Originally posted by NickfromWI
How the heck did you put on the rock harness while wearing the tree saddle?

Please don't say you were up in the tree not clipped in!
Unfortunately, it did involve me being unclipped for about 1 minute. It's certainly not something I would EVER do in another situation or tree setup, nor would I recommend anyone else do. In this particular case, we were on an 8' X 12' platform. I laid down in the middle on my back, and quickly unclipped, took off the NT, put on the rock saddle, then reclipped. Another climber hung onto me the whole time. Took about a minute, and man, was that a long minute!
The paltform was at 85', and we had about 15 minutes to finish setting up before dark. I didn't feel I would be safe going down to the ground, adding the saddle, then climbing back up in the dark. Oh yeah, this was in Panama, so another reason not to be down there alone in the dark. Couldn't sleep in the NT saddle because the nylon hammock would likely rip.
I'm not excusing my choice, but it seemed like the best/only option at the time. The next morning, I was able to put the NT on over the rock saddle easily (stayed clipped in).
"Do what I say, not what I do"
Patrick