The best connector for a NT saddle,  Tuesday, 04 December 2007 If you use a New Tribe saddle, it is worth the extra couple of dollars to get one of these instead of the default Delta screwlink for your main saddle attachment point. The main reason is space; if you do anything but single-pitch climbs on a traditional system, the delta link gets crowded with ropes and/or hardware. The pear link helps a lot here; that extra room is always nice to have. Screwlinks of heavy stock like this are absurdly strong, even when loaded at odd angles. All you have to do is screw them finger tight at the start of the climb and check from time to time during the climb - same as for any other hardware. I have once or twice wished for a wrench when undoing one, and a gentle twist with a wrench at the start of the climb would provide a bit of extra security, but mostly this is usable with fingers alone. My one complaint is that the thing has a habit of re-orienting during a climb, especially when you unload for a moment while standing on a branch, so that the narrow side ends up pointing upward. This could be fixed by something to keep the narrow end confined to the leg strap attachment, but so far I haven't bothered. You don't want a carabiner for this attachment, and this is the best of the easily available choices.

 Work OK,  Tuesday, 04 December 2007 I've been using a pair of these and a pair of Petzl William TriAct carabiners (same gate mechanism, pear shape) since I started climbing 2 1/2 years ago. They seem to work fine for me. Any piece of gear has quirks that you need to know and adjust to, and these are no exception. I have sometimes cut my hand on the gate while climbing DdRT - when my body is in certain orientations my hand brushes the carabiner while hauling down on the rope - so I've learned to orient the gate toward my body as Moss describes. I have also had bits of bark catch in the closing mechanism and prevent locking, but it's hard to imagine any carabiner would be completely immune to this; I climb a lot of white pines and often have to wend my way between a lot of dead branches. I have found that sometimes the gate will not fully lock even in the absence of debris, so I've learned to check carefully. I suppose it's possible that the gate could open by accident, but I've never had this happen, even in tight places. On the whole I'm content with these, and don't feel any urgent need to replace them anytime soon.

 Nice.,  Wednesday, 28 November 2007 The only helmet I've owned, other than an old fiberglass caving helmet I've trotted out for tree climbing when others are in use by students or guests (and various biking helmets over the years).

It's comfortable; I tend to forget it's on (and it's much lighter than that old caving helmet...). It's very fast and easy to adjust (there's this handy dial in the back of the head band). You can open or close the vents. It does indeed absorb shock pretty well (I periodically bounce throwbags off of it when throwing within the tree).

 Versatile and strong,  Wednesday, 28 November 2007 I've been using this a lot since last May for SRT descending during research climbs in tall white pines. Typically, I have it rigged as a "spider rappel", with a prussik safety below the rack, so that it is quick and easy to stop and start for sampling in the canopy.

I can't compare this to other racks - I haven't used any - but this is now my favorite tool for rappeling (I've used a gri-gri and a figure 8 a fair amount). It's not too heavy, and it is more than adequate for the slides of 80-120 feet I've been doing lately, on either Blaze rope or NE Safety Blue. For my weight (ca. 210-220), I need to run the control end of the rope over the hyperbar. The design has all the right features for a small rack: a single hyperbar at the top for extra friction, oversized bars for the top 2 positions (these have to absorb the most heat), and enough length to accomodate different sized ropes. Even a somewhat quick rappel doesn't seem to overheat the bars. The U-shape of the frame precludes adding or subtracting bars while on rappel, but I don't consider this to be a big issue for the moderate-length slides that tree climbers are likely to do. The U-shape does give plenty of strength combined with light weight. The low/medium scores on technical skill and ease of use etc. are due to the unforgiving nature of any rappel device, particularly one without a built-in autostop.

No rope twist on this kind of device, it's hard to overheat, it's fairly versatile for the range of climbs I'm likely to engage in, and the construction is more or less bombproof. I'm no longer in the market for a rappel device.

 Blaze,  Tuesday, 27 November 2007 My second climbing rope (first rope was NE Safety Blue); I've had this about a year. I'm using the green "Chameleon" version.

This is what I usually take with me to climb these days, especially if I'm hiking into the woods. The light weight is nice, and the diameter is just right for SRT climbing hardware (I climb a lot with a RADS/yoyo system, especially for research). It feels nice and smooth in the hands, and it's quite supple so that tying knots is easy. For DdRT, I still prefer the Safety Blue - that extra bit of diameter makes the Safety Blue easier on the hands, especially since I've never picked up the habit of wearing gloves while climbing - but this works just fine, either tied traditional or with a 10mm beeline split tail. It seems to be somewhat less durable; after about a year of irregular use it shows more wear than the 2 1/2 year old Safety Blue, but it looks like I'll be able to keep using it for a few years yet.

Nice rope. I may get another one whenever this wears out.