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Minimalist platform

A couple topics I get some feedback from in this next picture.
30A219F9-496A-4BBE-A615-1092D080AAB0.png

1 Just got these ‘climbers’ last night.
Their my first Bashlin’s.
They did NOT work worth a dam with my “wrong” method. Not comfortable at all and the back half of the ankle/foot strap wouldn’t stay up on the heel of my shoe.
2 Do any of you guys attach your auto block like the way in the picture?
I’ve been messing around for a few weeks with different ways and this one works really good so far.
 
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^^^ auto block on separate carabiner above Munter hitch is what I was asking about..
 
phatkaw said:
A couple topics I get some feedback from in this next picture.
View attachment 47226

1 Just got these ‘climbers’ last night.
Their my first Bashin’s.
They did NOT work worth a dam with my “wrong” method. Not comfortable at all and the back half of the ankle/foot strap wouldn’t stay up on the heel of my shoe.
2 Do any of you guys attach your auto block like the way in the picture?
I’ve been messing around for a few weeks with different ways and this one works really good so far.
Click to expand...
I usually run a standard 6 wrap prusik or a mechanical ascender on my tether. I’m not big on VT’s or Munter’s hitches. A quick simple prusik tried and true works great for me. Unless I’m climbing ropes.... then I prefer the Blake’s hitch. In fact the Blake’s is my favorite friction hitch because it can be used with rope of the same diameter and it grips/slips better than most. The drawback to many is the Blake’s works on a single leg and most hitches are double leg.
 
woodsdog2 said:
I'm just getting into climbing with climbing spikes. I like it but I don't believe I would leave them on to hunt with. I need to modify mine to make them quieter. I have some property where I will be allowed to use them plus, to be honest, I just wanted them to have for limbing work etc. @Topdog what are your recommendations as far as tree damage with spikes? In your experience, have you seen long term damage due to the use of spikes on live trees? I know you probably use a bucket or SRT up for a tree that you trim that the owner wants to save so you wouldn't gaff up it anyway but do you have any anecdotal experiences with climbing spikes on live trees and subsequent damage as a result? My buddy told me he wouldn't care if I used them on junk trees or timber but I don't want to permanently damage a tree regardless of its timber value. What are your thoughts on this?
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I cannot speak for Topdog but I know spikes definitely leave holes in trees. I was speaking to one of our utility arborist about climbing trees with gaffs. He told me that, especially on rough bark trees that it leaves large holes that allows for wood borers to use therefore it harms the tree. However my uncle who is a foreman for a very large arborist company said they use them on trees that are being trimmed for health all the time, and unless you are repeatedly climbing the same tree many times, that it won’t hurt it. Basically if you are only climbing the tree one or two times for season, it won’t hurt it at all. But if it’s your normal all day sit that you climb every weekend that it will cause damage to the tree.
Not sure if damaging it will actually kill it though? So two professionals and two very different responses. Lol perhaps TopDog has an educated response for that very question
 
woodsdog2 said:
I'm just getting into climbing with climbing spikes. I like it but I don't believe I would leave them on to hunt with. I need to modify mine to make them quieter. I have some property where I will be allowed to use them plus, to be honest, I just wanted them to have for limbing work etc. @Topdog what are your recommendations as far as tree damage with spikes? In your experience, have you seen long term damage due to the use of spikes on live trees? I know you probably use a bucket or SRT up for a tree that you trim that the owner wants to save so you wouldn't gaff up it anyway but do you have any anecdotal experiences with climbing spikes on live trees and subsequent damage as a result? My buddy told me he wouldn't care if I used them on junk trees or timber but I don't want to permanently damage a tree regardless of its timber value. What are your thoughts on this?
Click to expand...
So about 95% of my jobs are removals, and most of the time it’s with a bucket truck, I don’t bid many climbing jobs anymore, most of my trimming work is commercial contracts parking lot and road side stuff, in this area it’s pretty common practice to not wear spurs when trimming a tree in a residential setting, in my opinion that is mainly because of aesthetic reasons, some wealthy customer has no desire to see spur marks all over the only tree in his front yard, I can’t blame them, no SRT climbing for me so I just refer somebody that does in my area if a customer is looking for that kind of service. Like a lot of things the damage caused by spurs can be mitigated by the user, put a rookie on a set of hooks and tell them to climb a tree and it will look like a bear was there marking his turf, a seasoned pro and there will still be holes and marks but less noticeable, I would think climbing a tree once in awhile with spurs would not kill it over the long haul, I have never seen a tree die from spur wounds that I know of, I will also admit tree health is not my thing, I just put a lot of them on the ground and thats about it, over mulching trees around the bottom kills more trees than anything I know about and landscapers keep on doing it and that’s great for my business! When I used to log some of my own property timber buyers would always find the smallest imperfection on logs hence lowering the grade of your wood and decreasing its value, there’s a big difference in a veneer bottom log and pallet prices. A good log buyer can look at a stump and tell you if that tree was ever tapped 4 ft above, or at least that’s what they always tell me. The only loggers that I am aware of that ever wears spurs live in the Pacific Northwest where the trees get crazy tall and years ago they used to climb up and blow the top out first before cutting them so when the tree drops it doesn’t crack the most valuable part when it hits, the bottom and mid section. Around the rest of the country it’s arborists like me and utility workers that wear hooks/spurs/gaffs. I started wearing steel buckinghams and used them forever until I switched to a pair of aluminum bashlins like my father always used, a 33 year line boss with a major power utility company, I chose the tree route and have did that my whole life instead of being a lineman. My pads are thick and comfy on my Bashlins, they make it easier for me to endure since I don’t use them enough anymore and my legs never get toughened up like a daily user of hooks. Leather T pads will separate the men from boys fast, the velcro super wrap pads like in the pictures above from the OP are good if they have the steel insert on the sides, it helps the keep the main shank from rotating and biting your leg, without that steel insert they suck and constantly want to rotate and burn your leg, with leather bottom straps like the OP has I used to take a wrap around the main shank before buckling them, helps some, now I use some fancy nylon bottom straps and no longer do that. Pole gaffs are going to be better on super hard wood, tree gaffs work for everything, I wear tree gaffs because I never know what kind of **** I’m going to get into, a rotten spot on the tree, loose bark, who knows what. On hard trees pole gaffs are going to feel more natural for most people keeping your foot closer to the tree in a more comfortable position, tree gaffs not so much. Hope all of this helps somebody maybe, at the end of the day when I hunt I use sticks, and this year I am going to try bolts. I could easily use spurs and be up a tree seconds like spider man when I hunt but for whatever reason I have no desire to even look at that stuff when hunting season starts, it probably reminds me of work to much, not to mention the legality is questionable where I hunt on using spurs and it’s one of those deals where nobody would care until they heard I killed a big buck and was using spurs and then everybody would care lol. So after all this rambling on I agree with FL Canopy Stalker and his advice on spurs and tree damage!
 
Thanks both of you @Fl Canopy Stalker and @Topdog this is great stuff. I have heard that a few times now regarding gaffs and tree damage and many of the guys who are in this stuff day in and day out will say that they usually have not witnessed major damage on a tree that's been gaffed up once or twice. If it were a tree I would always be using, I wouldn't gaff up it each time anyway. My buddy has a decently sized property and some areas that are great for hunting suck for trees. I would like to gaff up some of these locust and soft maple he has in the rougher parts of his property were the deer are. Thanks again.
 
Fl Canopy Stalker said:
I usually run a standard 6 wrap prusik or a mechanical ascender on my tether. I’m not big on VT’s or Munter’s hitches. A quick simple prusik tried and true works great for me. Unless I’m climbing ropes.... then I prefer the Blake’s hitch. In fact the Blake’s is my favorite friction hitch because it can be used with rope of the same diameter and it grips/slips better than most. The drawback to many is the Blake’s works on a single leg and most hitches are double leg.
Click to expand...
@Fl Canopy Stalker why don't you like the vt hitch? I was using it on my LB with a micro pully for climbing with my spikes and it seemed to work well. The only thing is its easy to "open up" to adjust the distance around the tree. I backed it with a home made "tree squeeze" using a GT climbing climb rated continuous loop and a climb rated biner across the front in case I gaff out. I haven't done that yet so far using Klien Steel climbing spikes with pole gaffs. I was climbing up a locust, which as you probably know has a thicker bark but the pole sized gaffs seem to work fine with it.
 
woodsdog2 said:
@Fl Canopy Stalker why don't you like the vt hitch? I was using it on my LB with a micro pully for climbing with my spikes and it seemed to work well. The only thing is its easy to "open up" to adjust the distance around the tree. I backed it with a home made "tree squeeze" using a GT climbing climb rated continuous loop and a climb rated biner across the front in case I gaff out. I haven't done that yet so far using Klien Steel climbing spikes with pole gaffs. I was climbing up a locust, which as you probably know has a thicker bark but the pole sized gaffs seem to work fine with it.
Click to expand...
I’m a keep it simple stupid kind of guy. Standard prusiks are easy to tie, work in both directions and I’ve never had one fail. All friction hitches have their short comings and some people don’t mind longer cord and rope with an abundance of twists. For me a 3 wrap prusik using 7mm cord on 10mm rope is perfect, fast and it doesn’t bind so hard that I can’t slide it when I need to adjust. Also most the places I hunt, do not allow hooks, so I do more closed system Double Rope climbing than anything else. 4lbs of rope and a 14oz throw ball, I can be at hunting height in a couple minutes with no sign at the bottom of the tree for people or animals to detect. For that reason, I love the Blake’s hitch
 
woodsdog2 said:
@Fl Canopy Stalker why don't you like the vt hitch? I was using it on my LB with a micro pully for climbing with my spikes and it seemed to work well. The only thing is its easy to "open up" to adjust the distance around the tree. I backed it with a home made "tree squeeze" using a GT climbing climb rated continuous loop and a climb rated biner across the front in case I gaff out. I haven't done that yet so far using Klien Steel climbing spikes with pole gaffs. I was climbing up a locust, which as you probably know has a thicker bark but the pole sized gaffs seem to work fine with it.
Click to expand...
I have my old pair of steel Buckingham climbers with leather straps When I run a linesman rope to climb on hooks, I actually prefer to use an 8 mm cord that I tie a figure 8 for an eye and leave about 34” of lose line and tie a Blake’s hitch much like using a split tail for DRT climbing. Lineman’s rope are technically doubled over like DRT so the Blake’s works perfectly especially if you put a “poor man’s ascender” aka a 3/4” metal d ring with a paracord loop tied in. The Blake’s is better at slip and grip than any friction hitch that I know of.
 
I went with the Opsal Aluminum pads on my climbers and they are very comfortable but a bit noisy for hunting. I'm going to stealth strip them and the shank that goes in the angled insert on the pad. Or, I might get the Climb-Right Pads and cover them. I also need to change out the straps and buckles that came with them to something much quieter but for now just using them and learning with them, they are fine.
 
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