Burnham, what is this?

[sotc]

One of my buddies found this in a recent burn. The assumption is that it came from the forest service but I've never seen an ascender quite like it. Thought you or another F.S. guy would know

 

[sawman]

its a fly swater

 

[gf beranek]

I believe it's a cable grab, meant for climbing wire rope.

 

[sotc]

That would explain how beefy and bulky it is

 

[MasterBlaster]

Burnham is probably at a strip joint... it's friday, ya know!

 

[SouthSoundTree-]

its a fly swater

It's the mod that's deceiving.

 

[FireFighterZero]

Are fly swatters expensive in Oregon?

My dad has one that he brazed the handle on.

 

[Reddog]

http://www.aikencolon.com/Safewaze-PPE-Fall-Protection--Fall-Arrest-Rope-Grab-0117-117_p_978.html

 

[sotc]

Nice, thank ya sir! I'm going to get it from him today.

 

[Burnham]

Willie, I've seen those before...seen them used by radio techs for fall protection in comm tower climbing. Never had occasion to use one myself.

No clue as to why one would be on a burn site, per se.

 

[sotc]

Forgot to take it home with me

 

[sotc]

Thought some of you might appreciate a few logging/family pics. Went down to my best friend's place on the Klamath River in Northern California (many hours north of Sacramento, some call that northern Cali). They own nearly a section of land there and quite a bit of it was involved in the Beaver Creek fire (35,000 acre fire) this year, very close to the Happy Camp fires that made national news. Any how, they are moving logs off the hill before trucks can't get them out. Decking near the river to haul to the mill when more trucks are available. Currently running 4 sides so trucks are thin. So here's a glimpse of California logging for those interested

 

[pantheraba]

I am interested...those trees were salvaged from the fire?

Otherwise, would they have been harvested?

Why could the trucks "not get them out"?

 

[Jed]

Pretty young loggin' crew.

 

[sotc]

Yes, fire killed and harvested under an emergency harvest plan. Yes, most would have been cut at some point but this area was logged 12 or 15 years ago m memory serves. Once winter sets in the cat roads will be too soft and too steep for trucks. They just cut roads in the dirt, no rocking as they will let most of them grow over.

 

[sotc]

Steeper than it looks

 

[MasterBlaster]

Crikey!

 

[sotc]

Actually some interesting history, the left side of the last picture you can kind of tell the terrain isn't natural. This area was hydraulically mined back in the old days. Pretty impressive how much soil they moved back then

 

[pantheraba]

Thanks for the info...makes sense.

 

[FireFighterZero]

Man that sucker got hot in places. Thanks for the pics Willie.

 

[Reddog]

Burn salvage, nothing like looking like a coal miner at the end of the day.

 

[Reddog]

Willie, I've seen those before...seen them used by radio techs for fall protection in comm tower climbing. Never had occasion to use one myself.

No clue as to why one would be on a burn site, per se.

Wonder if they set any temporary repeater towers in the area during the fire for radio communication?

 

[sotc]

Not sure, There were plenty of folks in the area for quite some time so maybe. There are permanent repeaters that can be hit from anywhere in that area, http://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/4036/

 

[FireFighterZero]

Typically a fire will have a repeater set up. A comms unit leader will select a site and a repeater will be set up, sometimes multiple repeaters. The only temporary ones I have see are easily set up by one or two people. Maybe ten to 15 feet tall.

I have never seen a temporary repeater set up that would require climbing and therefore need fall protection. But, they do thing differently on the west coast!

 

[sotc]

I guess we do, I just learned most states don't have snow chain requirements. We actually close the interstate several times a winter here, just assumed that happened everywhere