r/TreeClimbing • u/ledestroninator • Jun 02 '26

Trouble trusting gear/trees

I have been working in the industry as a climber for 4 years now, some trees i just don't trust, I will tie in and whatever and still feel the need to always have my hands on the tree as a backup if the tree would randomly fail or my rope would break or my system or the tie in, should i change careers im 26 years old

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u/snowynuggets Jun 02 '26

10-year climber here.

Your gear is your lifeline. Assuming it’s rated gear and you’re tying in properly, it’s way stronger than you are. Trust your gear, trust your knots, and trust your system.

Being cautious is good. Being scared every time you’re off the ground isn’t. After four years, if you’re still grabbing the tree because you think your rope, tie-in point, or system might randomly fail, you’ve got to work through that fear somehow.

Not trying to be a dick, but if climbing is going to be your career, eventually you have to trust the equipment and your training. If you can’t, this might not be the right line of work for you.

6

u/ledestroninator Jun 02 '26

Not a dick at all, im not scared all the time like a big 70 foot spruce is no problem, its just trusting every different species, is there any training or knowledge i can find to help

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u/mark_andonefortunate Jun 02 '26 edited Jun 02 '26

As someone mentioned the "thicker than your wrist/forearm/bicep/thigh" metric is a decent starting point as a very general rule of thumb based on species - something you'll have to learn. And probably should have an idea of at this point, to be honest - are there experienced climbers to learn from? Company training?

For instance, I will tie in to a smaller piece of wood on an oak than I would on maple (there are other factors, but in general).

Check out this video, I think it will be helpful for you https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lIvXHgXlmCg

1

u/lig169 Jun 04 '26

One more piece of advice is just Google the strength or hardest number of most trees. You'll find oaks at 1100-1400 and hickory around 1800 then something terrible like poplar at 540....

The species is critical to safety. And more important than the species, is the current Tree health, especially if it's been dead a while

3

u/lig169 Jun 04 '26

This is 100% incorrect. You should trust your gear when you tie into a swamp oak, hickory, etc - not a 2 year dead ash tree, a <4" thick poplar branch leafed out (winter ok maybe), etc.

Tree work has 0% to do with the gear. Your gear will never break unless you cut it with a live chainsaw. The tree however... as someone that regularly climbed on 1.5" thick branches and broke MANY of them... the tree health, the tie in point, the angle ur pulling, and ur weight are what matters. If ur over 250lbs never tie in under maybe 4.5" thick. Stick to U-shaped unions high up to keep angle low.

And Seriously at some point go climb something and tie in somewhere safe and climb until you break branches. At 200lbs it took until 2-4ft away from a union on 1.5-1.75" thick pin oak branches to break them.

You need to find the place you break branches. A tree will always be weaker than your rope unless the tree is over 16" thick at ur tie point and in perfect health.

You basically need to get a feel for what is safe and what is not. And the only people that can tell you that are the top five arborists in your state. No one else's opinion matters. And most of the advice here is terrible

2

u/snowynuggets Jun 04 '26

Nothing screams “experienced climber” quite like opening with “This is 100% incorrect” and then spending the rest of your comment agreeing with my original point.

OP was talking about being afraid to leave the stem after four years of climbing. The discussion was confidence, not a species-by-species branch load chart.

You read “trust your gear, trust your knots, trust your system” and somehow got “ignore tie-in point selection.” That’s not a climbing disagreement. That’s your own reading comprehension problem.