So Two years ago when on the west coast of Mexico I went up the short coconut tree with only my belt around my ankles-a.to show off to the wife b. see if I could do that which was pretty easy half a lifetime ago(58at this point) and c. see if the dang coconut was either good for drinking or for eating. My lesson at the time was, that being weaker than my younger self, I hugged the trunk on the way down and got kind of scraped up. Ah ha! says I, this time during my snowbird getaway for the 60th birthday on Puerto Rico I'll take me a descent line.
I picked over my gear with an eye for minimalism and at the last minute kyped a kayak rescue line from my landlady. You can see the kit that I put in my carry on at
http://www.flickr.com/photos/yanoos/
I had 3 rock climbing slings- the fattest for a quickie harness and the thinnest for a cambium, or in this case, frond saver. The long middle one
was a safety backup because I didn't trust the buckle on the tie-down strap that I used for a flipline/lanyard. I used the braided line for that strap that is traditionally tied around the ankles to keep one's feet positioned on the trunk. Ouila! a success. Coconut from 24ish feet up, was drinkable and edible . Only got scraped up a wee bit. Lessons I learned.
Feet are tender in oldfartism-I had to resort to aqua shoes-bare feet too sore.
And while doubled 3/8 polypropelene(floating kayak rescue) line may be strong enough, it doesn't get much resistance with the atc and carabiner- it was a good thing for my hands that I had included a backup prussick underneath. I could have used that reversino that I let go of some years back.
