A swede that may get interested?

Hi there all tree climbers, thank you for this community.

First I have to apologize for my english skills since it is not my mother tongue, and I live in Sweden in northern Europe. Still I hope to make myself understood

Ok here's the story. There is to my knowledge no tree climbing clubs or similar where I live, though my two kids joined an indoor wall climbing course and done that for almost a year, me and my wife "secure the climb" during the weekly sessions. I'm very interested in nature and we are outdoors when weather allows. Mushrooms a great interest for me.

I've been looking at this site and there's a lot of good advices, like the CD and start kit. Though before I know that me and my kids would want to do this and not only once then I cant afford to spend hundreds and hundreds of dollars (or in my case a couple of thousand swedish crowns) to find that they do not want to tree climb. On the wallclimbing course we borrow equipment included in the fee.

I understand that we have to buy a saddle, perhaps the "Tengu", but if anyone could help me make a short list (the shorter the better ) of a minimized startkit that I worst case can sell further on eBay if it starts to collect dust at home.

With this minikit we will try the tree climbing experience and if it bites, then we can buy more stuff along the way. No fancy to start with, only enough to take one person up there.

I would greatly take any advice, and thanks again for this site and community. Best wishes and climb safely!

Tor the Swede

I would suggest that you go to treestuff.com, and have a look at their inventory. I say this because I'm familiar with them, but there are probably arborist supply distributors near you. NewTribe makes great recreational saddles; the Tengu would be good for you, and their Twist saddle for kids, or the soft D saddle for kids would be a good place to start. Then you're going to need some rope for a climbing line. There are so many to choose from, but 150 feet of line, perhaps a 24 strand double braid like Poison Ivy would do the trick, and you could use it for doubled rope technique or stationary rope technique. I'd start out with doubled rope technique. You can tie a Blake's hitch in the tail of your climbing line, or you can get a single eye split tail (or two) and use that. Get some triple autolocking carabiners, they must be autolocking for life support. You'll probably want to have a collection of them! An arborist's safety helmet is a must. The "House" sleeve is a great friction saver, you'll want a couple of those. Also, a foot ascender, like the Petzl Pantin, is a great investment. You'll want to think about a bag to store your rope, and let's not forget some throwline, like 200 feet of Zingit, and some throw bags; I mostly use the 10 and 12 ounce size bags, and it's good to have a few. The gear I'm talking about works well for doubled rope technique, which I think is a good place to start. Oh, and before I forget, do get a safety lanyard, say 12' to 15', so you can tie in safely in the tree and move your climbing line up to another station. Always stay safely clipped in while aloft, on your climbing line or your lanyard, at all times! Safety is of the utmost importance! Try to find an experienced climber who is qualified to instruct you. Get a copy of Jeff Jepson's book, "The Tree Climber's Companion" and his book "Knots at Work", both of which are available on this website. Someone else here will probably come along with some other good suggestions. Do get the CD, Tree Climbing Basics." Stay safe, and have fun!

Hi Dogwood,

That was excellent advices, greatly appreciated thanks. I need to check out those brands you mentioned. Also I heard that there is actually TCI trained people in Denmark not too far from here, so I'll try to find out if they have a course this summer.

Thanks again, and I will climb safely, wish you the best.

Tor

By the way, single rope technique (stationary rope technique) is awesome. There are lots of details, however, and single rope development is taking off big time. It requires some study, and the assistance of a climber who is qualified to instruct you.

Tor,
Before you get ahead of yourself, find the instructors in your country who know how to climb first. Do a climb with them so you can get a real idea if it is for you.

Next, buy the TCI DVD- "Tree Climbing Basics". Watch it 3 times from beginning to end. It is only $20 US.

Do not think about SRT now. It is more advanced and it is not a technique you would use to take your family up.

Welcome to the group.

Treeman

Hi,

I'mm really happy for your answers, thanks.

Yup but unfortunately there was none here, a lot of wall climbing but I asked around and nobody knew what I talked about.

Next to Sweden is Denmark, I will travel there to get some professional instructor help, and they got excellent beer too

I'll start with DRT, no worries!

Again thanks,

Tor

Hi again,

I must tell you all that I have now visited the town Odense in Denmark next to Sweden and took a one day beginners intro course. The Danish instructor named Carsten was very helpful and instructed me and my buddy (which I managed to trick to join me on my trip) in an excellent and safe way during the whole day. We even were tought to make the Blakes hitch with our eyes closed. Great training program you got here. I have now purchased saddle, rope and things from treestuff and I need to fix a helmet and a foot loop and I can start testing a little on my own with the DRT teqnique.

So far so good

Again thanks,
Tor

Welcome to the trees, Tor! Good luck with your climbing adventures. Let us know how it's going!

Thank you Dogwood

Ok, so first trembling steps taken. We climbed in a tree close to a lake. I'll try to add a picture of my daughter climbing. This really add to the "standard" picnic in our recreational areas here in Sweden. My whole family tried though my youngest couldn't handle the moving of the Blakes upwards so he just "hanged there" for a while. Acc to our teacher me and my buddy are nr 5 and 6 in Sweden to test this so we can't give up now can we? It may take some time until we climb any tree giants but we will report the progress!
/Tor
PS. Seem difficult to add a pic here directly from my iPhone but I'll try

Ok lets try a film

http://vid1292.photobucket.com/albums/b573/Gablud/Mobile%20Uploads/trim5840D5F9-A2D6-4817-845E-1D25F5C2640F_zpsc66967fc.mp4

Heres a better version of the film
http://vid1292.photobucket.com/albums/b573/Gablud/Mobile%20Uploads/trimB5F76E79-DD67-4D01-8766-CBF1D08B78B8_zps3797538c.mp4

Picture
http://i1292.photobucket.com/albums/b573/Gablud/Mobile%20Uploads/image_zps11bc1f74.jpg
http://i1292.photobucket.com/albums/b573/Gablud/Mobile%20Uploads/image_zps4d435be8.jpg

http://s1292.photobucket.com/user/Gablud/media/Mobile%20Uploads/image_zps4d435be8.jpg.htmlhttp%3A/s1292.photobucket.com/user/Gablud/media/Mobile%20Uploads/image_zps39b527ec.jpg.html

Ok so hope that worked

I see trees differently now! Currently on vacation in Italy and outside of our hotel there is a giant oak tree, just waiting to be climbed, but my tree stuff is at home!

Thanks for the cheering folks! Climb safely!

Very good! Looks like you're having fun!