Durable and easy on the hands.,  Thursday, 08 November 2007 A 120 foot hunk of Safety Blue was my first climbing line when I started 2 1/2 years ago and it was all I ever climbed on for the first 1 1/2 years. I now climb on this rope (same one) about half the time and on Chameleon (the green version of Blaze) the rest of the time.

Whenever I go back to this line after climbing on the Chameleon it is like relaxing into a comfortable old couch. It is wide and soft and easy to handle during DdRT. It actually works fine for some combinations of SRT gear; I've been going up on CMI ascenders and sliding down on a small rack for a good hunk of the Fall during research climbs - all on Safety Blue, because one of my students is using the Chameleon in another tree. The outside surface of the rope is fuzzy now after a couple years of regular if not really frequent use, but it shows no signs at all of serious wear or damage. I can't say the same for the Chameleon, which is a nice rope but doesn't look like it will wear anywhere nearly as well.

Is it heavy? Yes; I will probably pick up the Chameleon if I need to walk more than a mile or so to get to a tree. But it isn't that much heavier than a comparable length of 11 mm rope. I could more easily shed an extra pound or two by going a little more minimalist in my other gear.

 Usually works well,  Wednesday, 07 November 2007 For my first 1 1/2 years of climbing, this was the only cambium/rope protection I used. More recently, when I climb DdRT, my use of rope protection is about evenly divided between these and conduit type sleeves.

The virtues that Peter mentions are certainly borne out in my experience; they don't suddenly slide down the rope, and they are very good at staying in place on the branch. They have an additional virtue that is only of interest to nuts who continue to climb in the deep winter - they don't become brittle in extreme cold, the way the plastic housing of a conduit sleeve becomes brittle.

I don't find portability to be much of an issue; they are somewhat bulkier and are certainly stiffer than conduits, but they ride just fine in my climbing backpacks tucked in next to the rope. I don't climb enough in the wet to comment on their durability under those conditions, but there's no question leather is much softer when wet, so you want to avoid those times and places with leather sleeves. So far, mine have stood up to a few years of, on average, weekly use with no sign whatsoever of wearing out.

I gave slightly lower scores for "Technical skill" and "Ease of use" than Peter for the following reason: When placing them on a high branch, especially a slightly smaller branch, the edge of the leather sometimes hangs up on the side of the branch, making it very hard to pull into place. A high branch is worse because of the weight of the rope preventing the sleeve from levering up to clear the obstacle, and a narrow branch seems to be a little more prone to catching on the edge. Not a really common problem, but it happens often enough to me to be worthy of note.

 A key enabling tool,  Monday, 05 November 2007 The ratings numbers above don't quite reflect my overall judgement of this tool: it simply makes many climbs possible that would otherwise be out of the question. My climbs are about evenly divided these days between research (professional) and recreational. I can't give it a high rating for frequency of use, simply because I don't climb often enough - but it comes with me now on 90% of the climbs I do, both for research and for recreation. I've only had it since May 2007, but it so far shows no signs of wear.

I generally use this with an 8 oz. throwbag and Zing-It line; the same stuff I hand-throw with. It is not an easy tool to learn, but it nearly doubles the height of tie-in points that can be hit.

Things about using it that I've learned, mostly the hard way:
- Make sure you position the throwline pile between the big shot and the tree.
- Flake the throwline VERY carefully - re-flaking it a time or two would not be amiss - and make absolutely sure that nothing extraneous, not even a pine needle, is in the pile of line.. Line pays out very fast during a shot, and the least extra loop or piece of debris can lead to a really nasty tangle.
- It's worth the trouble to aim carefully. You'll sometimes hit shots without aiming much, but with practice you'll actually hit "windows" between branches with some deliberate aiming.
- Wear helmet and goggles. There's a lot of energy stored in a shot, and if something catches or ricochets that energy could come back at you.

It's not an easy tool to use, but it's opened up a whole world of trees that I simply couldn't enter a year ago, including all of the tall white pine trees my grad students and I have been working in for research.

 Versatile guest and general-purpose saddle,  Monday, 05 November 2007 I've been using one of these for both my own climbing (sometimes) and for guest climbers (particularly students working with me on canopy research) for two years now. The Vario is quick and easy to get on, reasonable comfortable, and lightweight. It has life support-rated side-D's, useful for use with positioning lanyards. It shows no significant wear after intermittent use since fall 2005, with quite hard daily use last June. The real virtue of this saddle is versatility: the "small-large" size fits everyone from slim college students to, um, me - a moderately overweight guy in his 50th year. Adjustment for any given size is just a matter of quick tugs on 4 straps - two for the belt and one for each leg. For long hang times, you are better off with a New Tribe saddle - the leg supports on the Vario are thinner - but this saddle is not at all bad for anything but a really long contemplative climb.

I have found this to be an excellent "second saddle" for guest climbers and the students that I work with.