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Rope gaff vs spur gaff, I had it backwards for years
I always thought spur gaffs were for beginners and rope gaffs were for pros, but last spring during a big oak removal in Portland I watched a climber fly up a spar using rope gaffs and it hit me that I'd been fighting the wrong tool for my style. Turns out spur gaffs work better for me because I lean back and use my legs more, and once I switched my footlock times dropped by almost 30 seconds per 100 feet. Anyone else figure out their gaff preference the hard way after years of stubbornness? What brand do you run with for removals?
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faith_perez15d ago
Man I did the exact same thing for like six years. Bought into the idea that rope gaffs were the "real climber" setup so I kept forcing myself to use them even though my calves were wrecked after every removal. Switched to spurs last fall on a big doug fir and it was like night and day, I could actually sit back and let the tree hold me instead of muscling through every step. My hip flexors stopped screaming at me too, which I didn't even connect to the gaffs until I made the switch. Still keep a set of rope gaffs in the truck for the rare weird crotch shot but 95 percent of my removals are on spurs now.
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