Antique gear collector?

[Burnham]

I have a safety belt that was originally part of a Swiss Tree Gripper set. Maybe 50 years old, give or take. Leather padded with thick wool felt, and a unique cam clamp for adjusting the primary flip line, which is uncovered cable. There is a secondary cable for limb overs (which would be seldom used with Grippers) about half the length of the primary. The whole rig is in excellent condition, really amazing.

I know no one would want to use this unusual piece of kit, but if anyone styles themselves a collector, it might be interesting to you. Fun to show and talk about here, so I'm posting if for no other reason .

I will give this away, if the interested party will pay shipping.

I'm going to offer right of first refusal to SGriff, since he purchased my set of Swiss Tree Grippers...but if he passes on this, or fails to reply to this thread in a few days, I'll offer it up to any member.

Here are some pictures.

 

[Altissimus]

Cool old Piece

 

[MasterBlaster]

It's looking a tad heavy!

 

[Burnham]

Like all the old tree climbing gear was.

 

[DMc]

That is some cool stuff, Burnham.

 

[squisher]

Cool. That's what I learned with a belt, no leg/butt straps. you got inventive to take a rest if you were pumping out.

 

[pantheraba]

This is what I learned on...a 1958 lineman's belt. Still have the belt and the ropes...old rope smells good.

 

[RLfailuer]

Yet another reminder of how spoiled I am.

 

[Sgriff]

Sweet Burnham,I will totally take you up on this offer.
If I'm not too late,I don't wanna come of as a hog or mooch but I like it and appreciate the kind gesture!☺️
Tree grippers are in excellent condition,awesome purchase 👍

 

[gf beranek]

I should have taken pictures of the gear we all hand in the old days.

Now Don Blair probably has the nicest collection of old arborist gear going. Second to him I would say Robert Phillips.

Tales from the dungeons of antiquity. Horror stories...

 

[SkwerI]

Jerry, that would be a great topic for your next book!

 

[gf beranek]

50 years ago most of us fabricated our climbing gear with whatever we could get. Old worn lineman's belts were coveted, hanks of manila, non-locking snaps and rotting leather. Oh, those were the days.

 

[Sgriff]

I put my first saddle together out of some old scraps my dad had laying around,old linemans belt and some add on leg straps I found elsewhere...
I threw it away just after a few years of it laying around.
my dad always talks about the chain flipline days,with a bent nail or something of that sort as the locking adjuster

 

[MasterBlaster]

Sweet Burnham

I love the new nickname!

 

[Al Smith]

I should take a pic of my old pole climbing gear which by now should be in a museum .Thank heavens for bucket trucks .It's a wonder I didn't kill myself --stupid shit .Young,dumb and full of-c well myself to be quite honest .I lived through it some how .

 

[Burnham]

I love the new nickname!

Hell, bro...the ladies have been calling me that since 1968, IIRC .

Okie dokie, Sam. We can pm over the details, but I think we have the basics in hand. I'll drop you a note here in a little bit.

 

[MasterBlaster]

 

[Burnham]

 

[Burnham]

Look here, Kevin Bingham...

Here's another little tidbit from the bad old days. Back when men were men and sheep where nervous . This was what passed for basic spur pads when I was just beginning to learn the ropes. I can't begin to describe the fortitude it took to continue learning to climb, after one short exposure to these beasts. Torture of the first order, they were. Put a terrorist on a set of gaffs with these as pads, run him up a spar for a hundred feet, and he would spill everything he ever knew, or might make up, or dream you wanted to hear.

Stamped with a rare and very old USFS logo. I'd bet these are about 70 years old, give or take. I maybe ought to hold on to them myself, but sometimes I get in the mood to share some of the old school world of climbing I came up in...so there you have it. I think sharing them with others is a better path.

These are for Kevin Bingham to take with right of first refusal, as he was up for the STG safety belt that Sam took under HIS right of first refusal . If Kevin doesn't want them, the floor is open...these are a gift to whomever first offers to pay shipping.

Should be pretty cheap to mail.

Pics

 

[MasterBlaster]

Uhhhhhh....

 

[flushcut]

Keep em! Find an old set of irons for the "pads" and hang them on the wall.

 

[Altissimus]

Ouch style pads

 

[Steve Mack]

Keep em! Find an old set of irons for the "pads" and hang them on the wall.

Or maybe do a bulk deal.

 

[MasterBlaster]

Orrrrr, BURN those bastards!!!

 

[Altissimus]

...Just like the dumpster loads of used Ski Gear that go the landfill every year while the one Ski Area in Pakistan people are are using stuff fifty years old. Perhaps some third world Coconut Tree Climbers would consider that stuff an upgrade.