Today, I was given a pair of bell telephone lineman spurs. I climbed up about 5 different trees. they seem to hold solid for the most part. I did have one bark slip, and got some scraped arms until I learned to put on long sleeves. I am excited about the possibilites for these things though. Are they safe to use? Good for hunting?
Lineman hooks are not for trees. They are not long enough to go through most bark and into good enough wood to hold you. They stressed this hard first week of line school. If you're going to climb trees you need tree hooks. The gaffs are a lot longer to go the the bark and into good wood far enough to hold you.
Just be careful. The gaffs used by electric, phone and cable techs are usually much shorter than gaffs used by loggers. The poles obviously don't have bark, and shorter gaffs are considered safer. I have been climbing poles for 20 plus years, make sure your gaffs are in the tree and not just the bark. Good luck! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Good advice. I've been interested in doing this exact thing to start saddle hunting. Now i know what to look for and the differance Sent from my SM-G920P using Tapatalk
Whatever you do, don't climb without a safety belt. Like others said, those aren't made for trees. I used to work for a company climbing trees for a living, I watched a guy "free climbing" and fell 40ft and ended up with a gaff stuck in his thigh when he landed. Please be careful.
This. I've been a power lineman for 18 years and was a tree trimmer 5 years before that. Don't use lineman gaffs in trees. It will be one of the most unsafe things you can do.
EXACTLY!!!!!!!!! Do NOT use those spikes on trees! I climb trees for a living (34yrs), and I'm saying if you use those things often enough you WILL end up hurt, or worse. Let a climbing stand do the climbing. Here's where a "real" set of tree spikes will get ya though. lol
I help manufacture climbing gear, spikes, harness and belts right here in upstate ny. Couple of our sales guys are avid hunters and none of them use any of the equipment he make here for hunting. Especially you start pricing things out you can but 2 or 3 stands minimum for what your gonna pay for spikes harness rope and all the other goodies. To outfit a linemen is around 1500 to 2000g.
Things like these are quite tough on trees. I know of some tree trimmers (just some as many don't care) that will only use their climbing spikes on a tree they intend to take down. If they are just trimming, they use other methods that won't damage the tree. In a a sense, it's very similar to screw in tree steps and many states don't allow their use in public land's due to the damage they do to trees.
Swice, just to pass on a few facts on the subject. I've been climbing trees for 34 years, and use spikes several times a week. Yes, TREE spikes are usually used just for take downs, but occasionally I'll put them on to get into a really large tree. You just don't jab them in as deep like you normally would. This being said, I've been up MANY trees that showed previous spike mark scars, starting right from the ground on up, and these trees are still very healthy. We also drill into/through trees to install lag bolts that connect support cables, and I have watched many of these trees over the years, and they're still in fine shape. Trees are tougher than folks realize.
I'm also a Journeyman Lineman. You'd be better off buying tree gaffs for those hooks. Check to see what brand they are to make sure you get the right ones. Above all else, be careful.
I went to school for horticulture and my brother is a tree trimmer and has been for many years. So this is just what I've learned. The biggest reason, in the horticulture world, that it's not recommended as is it is leaving open wounds in a tree which can welcome disease/bugs that can kill the tree. Will using spikes and something like screw in steps kills the tree, no...but it can bring in other things that could. Trees are quite resilient and great at self healing but if those wounds don't close up previous to disease or pests coming in, it may not end well.
