Quote:
Originally Posted by jtrouse  Has anyone been able to work out a safe way that is going to be stong enough to make like a hook to get over to other trees while staying attached in the same tree or get out to long extending limb with ease? |
I traverse aerial spans, both from tree to tree, but more regularly from one section to another section of monster crowns, especially in the Fall and Winter months. Most often it's in big, spreading oaks and you've finished pruning or deadwooding some high outreaches. You're
way out there and need to move to the next quadrant of the tree, once again,
way out there. If you move down your limb and back into the center of the tree, you then need to go back up the next limb and way out, but your rope is set in the limb you just came out of.
In those certain, juicy-big trees when you're a distance from the center of the tree, you look over at about the same level and see where you need to be next, and its not that far away, but going back down, over, and then back up, now
that's covering some distance. It is a most excellent exercise to just go from 'here' to 'there'.
I've read threads elsewhere (do a search, keywords 'grapple hook') and the idea behind the grapple is you toss it over your intended limb, let it drop, fish it around until it hooks on a limb down below. Tension it, pray it doesn't release during your traverse across, enjoy the adrenaline. Some guys make it work. I say good for them, and I pray for their safety. Personally, I'm not doing a life-or-death traverse unless the climbing line is
anchored in a bombproof manner into the intended target area. Even if you elect not to do the traverse across, its still advantageous to reset your rope over there before actually going there. It's often easiest to reset to over 'there' from 'here', then go down the here limb, over to the there limb and then back up with a line securely set out there to get out 'there'.
Honestly, though, I have zero experience using a grapple hook. Since this is what the thread is about, the above is more of a derail, or an interruption (for the more tolerant). Please accept my apologies.