So I was making a pre set yesterday and I had an equipment failure. I was drilling with a cordless which has a quick release chuck. I had the Treehopper drill bit attached to a quick release adaptor (Chinese junk) and on the last hole the crappy adaptor broke.
The drill bit itself was still good but it was impossible to pull it out of the tree with my fingers.
That's where my handy-dandy vice grips were gold. I removed the stuck bit, and finished my climb for the pre set. I did need to drill one more hole for my gear hanger but my cordless rig was now dead in the water.
I always carry my Treehopper hand drill as a back up to the cordless...never know when you might get stuck in a jam. Always go prepared.
Now thats a great idea i never thought of! Ive been using bolts from 2 different batches i made: one batch with the marine heat shrink that i use if i plan to bring em out with me(there softer to stand on and alot more quiet) then if i plan to leave the bolts out for whatever length of time, ill use the ones ive painted up camo. Sounds like you figured it out.
Also, those mini vice grips are a life saver it seems. I keep a small set of kobalts with me at all times(bolts or not) as ive suffered the broken chinese quick change adapter, stuck bits, and bolts! Probably suffered all three before deciding to stop taking the vice grips out of my pack.
The last season and a half, ive been primarily using an aider (same amsteel setup that can be cound on here) and carrying up to 8-10 bolts which will get me 40+ feet. That is definitely more labor intense however so i am slowly transitioning back to the ole trusty rusty knee spacing.
I always seem to come back to bolts so lately ive been strongly considering making up a batch of the treehoppers with the daisy chain hitch to try with my aider for public land. Well see