Given the arboriculture/osha standard of 1/2” climbing rope, are we being unsafe in using smaller in your opinions? I do know that lobbying for an adjustment to 7/16” is in progress.
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Are we unsafe?
- Thread starter muzzypower
- Start date
Your leaving the ground. Yep. I thought about this some before. But IMHO they have a 1/2" line because they are hard on their stuff. Chain saws buzzing around. Climbing up and down a tree several times a day. Plus insurance driven. Most of us climb less than 30 tress a year. Climb up, rappel down. UV deteriorating eats the rope faster than most of us will abuse in a normal hunting scenario. Caving style ropes seem to be a popular choice because they are lighter. But honestly those guys probably have a double safety or human belay factor. So most of our stuff is probably used outside of what it was designed for. Slack in your system while taking a fall is probably your biggest danger. If your rope breaks from a fall it doesn't matter. Your gonna be in trouble. In my opinion.
Arborist put more wear and tear on their gear in one day than most of us do in a season.
Besides climbing trees, what we do is apples to oranges.
Besides climbing trees, what we do is apples to oranges.
There's a lot that arborists do that hunters wouldn't dream of doing on a hunt, and a lot that hunters do that arborists never would do.
Thicker ropes have handling advantages and durability as well (particularly if not using the "latest and greatest" tech).
Rope thickness is WAY down the list of "things that are gonna maim you on a hunt". You don't see arborists using climbing sticks, much-less 1-sticking, for example.
Thicker ropes have handling advantages and durability as well (particularly if not using the "latest and greatest" tech).
Rope thickness is WAY down the list of "things that are gonna maim you on a hunt". You don't see arborists using climbing sticks, much-less 1-sticking, for example.
There will always be inherent risk leaving the ground as stated above BUT I believe technique and proper equipment can offset. Understanding Working Load Limits and how knots effect rope strength is a good place to start. I’m a certified rigger so understanding failure limits and all. It may be my down fall looking to remove risk.
Nascar driver's wear a hans device, should I wear one because I drive a car too? Lolololol
My worst fear is hooking up to a dead or hollow limb that looked good from the ground., Got lucky on a rotted split last year as I usually dont come off my climb line but i saw the rope half sunk into the limb when i got to height.
You are probably safer on your rope than you are in your vehicle to and from your hunting site. A lot of things can injure or kill you if you aren't paying attention. Just my two copper Lincolns.
No. As many have mentioned, it’s apples an oranges when it comes to conditions of use. Also, with the 8mm ropes that most are using, your body will break before the rope breaks.
Just a matter of awareness of your gear and situations. Knowing your own limitations goes a long ways.
Define safe.
Regardless of method at height, you’re in a tree with a sharp, pointy stick or a gun. Nothing about that can be found in archery/gun safety brochures.
For me, I hate the word “safety”…and I work in fire prevention. Instead, I look at everything as risk mitigation. I know being in a tree, hanging from a rope with sharp things pose a risk. My practice, methods and techniques mitigates that risk to an acceptable level.
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Regardless of method at height, you’re in a tree with a sharp, pointy stick or a gun. Nothing about that can be found in archery/gun safety brochures.
For me, I hate the word “safety”…and I work in fire prevention. Instead, I look at everything as risk mitigation. I know being in a tree, hanging from a rope with sharp things pose a risk. My practice, methods and techniques mitigates that risk to an acceptable level.
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I think any climbing system using aiders is riskier than using 8mm rope to hang from. That being said I have a one step aider on each of my sticks.
Arborist can also use 10mm with specialized training… Here is how I see it, as long as there is no slack in your system and your ropes and saddle are in good usable condition, you’re as safe as you can be from an elevated system. Once you start introducing slack and going to small diameter ropes that aren’t as strong as they should be (like certain places using 6mm as the main tether with a 5.9” friction hitch (horrible ratio and no stretch ata lol to assist with shock load absorption)… I think of saddle hunting as the safest way to hunt from elevation but the more and more I see happening, the less confidence I have on the future safety of saddle hunter.
I'm brand new to SH. But I feel much safer with the saddle than any portable tree stand I've ever used. Sometimes you just have to put trust in the equipment and have fun.
Welcome!
Also, this feeling is the most dangerous part of the saddle hunting “thing”. Not ropes or ropemans or sticks or anything else. Humans are reliably terrible in their intuitions. When you think and feel like you’re safe because of cult mantras and snappy marketing slogans and YouTube money/attention grabs, you’ve lost your ability to think clearly about the situation.
Someone above said they don’t like the word safety. Me neither. Tradeoffs, probabilities, statistics. Get a deep understanding of what risks you’re taking before leaving the ground, and reduce those risks if you want to be “safe”.
Are we unsafe? Good question. I'm with MNFarmHunter on this one, I hate the term "safety". I think, in the broadest sense, human life precludes the condition of safety owing to the fact of our own mortality. Educate yourself on best practices, make educated choices and take sensible precautions. Then have as much fun as you can in life.
To the specific question of ropes, I personally don't count on anything less than 9mm canyoneering rope. If folks hang off mountains with it and it is abrasion resistant enough to handle rocks, then I think it is fine (for me). As stated above somewhere. slack is probably more of a real concern.
To the specific question of ropes, I personally don't count on anything less than 9mm canyoneering rope. If folks hang off mountains with it and it is abrasion resistant enough to handle rocks, then I think it is fine (for me). As stated above somewhere. slack is probably more of a real concern.