RW Salnick wrote:
:Steve inscribed in red ink for all to know:
: On Mon, 11 Dec 2006 06:20:54 -0600, "BarelyAwake"
: wrote:
:
:
:Thanks, guys, for your input. I had intended to use one of the halyards as
:a safety belay. I've seen photos of men at the top of a mast, held by one
:line and no backup. This seems foolish, especially considering that there
:is always another halyard just sitting there, waiting to be used as a
:backup. I like the idea having the harness or bosun's chair attached to a
:primary winch serving as a method of descent. Attaching the bosun's chair
:to one ascender and a loop for the feet to the other ascender seems like a
:great idea for a lazy, middle-aged man like me! I'll give these methods a
:try.
:
:
: It works for a lazy, middle-aged man like me. Just stand up in the
: loop and raise the upper ascender with the bosun's chair attached to
: highest height where you can still sit down. Then sit and raise the
: lower ascender with the loop maybe a foot (if you're lazy) or two (if
: you're in a hurry) ... go at your own rate. Then stand up in the
: raised loop and raise the chair again. Repeat as often as necessary.
: Reverse to descend. I've found that since I have to raise the
: ascender slightly to get it to unlock while descending, I have to make
: more frequent and smaller moves on the way down. But I still wouldn't
: use a descender.
:
: Of course I'd rather have someone winch me up. But I frequently work
: on a boat alone and have to make due with what I have.
:
: I've used the same setup for climbing trees as well.
:
: Steve


:How do you get the line up in the tree to start with?

Tie it to a squirel. Duh.


The normal way is to throw a line over a branch, pulling a heavier
line with that if required. Tall trees can be done in a series of
pitches, wher you first climb to one branch, and then throw a rope to
the next branch and climb there. There are also fairly safe ways to
climb a tree without a top rope. The first guy up attaches to top
rope, others follow by climbing that rope.