throw line reel.

Tree Machine

Ay!

phill ellison

I've got these pop up bags that i find really good for throwlines, only NZ$5.00 from the local warehouse. they don't take up much space when put away,

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Tree Machine

Thanks, Phil.


That's not the only advantage, it's just the one that makes the most difference.
For the guys thinking that TreeVet is just being funny, he's not. The BigShot is a seriously accurate piece of gear, with a very short learning curve. I like to keep a headcount of how many aces I nail in a row. My record is six days.

Mine, there's no flaking-out required.

I just never have this as part of the rope setting process.

True, 100%

Ya!
There's an older one around here of a 60-foot shot, and retrieval, somewhere....
First, yours is like a bait-casting reel (revolving spool). Mine deploys more like a fixed-spool open-face, spinning reel, except that in use, it retrieves (rewinds) more or less identical to yours, except there's no bending over, stepping on it or guiding the line with the other hand.
This used to be somewhat of an issue, but one of the recent modifications solved this entirely. I'll explain this improvement upcoming in pictures.



Yes, absolutely. If I'm only doing one rope set, I wind mine back up while walking to the truck to put it away.

I'm not attempting to be at all critical, I hope I'm not coming off that way. It's just important for the readership (and ourselves) to understand clearly both how our reels are alike and how they're different.

treevet

I would buy one of yours if marketed, but until then, mine is a decent 2nd.

TrevMcRev

Hey TM, are you throwing/launching with the mini biner between bag & line?

I go line straight onto bag, abandoning the mini biner in between after having had the gate open and snag twigs a few times on me causing all sorts of grief.

But i dig a mini biner for connecting climb line to loop on bottom of bag for quick pull back through

Tree Machine

Yes I do. I rarely have a problem and here is the reason why. You don't use just any mini biner. One would think any non-rated, small, 'keychain' type caribiner would work as well as the next.

Well, they all DO work the same because they're all toy crap that have very limited use in arboriculture. Except for one. There's one outstanding, non-rated mini biner that truly serves the purpose well. That is a $4 connector from Black Diamond.

Now Black Diamond does not market gear to us tree guys, they're into the purity of having their hardware serving the climbing communities of rock, alpine, ice and so forth. They're well marketed in sporting goods stores and rock climbing gyms.

Anyway, they have a really lightweight non-locking wiregate called the Hotwire. It's about the same size dimension as any other biner out there, just super lightweight in comparison. Then, kind of, as a novelty, or maybe just because they could, they fashioned a Hotwire biner into a couple of miniature versions, the smaller of those two accessory biners is called the micron.


Black Diamond miniaturized the body of the biner itself, but they kept the spring-gate wire diameter the same. And since the length is shortened there's less leverage and therefore more force required to open it than it's bigger brother, the Hotwire.

This makes for a small biner that has a remarkably strong gate, and if you want to really understand this for real, open the gate fully, insert your pinkie and let that sucker snap onto your finger.

In the image of the first yellow reel in the previous post, I have on there the bigger of the two small hotwires, that's all Black Diamond had available back then, '97 or '98. Since then, they came out with the even smaller micron. That was more ideal for this specialized purpose & that's what I use now. Unless I find something better and very likely, that's not very likely.

Here it is shown laying aside an 8 ounce Harrison Rocket, just so you can truly understand how small it is, now that you know why the gate is so unusually strong.


The main difference between your setup and mine, Trev, is that I don't pull the rope AND the bag, just the rope. It's just a little nuance.

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treekiwi

Heres a few pictures of my throwline.... Poor mans cube I call it lol, at $7 compared to $130 I can afford a few , just have to cut the bottom in half to get it to fold up and otherwise theres not alot of difference

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treevet

Nice set up. You or anyone ever try that battery powered throw line flaker?

treevet

from Sherrill catalogue above.

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cut-right

Thanks again for all of the info. I do plan on trying this design. Im Tired of using the plastic milk jug. You are very detailed in the info.

Tree Machine

I don't recommend it, CutRite. This orange reel was lame, maybe better than a milk jug, but just stay tuned. I'll be disclosing more here real soon, giving you better information on what works and works well.

Showing you what didn't work is just sharing with you the process so you don't have to go through some unnecessary work to achieve some mediocre device. If you're going to make one, I want you to make a good one and be happy with it.

Tree Machine

Here's a current picture, taken this afternoon. I stow the reels vertically on the wall, the steady Eddie down low, and the backup one up higher next to the other lightly used gear like spikes, chain reels and chain building tools.

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TrevMcRev

I have tried it, pretty good, pretty fast, but you have to insert from the end of the line which is a PITA when you don't use the full length of the line for your shot. You need to do a mod by cutting out a slit from the hole up so you can attach midline.

TrevMcRev

Thanks TM for the word on the BD micron Might get me some of those. There are a couple of other good "proper" micro biners out there too, but the chinese key rings are good for...key rings, and even then you have to keep an eye out for gate spring failure or risk losing some keys!

The other reason i were asking though (but didn't say out loud) was thinking about how it effects flight.

When you've got a super streamlined bag like the rocket, are you giving anything up on the shot with the biner flying behind??? Or maybe not enough to outweigh the benefit???

treevet

I don't use a biner but rather just stick the cl. line thru the biner's steel loop and torque down a half hitch and yank it up. I try not to hit a tight crotch but if I have to shoot one I just take the bag off after the shot and clove hitch the string right to the line.

Thanks for the info on the powered line flaker Trev.

Tree Machine

It's a good question.

If it affected the flight in any bad way, I'd have mentioned it, but it doesn't. Its small enough and light enough (22 grams) that it seems to have little to no discernible effect. It does make and 8 ounce bag an 8-3/4 ounce shot, in reality.

Before settling on the Harrison Rocket as the Grand Poobah of all shotbags, I tried about every other I've come across. Here's an instance where the micron doesn't make the world a better place (aside from if you don't have an eye termination on the end of your climbing or rigging line):

Some shotbags are stiff, especially in the area between the ring and bag where it's stitched heavily. The KEY to success in firing a BigShot with a biner-on is to have the biner folded onto the shotbag and have them nestled in there together. It desn't seem to matter if the biner is under, alongside, or on top of the bag, as long as the biner is not OUTSIDE the pouch when you make the shot. If your shotbag is stiff, you're better off tying and untying.

Here's a pic. At a minimum, the biner should lay there, without any resistance from the bag itself.

This is an older photo. I've since retired this well-worn bigshot and am using the newer style now.

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treevet

We're talking about TM's invention and were talking about Chinese biners so here is a little off topic invention of mine with a chinese biner. Once you put your cellephone/walkie-talkie on your ankle you'll never go back. No more phone stuck up in the ribcage when leaning into stuff while working.



It looks stupid but I have been wearing it there for over 8 years.

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newguy18

My phone stays in the office.

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old schooler

Tree Machine

Like while climbing?? I suppose spikeless you could get away with that. Why not? Good idea.

I had a cell phone on my hip once, chipping brush. I suppose if I had had my phone on my ankle, what happened may well not have happened.

That's a really good idea, either a phone or camera. I hate taking my phone up (or any electronic device) up in the tree, for the obvious reasons involving gravity.

Garry Brockley

So you would use semmafore to contact the emergency services if something happens up the tree then?

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treevet

Being an inventor I thought you might appreciate that TM. Spikes do go on over the phone. I do hate to take calls in the tree but sometimes do if I am waiting for an important one, but put it on vibe if not and sometimes make a call if I need to while up there. I can also direct connect (walkie talkie) the GM or Crane op is nec in a big tree or craner. It works good on craners booming over the house etc. This is the best holster I have rigged up yet as it has an expanded elastic retention loop and it is tight enough to not come out even if a twig pops it off. It is tight to not slide out but can be slid in easily. It is made by Nextel for contractors. (phone and holster)

newguy18

Its simple,don't screw up.I suppose in an emergency Shane could spike up the tree and get me.

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old schooler

rbtree

I wear logger jeans. My phone goes in the left leg pocket. Never lose it, unless i'm working upside down.....or down under...eh Angus?

Tree Machine

I've gotta say, Treevet, THAT is a useful innovation.

My fears of bringing a camera up in the tree are over. I have worn the ankle holster all day for the last 4 days at work, climbing & footlocking, chipping, sawing, driving, walking, just to give it a thorough testing.

It is pretty much as you say..... it doesn't get in the way hardly at all. The pant cuff drapes over and you almost forget it's there.

The ultimate test was doing a takedown while wearing spikes. Here's how that went; the spikes are worn to the inside, the holster to the outside. Straps go around the boots, holster rides above the boots. Amazingly, there was no interference between the two.


Mine is a sorta semi-hard shell, sippers around and keeps chips 100% out. I added a strap and a fastek buckle. It works like a dream.

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newguy18

What kinda pads do you wear on yuor spurs?

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old schooler

Tree Machine

Glasscabrades.

rbtree

glassyeyed...what??

That cam setup would be too far away for me. I carry my little cams in a pouch on my belt..Can have it unzipped and shoot in 15 seconds....

But then I'm the guy who has been known to bring up my full cam pack, the contents and it weighing prolly 15#, and the value...well, you don't wanna know...

hope we can keep busy, I simply have to have the groundbreaking new Canon that hasn't even been released yet.

21.1 mp, shoots 1920x1080 vids and is only $2700.....$5300 cheaper than the full pro Canon with an older version of the same sensor

Tree Machine

Glassabrades pads. I was trolling newguy. I was gonna tell him it was a new pad, a silicone-based, broken glass impregnated matrix, wrapped in a 36-grit belt sander belt.

It was sort of to make a point that you can ask questions about spikes in the spikes thread.

Hey, here's a thought.... can I share some more on the shotline reel? It is, after all, what the thread is about. I have some more pictures

rbtree

fire away, grasshoppa!!!

What, no razzing for my camera yakkin'?

Tree Machine

The camera is at the heart of all this.