Message For young climbers

RegC

TreeHouser
Joined
Feb 10, 2014
Messages
2,261
Location
Victoria, BC
Some thoughts on the way home, just for the young guys. Its mostly clean. Thanks Butch. Feel free to add stuff, advice, whatever.

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RegC,

I see this all too often in our society today. A cop dies in a car accident, or is shot while doing his job.........hundreds or thousands of his fellow cops travel from all across the country to attend his funeral. That's a tribe thing too. No man is more or less important than the next guy. Our society lost another member. It's a loss for us all.

This is also true for the former military members of our society. For some reason they place themselves on the top of a totem pole and pretend that they're somehow better than others. Hell, I served in our nation's Army for 16 years. It's something I did for a long period of time. So what? Guys have been plumbers, carpenters, or electricians some 4 times longer than I was a soldier. I'm not special. I'm just another guy with his own story to tell, most of which few would be interested in hearing.

Truth be told, I forget most of it. I forget it on purpose.....because it was yesterday. It's over. Like taking a million pictures from your vacation abroad and expecting everyone at home to be lined up outside waiting to see them. Nope. Never happens.

Maybe I'm just too much like Spock on StarTrek.

Joel
 
If you have something to say Paul, spit it out.

Im just pissed at them since 5 years or whatever it was back in Charlotte I showed Tobe and the other Sherrill guys my inovation of the comm helmets and asked them if they wanted to sell them, they said no because they dont condone modifying PPE. Sherrill just became the sole distributor for Sena in the arb industy so have shut me out of my own market. Business as usual for the coorperations friggin' the inovators.
 
Buying stuff to show off, that seems a misguided motivation, but what to buy and what you don't need, for someone lacking experience, it's also part of the learning curve. Buying things, even if you don't need them, it teaches you. Talking to experienced people might have it's usefulness in that regard, someone in the know advising that something isn't needed, and seeking advise from elders about any aspect of work I think is a good idea. How should one think of work? Young people don't take advantage of seeking advice enough, and it's a short time in life when being young is when folks will be open to giving it to them. It's some golden opportunity.

Reminds me of some art collectors saying that at first when they were buying art, they didn't at all know what they were looking at, but they liked the idea, so not much worth in the early things. Refinement and vision came with mistakes, so the earlier purchases weren't a waste of money.
 
If I think about it, Icant think of very many things I regret buying or accumulating. I have a whole file cabinet of shiny gear that never gets used anymore but I just look at it. I could have spent that money on putting fancy rims on my geo metro or something. Tree gear is cheap and if it works only a little bit it pays for itself. My wife does not agree with my unlimited supply budget though. I say to all the young climbers, buy all the shit while your free to do so because you might end up married one day and you won't have the unlimited supply budget you once did. And women loves them some tree climbers so it's not easy staying single.
 
Reg this was a great one , agreed on all points. Buying Gear generally doesn't make you a better Climber. Buying Gear that useless wastes hard earned Shekels. (Been lucky there only a couple for me). True enough that no one cares that much that Tree Climbers are SO special.
 
This is very much the same thing I heard rock climbing " all the gear does not a climber make" hence the term, gear weenie, was born meaning lots of shiny new gear and no talent.
 
Im just pissed at them since 5 years or whatever it was back in Charlotte I showed Tobe and the other Sherrill guys my inovation of the comm helmets and asked them if they wanted to sell them, they said no because they dont condone modifying PPE. Sherrill just became the sole distributor for Sena in the arb industy so have shut me out of my own market. Business as usual for the coorperations friggin' the inovators.

Wow,that is shitty
 
When adults drive by seeing some bloke in the pouring rain with. Chainsaw they think, "thT guy sure has made poor life decisions." The kids in the car on the other hand think it's the coolest thing they have ever seen.
 
Yup, the reality of it is a lot different when you are piss went through, clinging like a tree frog in the rain and howling wind. Back to the blow wondering wtf? you are up there in that weather and when is this last blast gonna stop.

Youtube can paint a very pretty picture at times.

Most jobs run to plan and it is great watching a well oiled machine. I also like the reality of the fuckups though that some people put in video. It keeps it real.
 
.....Bit bleak!.....

I noticed this too.

Reg, you offered some sage advice mixed with some depressing personal views of what tree climbing for a living is "really" like.

Tree work is hard! But so is hiking up a steep trail to reach a high mountain lake or getting the elk you
just shot back home and in the freezer. Often, whether a task is worthwhile and fun or just work, is how it is viewed by the person doing it.

After working and climbing in this industry for some 48 years my body is well and thoroughly worn out and my mind is not doing any better. I have experienced terrible days but they do not dominate my thoughts. I have no regrets about my chosen profession and its consequences and would encourage any young climber that feels joy at what they are doing.
 
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  • #23
Im just pissed at them since 5 years or whatever it was back in Charlotte I showed Tobe and the other Sherrill guys my inovation of the comm helmets and asked them if they wanted to sell them, they said no because they dont condone modifying PPE. Sherrill just became the sole distributor for Sena in the arb industy so have shut me out of my own market. Business as usual for the coorperations friggin' the inovators.

What's that got to do with me ? Or the young guys who email me ?
 
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  • #24
I noticed this too.

Reg, you offered some sage advice mixed with some depressing personal views of what tree climbing for a living is "really" like.

Tree work is hard! But so is hiking up a steep trail to reach a high mountain lake or getting the elk you
just shot back home and in the freezer. Often, whether a task is worthwhile and fun or just work, is how it is viewed by the person doing it.

After working and climbing in this industry for some 48 years my body is well and thoroughly worn out and my mind is not doing any better. I have experienced terrible days but they do not dominate my thoughts. I have no regrets about my chosen profession and its consequences and would encourage any young climber that feels joy at what they are doing.

I thought I was being upbeat. My message was don't be influenced or mislead into blowing your hard earned money on shit. It's a job, not a lifestyle or spiritual thing as some mighr have you believe.
 
Reg, I watched all 9 minutes. Sage wisdom and I hear myself there.

At the end of the day, it is just a job. It is not an identity - or it shouldn't be. People aren't paying you to do what they can't do near as much as paying for what they don't want to do.

You are like superman up there. I thought tree climbers were the most awesome thing as a kid. I gave up climbing full time after doing 11yrs. It eventually became chasing dollars and there are more dollars in helping people than helping trees. Trees inherently know how to make good decisions - they grow towards the light, people - not so much.

Money is largely a risk-reward game. This ratio is off in tree climbing.

It is cooler than cool and larger than life, but people just cannot relate so they don't respond and dang sure don't hit the like button. Now I fly hang gliders as a hobby since I do not climb anymore. I fly from cloud to cloud for 80-150 miles and love the sport - it is larger than life, cooler than cool to spend all day flying beyond the horizon with no motor, following birds, racing the sun. NO one can relate. Nor do they think it is cool - only those with in that tribe think it is cool.

If I am at a cocktail party with the missus and mention throwing a 3000lb chunk of wood from 60 ft up or soaring in and out of cloud base, the look on their faces makes me wonder if I slipped up and accidentally said that I am a woman trapped in a man's body.

Tree work is not a waste for young people. Always going for the next bling is a waste. It is like people who only ride a bike on the weekends spending thousands on a stupid light carbon fiber road bike - but hey, your tribe thinks you're cool. Education has not helped me as I move through my adult life near as much as what I learned from treework - the ability to hustle and grind. The knowledge that if I can make it through all of those piss wet, cold days, I can survive this too...

Stay safe out there, hope you're dry today. Have a pint for me.

Nate
 
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