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Guy on a job in Tulsa told me he never climbs with a flip line anymore, and it got me thinking
I was helping on a removal last week and the lead climber, a guy named Dwayne with about 22 years in, mentioned he hasn't used a flip line on his lanyard in almost 3 seasons. He runs an adjustable friction hitch setup instead and swears it saves him arm fatigue on the tall pines around here. I asked him about it and he just said the fixed length kept catching on limbs during limb walk outs. I've been on a traditional flip line since I started, so I'm torn on switching. Part of me thinks it's just what he's used to, and the other part wonders if I'm losing time on the skinny stuff. What are you all running for your main work positioning setup right now?
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cora_martinez2d ago
Reminds me of a guy I worked with years back who swore by a split tail and a Blake's hitch, and he could fly up a cedar like nothing. The second he hit a big spreading oak he was slower than molasses, all because he'd never bothered to learn the other way. Same thing kind of applies here. A friction hitch setup rules on pines where you're out on the tips all day, but a flip line is dead simple and you don't have to think about it when your arms are smoked. Knowing both and picking based on the tree will beat running one setup forever. Dwayne might be right for his trees, but that doesn't mean you should throw out what you know.
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