Andy Fielding of CTS Forestry and Arboriculture puts some of Edelrid's climbing kit to the test.

EDELRID TREE CORE TRIPLE-LOCK HARNESS

LET’S face it, the first thing we all want to know when buying a new harness is how comfortable it is and whether you will still be able to feel your legs after a full day’s climbing. The Edelrid Tree Core triple-lock harness is certainly lightweight and well padded, both in the waist and the leg loops. The twin waist buckles make getting the harness on and off and adjusting to the right size relatively easy and the leg loops are adjustable to fit your legs, with triple-lock buckles, again for easy access. The leg loops are held in place by elastic bungees, which are also adjustable for a better fit. During the period I’ve been wearing this harness I have found the leg loops to pinch once or twice, followed by the occasional expletive! Maybe I just haven’t worn it long enough for the initial stiffness of the leg loops to be worked off.

The reason for all the adjustability is because this is a one-size-fits-all harness. The technical data gives a waist range size of between 78 and 128 cm, or around 31 to 50 inches in old money. To someone at the extreme end of that scale, I find I have a lot of excess webbing hanging around which needs tucking away somewhere. I understand (although this is not shown in the instruction manual) that the side Ds can be moved back on the waist belt to facilitate those of us with smaller waists. The bridge is made of durable, stitched webbing and comprises a sliding D with plenty of space to connect multiple karabiners. For even more flexibility the bridge includes a quick-adjust upper webbing unit to facilitate work positioning.

No harness would be complete without loops to hang stuff from and the Edelrid Tree Core triple-lock harness has four gear loops on the sides, each capable of carrying up to a maximum of 25 kg.

There are standard buckle straps on the rear of the waist belt which can be used to attach first-aid/bleed kits. On the belt there are slots in the webbing through which a tool clip can be inserted. The leg loops are also rated to carry loads, should you wish to hang gear from them.

Finally, the harness includes attachment points for a chest harness. The waist and leg padding can all be replaced as well as the sliding D bridge if it is starting to show signs of wear.

The Edelrid Tree Core triple-lock harness is an adequate work positioning harness with all the features you would expect to see. The adjustable bridge is useful and the one-size-fits-all means this harness is extremely suited to a work situation where multiple people will be sharing the same equipment.

EDELRID WOODPECKER 11.7 MM ROPE

Forestry Journal: With a static elongation of 2.1 per cent and a weight of 95 g/m, the Woodpecker 11.7 mm rope compares to others of a similar diameter on the market.With a static elongation of 2.1 per cent and a weight of 95 g/m, the Woodpecker 11.7 mm rope compares to others of a similar diameter on the market.

On test at the same time as the harness was the Edelrid 11.7 mm Woodpecker rope. According to the manufacturer, the rope has been designed with arborists very much in mind. It has a sheath texture that is both easy to grip and self tends through movement capture devices. For the purposes of this test, a Petzl Zigzag was used, and it performed very well.

With a static elongation of just 2.1 per cent and weighing in at 95 g/m, the rope compares to others of a similar diameter on the market. It comes in two bright colours – grey/orange and yellow/purple – and the option of 36 m, 45 m or 60 m lengths.

The biggest letdown is the lack of a spliced eye, although there is a version of the same rope offered by Edelrid, the Woodpecker
11.7 mm – slim eye. The slim eye is essentially a loop of webbing sewn to the end of the rope to become the termination. With a breaking strength of over 15 kN, Edelrid claims this to be the slimmest termination on the market. Unfortunately, the ropes on test did not have the slim eye termination, so all climbing was done by tying termination knots. That aside, the rope felt flexible enough to make the knot tying and untying easy. Edelrid does state that the special kernmantle braiding in the core allows for maximum dimensional stability and excellent splice properties.

Would I buy this rope? Yes, I would – but I’d spend the extra and get the slim eye version.

EDELRID OVAL POWER 2400 TRIPLE, NIGHT, KARABINER

Forestry Journal: Edelrid Oval Power 2400 Triple, night, karabiner.Edelrid Oval Power 2400 Triple, night, karabiner.

This triple-lock oval-shaped aluminium karabiner from Edelrid is a relatively standard piece of equipment. With maximum breaking strengths of 24 kN across the vertical axis, 10 kN across the minor axis and weighing just 76 g, it compares favourably with others on the market. The gate opens up to 22 mm, giving ample room to manoeuvre ropes in and out.

Forestry Journal: With maximum breaking strengths of 24 kN across the vertical axis, 10 kN across the minor axis and weighing just 76 g, the karabiner compares favourably with others on the market. The one disadvantage using the night version is that it is not always easy to see which side of the karabiner the open gate is, Andy said.With maximum breaking strengths of 24 kN across the vertical axis, 10 kN across the minor axis and weighing just 76 g, the karabiner compares favourably with others on the market. The one disadvantage using the night version is that it is not always easy to see which side of the karabiner the open gate is, Andy said.

The one disadvantage using the black (night) version is that it is not always easy to see which side of the karabiner the open gate is.

Would I buy these karabiners? Yes – but I’d use retention rubbers with them to prevent the karabiner from rotating.