a carabiner to the line, as shown in the picture. I know that this is improper. But what I want to know is, is it a matter of bad form, or is it a matter of life and death? Are the aluminum carabiner that many of us use delicate enough that a human being could break one apart while climbing on a line/carabiner setup I've described.
Please note that there is not a real "side load" on the carabiner. The spliced eye is hanging on one end of the spine, and the running end of the climbing line hangs over the spines other end. There is a bit of tweaked pull going on, but not something pulling straight down on the spine (pulling the spine away from the gate).
It seems it's a matter of what forces a person would create while
ascending and if this supercedes the strength of the carabiner.
Do you have evidence (testing or field reports) that shows this is
unsafe as well as improper?
Thank you for all your help!
love
nick
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Here's the reply I got....
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Nick,
Unequivocally, I cannot recommend using this method. Your best bet
would be to consult a training organization such as Arbormaster:
www.arbormaster.com
Best Regards,
Blane C. Todd
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Hmmm, why didn't we just ask Rip?!
love
nick
It shows the "cannot find server" page that internet explorer show when you try to open a website that doesn't exist.
