Greetings from the Prairies.

Hey there. My name is Jay and I'm a tree climber and working arborist running my own freelance tree company here in Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada. I am in my second year of business and doing very well.

Gear wise I run a simple truck and trailer setup, in TreeMotion harness with a ZigZag DDRT descent system, and currently no method of ascent. Usually i just climb the trees freehand, but the size of trees I'm starting to work on demand the ability to shoot and climb to specific limbs. I am looking for specific information about a reasonably priced setup for doing single rope ascent, as the demand to be able to shoot to specific limbs and move through the canopy with a bit more efficiency is needed.

Welcome to the forums. I'm brand new myself as a purely recreational climber (at least until somebody I know needs help with a tree).

I can't really help you with your question just yet, but having noticed that nobody has responded yet, I thought I'd at least welcome you to the forum. It would be nice to see this place pick up as I have about a million questions myself and also a lot of my own ideas that may or may not be reasonable.

Anyway, again, welcome. Hopefully you can find the information that you need.

Thanks Brian. Where are you situated?

Near Pittsburgh PA, USA.

Awesome. Well met

BrianF wrote: Welcome to the forums. I'm brand new myself as a purely recreational climber (at least until somebody I know needs help with a tree).

I can't really help you with your question just yet, but having noticed that nobody has responded yet, I thought I'd at least welcome you to the forum. It would be nice to see this place pick up as I have about a million questions myself and also a lot of my own ideas that may or may not be reasonable.

Anyway, again, welcome. Hopefully you can find the information that you need.

The online rec tree climber forums have been hit pretty hard last couple years by people moving to social media like facebook. It's slow all around. Ask the questions and hopefully people will step up.
-AJ

JayGreenMan wrote: Hey there. My name is Jay and I'm a tree climber and working arborist running my own freelance tree company here in Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada. I am in my second year of business and doing very well.

Gear wise I run a simple truck and trailer setup, in TreeMotion harness with a ZigZag DDRT descent system, and currently no method of ascent. Usually i just climb the trees freehand, but the size of trees I'm starting to work on demand the ability to shoot and climb to specific limbs. I am looking for specific information about a reasonably priced setup for doing single rope ascent, as the demand to be able to shoot to specific limbs and move through the canopy with a bit more efficiency is needed.

Welcome to the TCI forum, the hitch-based Zk-2 Rope Wrench system by Singing Tree/ISC is the most simple and intuitive SRT setup for tree climbing that I've climbed on. It's for all modes of climbing: ascent, descent, climbing in the crown etc. You should be able to find plenty of material on Youtube with climbers showing how they climb on the ZK-2. Since you're a work climber you might find more of the specific work climbing related info you're looking for on sites like treebuzz.com. I'm a rec and work climber, I'm happy to answer whatever questions I can. Good luck with your climbing and above all stay safe.
-AJ

The rope wrench SRT setup Moss mentions maybe familiar if you have ever used a hitch based DDRT setup instead of your ZigZag. It also maybe cost effective if you already have some of the other components needed to set up the system (like a hitch cord, biners, foot ascender, knee ascender or hand ascender with a foot loop)

I personally prefer the Hitchhiker. It's still a hitch at the heart of the system. It's heavy but bulletproof. It also uses a replaceable hitch cord without splices which is much cheaper and allows you to buy in bulk. The new version of the Hitchhiker is a little smaller and lighter than the original that I have. This device is also a good value compared to more mechanical devices.

If you prefer a more mechanical device and you have the dough to spend, consider the Unicender, Rope Runner or the Akimbo (when it comes out in a year or two). The Unicender does have a wear related lifetime to consider(used to be able to have the factory rebuild them, not sure about now). The Rope Runner is rebuildable by the user. Not sure about the Akimbo..

Any/all of these devices would work great in a rope walker system which would get you to the crown quickly and efficiently (without the need to isolate a branch)then you can switch over to your ZigZag for crown movement and decent if desired. All of the devices above also allow you to ascend and descend without a switch-over to other gear which saves time and could reduce risk.

Another slower option is a work RADS system. Great system but it does have draw backs like a slower ascent speed and work related limb walks may have a new learning curve. One of the benefits of RADS is the mechanical advantage.

Yes, the Hitchhiker is excellent, I have some issues with it for my climbing style but many love it. Roperunner is a little twitchy for SRT first-timers compared to the hitch based SRT systems like the ZK-2 and the Hitchhiker. I use the Roperunnner for takedowns and when I'm running twin rope systems (Runner and Rope Wrench). My main system is SRT for the majority of my rec and work climbs.

Speaking of RADS or Yoyo (original name for the system) I'm finding it super valuable as an adjunct to my SRT systems. A compact and quick on/off RADS is very helpful when climbing on any of the "new" SRT systems (RW, RR, HH etc.)
-AJ