Spur Length

[HBP]

What do you guys prefer and for what reason. I assume most of the west coast climbers prefer longer gaffs. A lot of guys I work with prefer shorter pole gaffs for most of the hardwoods we climb in my area. I can see the advantages to the short gaffs, able to walk around without dulling them, more foot to tree contact for stability. But it seems like they have a tough time climbing trees with hard, or plated bark. I wear long gaffs because i like the security of kicking them through the bark and into the wood. What are your opinions? is there a perfect length for guys in the midwest/northeast?

 

[MasterBlaster]

I used to swear by long gaffs, but I got tired of tip-toeing when I was on the ground. Plus, other than cottonwoods, we just don't have such thick barked trees around here. So, I use pole gaffs. Ideally, having two sets would be best and I did at one time - but I wound up selling them to Burnham cuz I just never used them.

 

[RopeArmour]

I was on pole gaffs for many yrs and switched to tree gaffs.
Don't miss the pole one bit. Prefer the extra reach.

 

[stig]

I use long ones for most of the work, if I have to work in thin tops of smooth barked trees like birch, I don the short ones.

 

[Tucker943]

Long spurs.

 

[Reddog]

Unless I need to climb a cotton wood, poles cause I like the stability in smaller dia trees.

 

[Limbrat]

I machined some gaffs years ago that are mid-length between pole and tree gaffs and they work great in nearly every situation I run into. Does any manufacturer make anything similar, and if not, why not? It looks like there would definitely be a niche in the market for them.

 

[pete mctree]

Pole gaffs here because I climb hardwoods 90% of the time

 

[MasterBlaster]

Man, that would be the next great thing in tree gear - the Adjustable Gaff!

 

[HBP]

I machined some gaffs years ago that are mid-length between pole and tree gaffs and they work great in nearly every situation I run into. Does any manufacturer make anything similar, and if not, why not? It looks like there would definitely be a niche in the market for them.

I was kinda thinking the same thing.

 

[brendonv]

I use long ones for removals, and the short ones for pruning.

 

[Tucker943]

 

[MasterBlaster]

I wear a short one on the left and a long one on the right. That covers ALL tree types!

 

[BOTS]

I use the Long gaffs for pruning bradford pears...

On a serious note, I use long gaffs here in nor cal, lots thick bark tree's

 

[Marc-Antoine]

I use short gaffs.
I bought my spurs as a set with both short and long gaffs, but I never mounted the long ones.
Hard wood or soft wood, they don't have a really thick bark. Some have deeply (for me) cracked bark though, but I can overcome that with a little attention.
The main problem that I encounter time to time is trees covered with a thick layer of ivy.

 

[Burnham]

Long as I can find...just like the bars I run . PNW, obviously.

 

[woodworkingboy]

The short ones that came with the spurs as well, make good paper weights.

 

[rumination]

I like shorties myself. Most of the trees I work on have thin bark, and I'm light enough that even in thicker barked trees the bark itself will usually support my weight reliably. The one exception is Melaleuca trees, although I think they pretty much suck with even the longer spikes.

 

[DMc]

Long as I can find...

Ditto! I realize that thin-barked trees can be efficiently climbed with pole gaffs but as with my climbing line, I would rather have a little too much than not enough. Thin barked trees are just as easy, at least for me, to climb with the longer tree gaffs. Pole gaffs are optimized for poles and tree gaffs for trees, that is the reason for their names. How easy it is to walk around on the ground with my spurs on is not high on my list of appropriate attributes.

David

 

[Maximalist]

http://www.avito.ru/sankt-peterburg/remont_i_stroitelstvo/gaffy_drevolazy_km_kogti_montera_230251882

 

[flushcut]

Dang do those things look mean!
I use tree spurs.

 

[MasterBlaster]

Those look painful. Are they yours?

 

[Maximalist]

Those look painful. Are they yours?

Do I look like a arborist-kamikaze?

 

[flushcut]

I looked them up on ebay $98 + $40 shipping from Russia.

 

[MasterBlaster]

I'd like to have them just to whup em out OTJ and freak people out.