I was thinking about this divergence of opinion about methods. Dan shows he can handle a large saw on spikes and seems to have a lot of confidence about his approaches, I don't doubt that there is a lot of experience in the field behind it all. Burnham, if I might take the liberty of suggesting him as an example of someone here among others that has tremendous lengthy experience in the field as both a faller and teacher, yet he appears at loggerheads with Dan about certain practices, as do other people that speak up about it, myself included about one particular practice recently shown. One doesn't have to always try something to get at the point of what is being suggested, I don't see first hand experience as always needing to be a criteria.for objectivity. Obviously there are different backgrounds and individual slants on things, but I sense that there is something more fundamental going on behind the disagreements.
Falling trees is inherently dangerous work. I think that you probably find in any such hazardous occupations, that over the years people involved with the work have developed certain generalizations about it, both based on what they were taught and what they learned from their own experiences. Certain things aren't advised due to the risk factors, again, generalizations for the good of all. I believe that most would agree that it is a good thing in the vast majority of cases. That doesn't say that odd variations of widely accepted practices broadening out to completely eccentric methods won't work, but they may not fall within the range of what is considered by the majority of people to be standardized practices. Take a fellow like the very respected late Mr. Dent, I get the impression that in his mind there was not much in terms of gray areas when it came to methods. I expect that as an instructor, safety was the major priority concern, and little thought went into having to hedge his bets regarding his policies. Perhaps someone can correct me if I am wrong, but weren't things pretty cut and dry with him? Learning under the influence of a teacher like that can be very powerful in the way that you come to your own conclusions about things. Tradition is a very strong influence in most manual trades. It's one reason why people can make a living and do excellent work within a relatively safe haven, through different generations without each person having to be a genius or reason it all out from the beginning. If you tell someone that may have learned from Dent to "lighten up', regardless of whether he is willing or able to follow such succinct advise, then in essence you are also telling his teacher to do the same thing.
I don't doubt that Murph also wishes to be safety conscious, but I don't think I am being untrue in saying that he likes to take credit for developing what he sees as original methods, and if they sufficiently work to his manner of thinking, the fact that they may be out of bounds in terms of not being within the certain standardizations that have come down the pike, is relatively irrelevant, and the results speak louder than the unorthodoxness. Personally, I think originality is great if a person has been doing something long enough to wisely get creative and new, but it doesn't seem so simple when the aspect of potential hazards is also a factor. You could well be butting heads with the focus of traditions in place for some very solid reasons, those that a lot of people take very seriously, such that it has become common sense with them. It's a beautiful thing, trusting what has come before, it often makes for a straighter line between points. If you want to do your own thing and accept for yourself that you will be ok with it, possibly disregarding trained advice, then go for it. Is it ok to suggest these unique methods, especially some that may only have narrow application and at the same time violate certain established rules or traditions, like avoiding barberchair with it's less controlled outcome, and putting out training about them to an open public as a goal, including potential novices albeit with cautionary included, I think it is an entirely different matter, and one need be very careful about doing that. I'd go so far as to say that in some cases it can border on irresponsibility.
My late night 2 ....
