Weekend Rescue!

I recently read a posting at the Treebuzz site about a climber that usually manages to get parts of his gear stuck up in the trees while doing RTC but not while doing his regular work related climbs. I had a similar experience this past week. I did some climbing on the trees next to my house last Saturday and I left one of the F-savers 50 feet up in the tree branch because I forgot to put a knot at the end of the rope while removing the rope. No big deal I could get it later on the week and it would give an excuse to climb anyway. This Saturday I decided to retrieve the F-saver by trying to put a throw line and weight on the same crouch and wiggle the saver down. After several throws I managed to rap the throw line in one nearby branch so now I have 2 pieces of equipment up in the tree. Next, I tried the other end of the throwing line and after several frustrating moments I realized that the only way to enter this tree was to start at a low branch and climbing up making small pitches up until reaching my desired target F-saver place. This was not what I originally set to do but it worked out after all. I was able to reach the right limb, retrieve the saver, untangle the throw line and remove the throw-bag ....... and cut some small dead limbs at the same time.

Monday the 4th of July day I decided to make a short SRT climb on one of the Live(dying)Oaks in from of my house. It was supposed to be an Easy throw 30 feet up to my desired branch which I got on my first throw! BUT I tried to isolate the line over one single limb and after several tries I managed to tangle the throw lines-- both ends up in the tree. Now I have One rope partially over the branch and no way to get up in the tree. Again I had to go to plan No. 2. I Got my other rope. Made a throwing knot as described by Jepson P-31 to a lower branch and after short climb was able to retrieve the line, rope and other gear stuff from the tangle in the tree. A good couple of hours in the tree just to get the gear down!. This does not usually happens to me when I climb to do some specific tree clearing or dead branch removal... Why is that?? Not in the right State of mind????

Hey Oldtimer…

Just a note to let you know that while browsing the TCI forum I noticed your “Weekend Rescue” post.

You hit the nail on the head.
I find that the best practice I can get with a throw-bag, is when things go wrong. Every so often I have a bad day on the ground. You know… stuck gear, tangled throw-lines, etc…

It’s on those bad days… the ones that turn into 2 hours on the ground trying out all those techniques we often read about but seldom use. That's where the best unintentional practice happens.

Another issue your post touches on is climbing with a mission vs. climbing just for the fun of it. After all is said and done, I always have a better climb when on a mission. Even a simple task like retrieving an abandoned tree-saver. Sure, practice climbing is nice but, the climb just seems to go better with a mission in mind.

Just thinking out loud, so-to-speak.
Regards,
Electrojake

Rescue brings on the same reaction emotionally as the word “Help!” So let’s think about language here guys. Are you retrieving hung gear or rescuing it?

I know this might seem as trivial but to me personally it is a big deal because I personally must be “rescue ready” in many ways. Rescue occurs to me in three ways.
1. At the job site with working climbers.
2. At the TCI school with panic struck new climbers.
3. Pet rescue where loved pets (cats, birds, snakes, and lizards) must be brought down.

They are all living creatures. Gear- well- I just don’t know.

I must say, mission driven climbs are much more interesting. I used to really get excited with extreme storm damage situations working shattered trees above expensive houses. I would crank up my internal “Mission Impossible” soundtrack and go for it. At age 56- I admit that the volume is much lower- very much lower- uhhhh- almost gone

---

uhhhhh-gone! It is a recent revelation.

And here I sit waiting for the effects of hurricane Dennis to arrive in Atlanta. I am dreading it.

These are my favorite threads. If you read Jepson and Flowers, they make simple fleeting statements about equipment being stuck. Somehow the other 99.5% of the books make it sound incredibly easy. I have a Black Oak that's easy enough to climb. It's solely responsible for retaining 3 pieces of my equipment as I write. I've often wondered why just this one tree. This happens to be a tree that I get to at the end of the day. Perhaps I'm more tired. For sure, I'm always limited by time. It's also a tree where I force myself to experiment.

Still, it's interesting how variable climbs are.

Regards,
JimK

Keep FIT - Fun in Trees

Peter made a good point, when I saw the title I was ready for a bad story.

If anyone is still using the thicker, yellow throwline, Slickline, it might be time to get some newer line. Fling-it [pink] and Zing-it [yellow] both perform much better. FI seems to be gaining more fans and converts. The couple of times that I've used it I like how it handles. Until my ZI wears out, which it won't, I'll have to wait to upgrade.

there was a thread a while ago about waxing throwlines. Even though FIZI are very slippery it sure couldn't hurt to run the cord over an old candle. I do wonder if the wax might grab onto dirt, making the line sticky.

Do you guys have a New Tribe Grappel? It is one of the best little tools to have. There are some really cagey ways of using the grappel to snag stuck gear.

How do I attach a Paint sketch to a post? Be very specific with the instructions please.

tom

Originally posted by Tom Dunlap
How do I attach a Paint sketch to a post? Be very specific with the instructions please.

I think the only options currently available here are:

• insert a hyperlink
• insert the URL of an image stored somewhere else

Funny...when I tried this before, the empty field with "Browse" wasn't displayed. Let's see if I can put this together.

Hooray! most of the image is there. My footnotes didn't make it.

The red item is the stuck piece of gear, broken limb, kite or cat...lighten up, I like cats :)The throwline is installed above the item and then the grappel is girth hitched onto the throwline. With some manipulation the grappel snags the gear and off you go. Tie the two ends of the throwline together to give you control to lift or lower.

Now it's time to go fishing!