Hmm, I don't know how this story's gonna fly, but I've used one before.
Needed to spike up a um...leader? on what is known here as a "fruitless Mulberry" (couldn't find the name for it). Anyhow, it was hanging right over half of the guy's house. I wasn't feelin so savvy about all of my weight way out on this branch, while doing a dismantle on it.
So I took some big 4" strapping and ran it around the main trunk, then out and around this other one runnin at about a 45* angle. Hooked it up and ratcheted it tight, kinda anchoring it to the trunk while I was workin.
Sounds a little dicey, but it worked beautifully. You can see part of it in one of my pictures under my "Therrin's Pics" thread.
http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e1...hish/tree2.jpg