LarkHarrison243
Active Member
- Joined
- Dec 13, 2019
- Messages
- 142
This is a walk-through of my first time climbing, setting up, shooting, and climbing down in my fleece saddle.
While this is not the first time I have climbed and descended this is the first time I put everything together in one sit.
My Equipment:
I am using a DIY fleece saddle with a fixed AmSteel Bridge, this is backed up with a rock climbing harness. I am using the HSS tether and the included biners. I added an additional prussik unto the tether to attach my fleece saddle. My climbing method is one-sticking with a steel climbing stick that I cut down to 2 steps. Attached to that is a 2 step aider made form tubular webbing.
The Climb:
The climb was fairly uneventful as I had practiced this before it went fairly well, one thing I would try to improve on is to better plan my ascent. This was a multi-trunk tree and I kind of just started climbing without trying to think through where I was going to climb, or even where I wanted to end up.
The Shooting:
This was probably the most humbling part. As someone who regularly hits paper plates at eighty-yards, my group at 17 yards was horrible. I think it will improve I just need to get used to how to better brace myself against the tree and platform to become more stable.
The Descent:
This is where things start to go downhill fast. Most of it could have been prevented by better planning. I failed to bring a knife with me up the tree, I failed to plan my descent, and I failed to notice a magor flaw in my equipment. All was going well until until I came to the point where the multiple trunks came together. I had to disconnect my climbing stick and move it below the branch. So I re-positioned it and then swung the daisy chain around the tree. (An important note, I tied a piece of shock-cord to the end of the chain in order to secure it to the stick, this is tied on.) So the knot from the shock-cord caught in the crook of a branch. If I had my knife I could have simply cut the shock-cord and continued to move down the tree. Instead I had a pair of pruning shears (which apparently due not work well on shock-cord). After freeing my daisy-chain I was frustrated and continued to have difficulty descending. It probably took about 35 minutes for me to get down about 15 feet.
Things I learned:
I definitely need get more organized in my descent, I definitely see why a lot of people prefer to repel, unfortunately I cant see myself spending the funds on something that is not so necessary.
I need to practice shooting from the saddle.
I need to use a different platform, using the bottom step of my stick was not working for me. I am going to try and assemble one out of wood in order to keep the cost low. If anyone has any recommendation when it comes to a diy wooden platform i am all ears.
Overall, this has definitely showed me that this endeavor is going to be harder than expected, but is has motivated me to practice more regularly to be proficient before the arrival of the season. I think the biggest thing I need to work on is planning better, A lot of my difficulties were easily preventable had I spent more time thinking instead of doing. If anyone has any advice let me know.
While this is not the first time I have climbed and descended this is the first time I put everything together in one sit.
My Equipment:
I am using a DIY fleece saddle with a fixed AmSteel Bridge, this is backed up with a rock climbing harness. I am using the HSS tether and the included biners. I added an additional prussik unto the tether to attach my fleece saddle. My climbing method is one-sticking with a steel climbing stick that I cut down to 2 steps. Attached to that is a 2 step aider made form tubular webbing.
The Climb:
The climb was fairly uneventful as I had practiced this before it went fairly well, one thing I would try to improve on is to better plan my ascent. This was a multi-trunk tree and I kind of just started climbing without trying to think through where I was going to climb, or even where I wanted to end up.
The Shooting:
This was probably the most humbling part. As someone who regularly hits paper plates at eighty-yards, my group at 17 yards was horrible. I think it will improve I just need to get used to how to better brace myself against the tree and platform to become more stable.
The Descent:
This is where things start to go downhill fast. Most of it could have been prevented by better planning. I failed to bring a knife with me up the tree, I failed to plan my descent, and I failed to notice a magor flaw in my equipment. All was going well until until I came to the point where the multiple trunks came together. I had to disconnect my climbing stick and move it below the branch. So I re-positioned it and then swung the daisy chain around the tree. (An important note, I tied a piece of shock-cord to the end of the chain in order to secure it to the stick, this is tied on.) So the knot from the shock-cord caught in the crook of a branch. If I had my knife I could have simply cut the shock-cord and continued to move down the tree. Instead I had a pair of pruning shears (which apparently due not work well on shock-cord). After freeing my daisy-chain I was frustrated and continued to have difficulty descending. It probably took about 35 minutes for me to get down about 15 feet.
Things I learned:
I definitely need get more organized in my descent, I definitely see why a lot of people prefer to repel, unfortunately I cant see myself spending the funds on something that is not so necessary.
I need to practice shooting from the saddle.
I need to use a different platform, using the bottom step of my stick was not working for me. I am going to try and assemble one out of wood in order to keep the cost low. If anyone has any recommendation when it comes to a diy wooden platform i am all ears.
Overall, this has definitely showed me that this endeavor is going to be harder than expected, but is has motivated me to practice more regularly to be proficient before the arrival of the season. I think the biggest thing I need to work on is planning better, A lot of my difficulties were easily preventable had I spent more time thinking instead of doing. If anyone has any advice let me know.
