I don’t know why it always happens this way. Perhaps some kink in the time/space continuum? Even Einstein would be perplexed. Three-thirty on a Friday, end of the day, end of the week, by definition and circumstance the last climb till next week. Almost done, then, the friction saver fails to follow desire and dictate. It is stuck!

I use some type of friction-saving device for about 98% of my climbs. It is one of the few things a 20-something me adopted that the 50-something me is grateful for. I loved the consistency in climbing-system performance. I gravitated to the tree- and rope-saving benefits. Now, three decades into consistent use, my muscles and joints offer silent appreciation as well.

However, as with any added component, with it the system becomes one point more complex, with one more chance of dysfunction. So it is with the friction saver, and here I am again. Not that frequently, thankfully, but 3:30 on a Friday seems to be a theme.

Like any good tree person with “Oak” tendencies (Google “Eucman and Oakman”), I look for consistent answers to the things that plague me. Experience and conversations have shown me that, as the friction saver advanced from knotted rope with rings, to splices with rings, to stitched webbing and rings, to eventually spliced rope with thimbles, the arc of inevitability for end-of-climb frustration slowly waned.

Evolution has helped

Developing a feel for when it will all go wrong is a part of it, but even more important is incorporating improvements in technology. Retrieval started with an overhand knot at the end of the climbing line and has evolved into little bits of finely shaped plastic girth-hitched to splices. And, as Robert Frost once alluded to, this has made all the difference.

It’s about consistency. Ring-and-ring friction savers have cordage or webbing that passes through the circumference of the rings. This inherently makes the circumference variable. Over time, the size of the hole will get bigger as the textile compresses. As such, the retrieval device, knot, washer, bit o’ plastic, must be oversized to compensate for this gradual change in diameter.

Enter the thimble. Friction savers designed with a thimble as opposed to a ring function the same as their ring counterparts, but the diameter of the thimbles stays constant. This means that the retrieval ball, cone, bit o’ plastic can be precisely made. The tighter the tolerance between the retrieval ball and the small ring, the more reliably the friction saver will follow design and desire to return to earth and your loving hands. Many current designs have pre-made retrieval cones one-half-millimeter bigger than the small thimble side.

Problem solved

Perhaps I do know why. It’s not really a kink in space and time. No matter what my rational mind says, there can be only one reason that friction-saver retrieval failure happens proportionally more at 3:30 on Friday. Because it can.

Anthony Tresselt, CTSP, is a consultant serving as director of safety and training for Arborist Enterprises Inc., an accredited, 31-year TCIA member company based in Manheim, Pennsylvania. He is also an independent trainer based in Manheim. He is a co-founder of The Arborist Boot Camp (thearboristbootcamp.com) and an author. His writing, thoughts and additional credentials can be found on his blog, gravitationalanarchy.com.