The Old Ruminator
Well-known member
mrodoc said:
Absolutely the safest way done properly. Mr O' Doc will well remember Skyfall when the choke collapsed and the robust poking rod jammed him into the wall nearly breaking his ribs.
Telescopic long poking pole
- Thread starter tim.rose2
- Start date
Absolutely the safest way done properly. Mr O' Doc will well remember Skyfall when the choke collapsed and the robust poking rod jammed him into the wall nearly breaking his ribs.
ZombieCake
Well-known member
Skyfall? Is Mr o'Doc James Bond?
Pitlamp
Well-known member
The Old Ruminator said:
Disagree; that approach often leads to an even less safe situation. There are ways to deploy "that method" which are safer than "on a stick" and often far more effectively anyway. I'm not going to go into detail here but would be most pleased to, if ever we're sharing a pint at some stage.
The Old Ruminator
Well-known member
The think the " on a stick " was a bit of a euphemism clearly used to cover the more assiduous ways of completing the job.
Pitlamp
Well-known member
I plan to send you a PM about this in due course OR - it might not be for a day or so though, as I'm awaiting some information. But you may be quite interested in the "lateral thinking" involved.
I felt I ought to point out though that not everyone agrees that the approach referred to is the safest. There is a better way.
I felt I ought to point out though that not everyone agrees that the approach referred to is the safest. There is a better way.
Aubrey
Member
"Parrot Perch Technology"
When we were digging upwards in Bath Swallet we developed the Parrot Perch system using cheap plastic sink drainage pipes.
The pipes are light and easy to carry and can be adjusted to securely hold a suitable charge in place. Typically the top of the pipe has a T piece with the plastic cut to hold a stick hard against the rock.
The pipe can be extended with cheap of the shelf joins and angles and can also be used to probe any loose debris without being directly underneath.
When we were digging upwards in Bath Swallet we developed the Parrot Perch system using cheap plastic sink drainage pipes.
The pipes are light and easy to carry and can be adjusted to securely hold a suitable charge in place. Typically the top of the pipe has a T piece with the plastic cut to hold a stick hard against the rock.
The pipe can be extended with cheap of the shelf joins and angles and can also be used to probe any loose debris without being directly underneath.
tim.rose2
Active member
Well I've gone with the threaded rod option (M16): Bits from Ebay / Screwfix. Total cost about ?25 but that's provided enough spare bits to make a second. Probably could have come up with something cheaper if I'd looked harder...
I've cut 3 lengths of rod to 60 cm (perfect tackle sack length) and used an off cut at 40 cm for the poking end. Given the thread on the poking end will inevitably get knackered I wanted that section to be identifiable. A different length was an obvious option.
Total length is obviously 220 cm, though leaving out one section to give a rod length of 160 cm looks very usable and is quite a bit lighter / more manoeuvrable.
I've found the rod connector alone doesn't work - additional nuts on both sides are needed to lock the sections. Without these the rod sections started to come loose when I did some test poking in the garage. One side of the connector I've tighten with vice / big spanner and then taped (to make it clear which side it is) as a permanent fitting. The other can be nipped up against this with a small adjustable down the cave. Then a good smattering of duck tape on the first section where it will be held to make it more comfortable to hold.
Just need to find some loose boulders now to see it if it works. I'll report back.
If you've read any of the Portland digging reports, then you've probably seen reference to carpet drag trays. Having made another today I thought I'd photograph it as well. The carpet tiles are x-sample tiles from a local carpet shop. If you catch them on a good day they're free, otherwise they seem to be 50p each. They are surprisingly robust - we've not killed one yet, though the first I made around 9 months ago is now looking a bit sorry for itself. They are flexible so find their way around corners / though constriction better than something rigid.
I've cut 3 lengths of rod to 60 cm (perfect tackle sack length) and used an off cut at 40 cm for the poking end. Given the thread on the poking end will inevitably get knackered I wanted that section to be identifiable. A different length was an obvious option.
Total length is obviously 220 cm, though leaving out one section to give a rod length of 160 cm looks very usable and is quite a bit lighter / more manoeuvrable.
I've found the rod connector alone doesn't work - additional nuts on both sides are needed to lock the sections. Without these the rod sections started to come loose when I did some test poking in the garage. One side of the connector I've tighten with vice / big spanner and then taped (to make it clear which side it is) as a permanent fitting. The other can be nipped up against this with a small adjustable down the cave. Then a good smattering of duck tape on the first section where it will be held to make it more comfortable to hold.
Just need to find some loose boulders now to see it if it works. I'll report back.
If you've read any of the Portland digging reports, then you've probably seen reference to carpet drag trays. Having made another today I thought I'd photograph it as well. The carpet tiles are x-sample tiles from a local carpet shop. If you catch them on a good day they're free, otherwise they seem to be 50p each. They are surprisingly robust - we've not killed one yet, though the first I made around 9 months ago is now looking a bit sorry for itself. They are flexible so find their way around corners / though constriction better than something rigid.
