Low Tech Traditional Climbing Methods

[Adamcincy]

My wife came back from the Dominican Republic and said she saw a gardener on the island climb and trim a palm tree with two ropes. One on his foot and one behind his knee. She said he was really fast going up and down. I did some research online and found some interesting videos.
www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=9&v=p5S9mfIFsGQ
www.youtube.com/watch?v=peJBoWlw6xk
www.youtube.com/watch?v=LadmshuCN9U
www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=27&v=sgUUEujYOe8

I liked how quickly they were able to advance their tie in points. Advancing my tether up a tree with rough bark is pretty slow for me.

I wonder if there would be a way to do this safely or adapt some aspect of it to the climbing we do in saddle hunting. I wonder what type of rope would be best and how long. The rope in the videos looks pretty stiff but grabs on really well. Got me thinking outside of my box so thought I'd put it out to the forum.

 

[redsquirrel]

This has popped up once in a while. I think having a stiff rope is very important so that it can move easily. I bought an actually wire core lineman's belt for tree work once and it is very stiff. I bet that if you could make this method work you could also tie a prussik or some sort of friction knot in to the thigh tether which would attach to your saddle for extra safety.

 

[MCDM]

I wonder what that setup looks like up close. It doesn’t appear to be all rope because it looks as if they have some sort of handhold on it!! Very cool and looks super fast.

 

[IkemanTX]

I seriously doubt that would work on the rough bark trees I climb... sometimes it can be dang near impossible to move a linesman belt.


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[Luca1]

One more low tech method from Japan.

 

[donnieballgame]

One more low tech method from Japan.

That's awesome, kinda makes me miss Japan, lol

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[Ontariofarmer]

I have seen people climb like that in Indonesia too. I have often wondered about it. They had bare feet while they did it. Too cold for here.


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[donnieballgame]

I seriously doubt that would work on the rough bark trees I climb... sometimes it can be dang near impossible to move a linesman belt.


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I have trouble with my XOP on rough bark trees as well, not sure about tree climbers since I don't own one, anyone have experience with a climber on rough bark trees?

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[donnieballgame]

This has popped up once in a while. I think having a stiff rope is very important so that it can move easily. I bought an actually wire core lineman's belt for tree work once and it is very stiff. I bet that if you could make this method work you could also tie a prussik or some sort of friction knot in to the thigh tether which would attach to your saddle for extra safety.

Where did you get the rope? What do they call it?

I think I would also like to have my harness connected some how to the knee tether bit I think that would really slow it down, need to play around with this..... it's raining today

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[redsquirrel]

Where did you get the rope? What do they call it?

I think I would also like to have my harness connected some how to the knee tether bit I think that would really slow it down, need to play around with this..... it's raining today

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This is the idea
http://www.treestuff.com/store/catalog.asp?item=63

 

[donnieballgame]

This is the idea
http://www.treestuff.com/store/catalog.asp?item=63

Wow that is some serious rope/wire/metal, I didn't think it was that heavy duty, and all that metal would probably kinda noisy, right? Where did I see a post on a different linemans belt that actually closed and held onto the tree?

 

[redsquirrel]

Wow that is some serious rope/wire/metal, I didn't think it was that heavy duty, and all that metal would probably kinda noisy, right? Where did I see a post on a different linemans belt that actually closed and held onto the tree?

Yea I got that when I was first interested in using spurs. I didn't realize how impractical it was until I got it.

You're probably thinking of the buckingham tree squeeze.
https://buckinghammfg.com/products/arborist/treesqueeze-7l08t18j/

 

[Adamcincy]

Yea I got that when I was first interested in using spurs. I didn't realize how impractical it was until I got it.

You're probably thinking of the buckingham tree squeeze.
https://buckinghammfg.com/products/arborist/treesqueeze-7l08t18j/

That is pretty cool. I am playing with a version of the monkey tail system right now that I’m hoping will let me easily advance up or down a tree and go around limbs as needed. www.treestuff.com/store/catalog.asp?item=1527.

So far it works great at easily advancing my tether/climbing rope up the tree, cinches tight when weight is on it, and comes down easily when weight is off it.

I bought 9 mm Sterling HTP for my SRT/ rappel/ climbing line. It is pretty stiff but still ties well. Seems to flip up the tree easily especially if I double it over. I ordered 8mm split tail (www.sherrilltree.com/sherrilltree-black-bee-line-8mm-split-tail-5ft) that gets tied on with a Blake’s hitch and I am running a quick link or singing tree quickie through the eye to eye instead of a ring. Looks something like this when it is on the tree. Lightweight and simple.
I will work with it and post pictures if I end up liking it. I’m in the development/trying it stage now.

 

[redsquirrel]

That is pretty cool. I am playing with a version of the monkey tail system right now that I’m hoping will let me easily advance up or down a tree and go around limbs as needed. www.treestuff.com/store/catalog.asp?item=1527.
View attachment 3810
So far it works great at easily advancing my tether/climbing rope up the tree, cinches tight when weight is on it, and comes down easily when weight is off it.

I bought 9 mm Sterling HTP for my SRT/ rappel/ climbing line. It is pretty stiff but still ties well. Seems to flip up the tree easily especially if I double it over. I ordered 8mm split tail (www.sherrilltree.com/sherrilltree-black-bee-line-8mm-split-tail-5ft) that gets tied on with a Blake’s hitch and I am running a D link or singing tree quickie through the eye to eye instead of a ring. Looks something like this when it is on the tree. Lightweight and simple.
I will work with it and post pictures if I end up liking it. I’m in the development/trying it stage now.

I like it. Keep us updated!

 

[donnieballgame]

That is pretty cool. I am playing with a version of the monkey tail system right now that I’m hoping will let me easily advance up or down a tree and go around limbs as needed. www.treestuff.com/store/catalog.asp?item=1527.
View attachment 3810
So far it works great at easily advancing my tether/climbing rope up the tree, cinches tight when weight is on it, and comes down easily when weight is off it.

I bought 9 mm Sterling HTP for my SRT/ rappel/ climbing line. It is pretty stiff but still ties well. Seems to flip up the tree easily especially if I double it over. I ordered 8mm split tail (www.sherrilltree.com/sherrilltree-black-bee-line-8mm-split-tail-5ft) that gets tied on with a Blake’s hitch and I am running a D link or singing tree quickie through the eye to eye instead of a ring. Looks something like this when it is on the tree. Lightweight and simple.
I will work with it and post pictures if I end up liking it. I’m in the development/trying it stage now.

I'm with @redsquirrel, I love the idea, but all of that metal makes me nervous, the stuff you just posted looks a little simpler, and only one metal ring. Hopefully that will mean it's easier to keep quiet. I was also hoping to do it without buying a bunch of crap, lol.

 

[Adamcincy]

I'm with @redsquirrel, I love the idea, but all of that metal makes me nervous, the stuff you just posted looks a little simpler, and only one metal ring. Hopefully that will mean it's easier to keep quiet. I was also hoping to do it without buying a bunch of crap, lol.

There isn’t more metal than in the picture. Just one quick link or a singing tree quickie (I prefer the quickie but they are expensive) replaces the ring in the system so it can be advanced around obstacles/limbs (the ring is a fixed system). The monkey tail cinching system was developed for an arborist moving down a limbless trunk when they are taking the tree trunk down in pieces. Arborists don’t need to disconnect the ring and move the system around limbs because they chainsawed all the limbs off on the way up the tree.

 

[donnieballgame]

There isn’t more metal than in the picture. Just one D link or a singing tree quickie (I prefer the quickie but they are expensive) replaces the ring in the system so it can be advanced around obstacles/limbs (the ring is a fixed system). The monkey tail cinching system was developed for an arborist moving down a limbless trunk when they are taking the tree trunk down in pieces. Arborists don’t need to disconnect the ring and move the system around limbs because they chainsawed all the limbs off on the way up the tree.

Thanks for the info, I had to look up a quickie, lol, sounds funny. Are they noisy? Seems like the pin would rattle around a bit.

For the folks like me that have no idea what a quickie is
https://www.treestuff.com/store/catalog.asp?item=15672

 

[Adamcincy]

Thanks for the info, I had to look up a quickie, lol, sounds funny. Are they noisy? Seems like the pin would rattle around a bit.

For the folks like me that have no idea what a quickie is
https://www.treestuff.com/store/catalog.asp?item=15672

Yes, funny name. I bought a couple of the quickies when I was doing tree work. They have a quick pin that slides in and out so you can open and close them quickly to move in and out of a rope (like a Quick link would www.treestuff.com/store/catalog.asp?category_id=181&item=933) and they don’t have cross loading issues that you can have with carabiners.
They make very little noise but more than a Quick link does but they are faster than a Quick link. I put a couple pieces of electric tape where metal meets metal and that helps.

 

[donnieballgame]

If you can make it quiet it might be a viable option, although the price seems kinda crazy. I think I would just deal with bring a little slower and go with the screw link.

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[MJH]

I have trouble with my XOP on rough bark trees as well, not sure about tree climbers since I don't own one, anyone have experience with a climber on rough bark trees?

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Climbers are fine on rough bark. The foot unit can get hung up a bit on the decent. Shifting your feet left then right solves that issue. Sometimes they don't sit perfect (top or bottom), but once you put some weight on it it usually works out.