Old school climbing spikes vs modern gaffs, I finally switched

After 15 years using the same hickory-handled spikes my grandfather gave me, I rented a pair of those aluminum adjustable gaffs for a job in Austin last month. They felt weird at first but I didn't slip once on a wet live oak that would have made me fall twice with the old ones. Has anyone else made the swap and felt like they lost some kind of connection to the tree?

2 comments

2 Comments

leo60311d ago

Fell out of a tree last week myself, so maybe that connection was overrated.

rileygonzalez11d ago

Connection was overrated" - yeah, that pretty much sums up my whole tree climbing career. I broke my wrist doing the same thing last summer. Not worth it.