Burnt flip line

Arizona Kenn

As some of you know, my house burnt down. My question is would you trust any of your gear if it was exposed to tremendous heat, (or any other weirdness) say 800- 1,000 F. My 5/8th yale flip line has some scotching on the outside, but I'm guessing the inner core is OK? I don't know. I got some palms to trim and need to get my gear together, just wondering if I should trust it.

playfordtree

Sorry to hear about your fire ken, i think a house fire would be everyones worst nightmare, the loss of your sentimental things (photos etc...) would be devastating.

You should probably ditch the flipline, i wouldn't use it.
You can easily make a new one cheaply enough.

All the best with your recovery from the fire
regards Simon.

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TreeDimensional

Cut it up in little chunks and throw it out. Your on the come-back trail, its not worth risking injury or life over a rope. When it doubt throw it out!

TREEMONKEY

Get rid of that lanyard i would throw away anything that seen that heat karabiners and lanyard. the inner core of your lanyard could have a lower melting point then the sheath climbing is not the time to find out.

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newguy18

Chuck it,the rope has been weakend and the steel cable has lost its temper.in a tree is not the place to have an oops.

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old schooler

Eric Frei

I wouldn't trust anything that's been through heat like that, not worth it.

You can improvise with some prussik style flip lines made from rope etc. When you really dumb it down rope is the answer to all, you could climb without biners even.

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quercus

Discard EVERYTHING that has been exposed to the heat. Not worth risking your life for.
Do you really wanna ask yourself every five minutes: "Will it hold?"

And like Ekka said...

A perfect safe climb can be performed with only rope and a harness. Everything from biners to clips and lanyards, rope clamps, absolutely everything is just luxury and is expendable. I teach my students these techniques to improvise when in the event of losing gear when up in the tree. A few HOW to's for these techs....The biners in the pics could be replaced by a bowline knot.

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Arizona Kenn

New Guy, you said the flip line has lost it's temper (I've lost my temper ) ok, so I'll use it as a dog leash, I'm not wanting to be foolish, just practical, everything has acceptable levels of wear and tear. What about my Bashlin aluminum climbers, toss them? (sob and cry)... I think I'll have a beer now

newguy18

The problem with aluminum is it has extremly low heat resistance,you might hit a knot in a tree and crack or break the point off or maybe bend the shank,yes sob and cry and chuck them,i don't want to here about you getting hurt if they were steel it might be differnt but because they're aluminum and have been exposed to an estimated 1,000 degrees farinheit throw them out.i know probably not what you wanted to hear but remeber oops is a famous last word.If need be until you get gaffs use 2 pieces of rope knoted togther tied with a girth hitch around the trunk and do spurless removals.its safer then using compromised gear.

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old schooler

Jeff Darby

hi Ken,
I'm sorry to hear of your house fire, With your aluminium climbers have them tested by the manufacture before you discard them, My experience with aluiminium when exposed to a heat that will damage them there's no mistaking the damage they simply collapse to a blob like form.Have them tested first before you throw them it might save you buying new ones.Think about it they can weld al, To weld al you have to melt the alloy to get fusion and it still has it's structual integrity. Just have them professionally inspected first.

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quercus

Aluminum gaffs are not PPE, mate. What Jay says is true. Damage wil often show itself in the form of deformation or melted parts. What I'm saying is that life itself does not depend on wether they fail or not. It speaks for itself that straps and buckles that have melted must be replaced. The first time you use them, give them a pounding the first few meters. In case of a massive failure, it won't be so bad then.
I'd make sure that you can get down on a long climbing line every time when you use them though. Climbing down on 1 spur can be a bitch sometimes....

newguy18

I just don't trust aluminum enough to begin with but after extreme heat like that,no way i'd use them but if you feel like you can get by after having them tested go for it just be safe while doing it.

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Arizona Kenn

just to let you all know the status on my gear. I'm getting a new traverse saddle from Wesspur, replace the spurs and climb a stump to see how everything checks out. I might look like a crazy man but I plan to see if I can break anything while I'm as close to the ground as possible. An interesting footnote; my 192 was damaged so bad the handle was melted off. However, the engine didn't freeze and fuel lines are still intact. A new case from eBay, little tune up and I'll have a nice back-up saw. I don't think the same fate holds true for the 360 though.

Arizona Kenn

Quercus , thanks for the picts and advice.

George Hayduke

What??? Have you ever been in a plane? Look at the wheels on your truck/car. Look under the cylinder heads and you're likelly to find an aluminum block. Grab hold of the barley pop and study the can. Aluminum has an incredible history of working in tough conditions.

I think that your fear of aluminum is unfounded.

newguy18

nope never been in a plane,the only vehicle to my name is from 1960,the only thing i have that is aluminum is pop cans.I'll stick with steel biners but to each his own.

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Therrin

Well I read the first couple posts, then skipped ahead.

I'm pretty much thinking that if our "Lowe's equipment purchasing guru" says that its trash, and to throw it out, then its REALLY unsafe to use!!

newguy18

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quercus

The pleasure is all mine, mate... That what we're here for....
To help each other out.
I'm really sorry for the fact that your house burnt down... Something like this always reminds me that the small "problems" we encounter daily are not really problems but actually speedbumps that slow a person down a bit.

If you were closer to where I live, I'd have no problem with loaning or giving you everything you'd need to get safely back in the tree...I've done that before with a treefriend of mine that got his stuff stolen, and I mean everything he owned to work on trees. We work together now nearly every month and it's really great that by doing so, he got back on track real fast.Things like that are meant to never be forgotten, and it is at times like that, that a person knows who his real friends and colleagues are. Like I said... Certified tree workers are all companions and friends, and there's only competition between hacks and idiots...

hartley

Nice sentiment quercus!
Good luck in the future Arizona Kenn

Monkeywitha_saw

ken if your in tucson id be glad to help you out with gear or what ever you need

Therrin

You guys are both in Tucson?

Last summer I called around to the arbs I could find in the Green Valley/Tucson yellow pages and was looking for work as a climber. Ended up speaking to one guy who said he'd hold onto my number for monsoon season. He called me back once but I was already back in Cali by then.

Wasn't either of you by any chance was it?

Monkeywitha_saw

sorry wasnt me but if you would have called i would have used you we got hit in some areas very hard with lots of trees down

Therrin

Well heck, if it happens again you can still call me!!

I've got friends in Green Valley I can crash with for a little while if I need to. If ya guys get a ton of work goin I'd be happy to come out for a week or so. Been looking for an excuse to get back out that way for a little bit anyway.

I'd gotten the feeling while I was there that there weren't many climbers around, it'd be nice to hook up with some of you guys and make some new friends.


Probably heading into the wrong season for that right now though.


Ever been up to Mt Graham? It's beautifull there, millions of trees. I felt like I was in the sierras all over again

Arizona Kenn

Q, thanks for that. MonkeySaw I'll PM you. I'd like to meet other tree guys out here, been doing it on my own from the start, maybe learn some new stuff.

After the monsoons blow through we get a LOT of Palo Verde and Mesquite blow overs, real shallow roots with nothing to hold the tree down. I think the landscapers don't water properly and establish a deep enough root zone.

Monkeywitha_saw

id like to meet you too or you could give me a call 520 304 4296 we may have a lot to talk about or we may already know of each other

Arizona Kenn

Thanks to monkey saw, he hooked me up w/ some gear at a great price. I climbed a few palms on Saturday and happy to say life is great! As for the flip line, it has such sentimental value I'm still using it. I cleaned the soot off w/ some mild soap, hot water, and elbow grease. It has little fuzzy orange singed hairs on the outside (whipped cream filling on the inside.)

As for Aluminum, it's amazing how different that word is pronounced around the globe. I worked w/ a guy from oz and he put an extra syllable in when he said it.

quercus

Out here that would be aluminium too...