been thinking about building a 1" thick plywood seat, with a 1" stringer glued underneath for strength. 4 holes for the harness assembly to go thru and a 1/2" thick forged steel ring ( from a SAR stretcher) for the mainline to attach to. I would be using a standard rescue harness as well for safety, both harness and seat attached to the mainline.

has anyone tried this for tree climbing?

somehting like this:

Nice looking seat, neat idea. I like those #3 fixed eye bronze snaps on the corners. Not sure how they'd be used (maybe to hang extra gear on) but they look cool My only issue with it would be once I got up to the tie-in point I'd probably want to switch over to a regular tree saddle so I could climb comfortably in the canopy. This brings up the problem of safely getting out of one harness and into another at height. A seat like that wouldn't be good for working through dead branches on the way up as is typical for conifers in my area. However if you have a clear path to the TIP it would be great. Especially if you rigged up a mechanical advantage system. Might be good for hoisting up climbers otherwise physically unable to ascend into a tree.
-moss

i was going to wear the second harness while sitting in the bosun seat..

i sta in a windowwashers bosun chair (plywood like above) the other day and it was so comfortable while ascending, ZERO pressure on my legs, waist or butt. I could ascend all day in that thing.

i think that brass snap is for the suds bucket to clip into..

almost done building the bosun chair (started an hour ago). Got a piece of 1" thick birch plywood, 12" x 24" , routered out the webbing grooves, spent an hour with flexible sanding paper making the grooves smooooth, as well as the edges of the seat. Got the first coat of sanding sealer on last night, thirsty thirsty wood The bosun seat basically looks like the one in the picture above right, first post...different rigging though

will have the secondary sanding and varnishing done today.

Prior to sealing the wood, I tested out my webbing. I'm using 2 x 6' long x 1" wide x 1/4" thick industrial rescue webbing with loops on each end. They are rated for 3000lbs safe working load in a basket configuration, 10,000 lbs min breaking strength. Overkill, yes, but why not.... the loops terminate (4 point suspension) to a 10mm Delta link on each side (2 total), rigged thru a Petzl Paw 4 hole rigging plate to keep things tidy. The beauty of the rigging plate is i can clip my harness into the plate, as well as the bosun chair. In addition, my Split tail is attached to the Rigging plate. everything is nice and sepeerated, no tangles. Ilove rigging plates, i own many. The mainline clips into the big hole on top of the rigging plate.

before i sealed the wood last ight, i rigged it up and took it for a test haul up a nice tree. Very comfortable to use the bosun chair when ascending, both SRT ( modified setup)and DRT style. very easy to unclip my harness from the bosun chair (after tethering off) and move out of the seat into the tree.

Another tool in the arsenal. Got up early this morning to sand and put a coat of varnish on. I might even build a little compartment to store biners and the throw line, throw bags.



pics if i ever get a damn digital camera...lol:D

I was actually able to completely eliminate the SplitTail!!

due to the bosun harness height,, the splittail & blakes or Rescuecender was somewhat out of reach of my arms. So i removed the splittail and simply rigged a Mailion Rapide oval to the rigging plate and the Rescucender. One less cord to clutter up the system. The Rescuecender is at perfect height now. (this is my "hybrid" style of SRT/DRT, subsituting hard components for the Blakes hitch)

i still have the split tail as an option for when i leave the Bosun and move about the tree in my harness.

really wish i had pics.......this setup is incredible for my needs.

I would LOVE to see this thing.

Find yourself a camera, quick!

love
nick

Originally posted by NickfromWI
I would LOVE to see this thing.

Find yourself a camera, quick!

love
nick

here ya go my man!!!







each of the seat tether straps are rated for 5000lb MIN breaking strength, i tidied up the straps by sleeving them with canvas firehose pieces. The wood is 1" thick. I test ed another piece (same cut) and it broke at a little over 700lbs. overall the setup is bomber, add my fall aresst harness and i'm good to go.

Wow, very well thought out. Knowing that I'd always be in my harness anyways, I would have scaled down the strength of a lot of the parts, so as to cut down on bulk and weight, but I'm a dork about things like that.

I like what you've done.

Is the webbing sewn or tied?

I wonder if the chafe guard will rip at the arrows? A minor concern, but I'd like to know how they hold up.

Thanks for the pics!

love
nick

the webbing slings are RSI (brand) factory sewn anchor slings, with NEON RED warning bars if they get pulled too hard or worn thru. I did'nt take a pic, but the slings cross over ( like this X ) underneath. The load rating was for a choker setup, in a basket rigging setup like i have them, the MIN breaking strength is OVER 7000lbs.

the sleeves are rated for 1000PSI (they are fire hose) and they dont actually move at all when the seat is loaded.

entire seat with riggin plate etc weighs less than 8 LBS

Very cool design. I wish I could make homemade gear like that!

When Arbor Quest climbs with people who have disabilities, we use a bosun's seat under them to help support their legs to prevent harness hang syndrome. We started using the seats our second year and we found that the climbers could stay aloft about 3 times longer because their legs were staying comfortable. The seat is mildly padded and has adjustable length straps. We use sewn daisy chain loops to attach the seat's straps to a Petzl PAW rigged above the climber.





These pics are from a climb we did in Toledo this summer.

Patrick

^ THAT AWESOME!!! warms my heart to see people tkaing people out for activities that htye normally could'nt do!!! good on ya!

what happened to all the pictures??????