Geoff Kegerreis wrote:
Thanks for the advice, guys. I ordered a Brunton this time and we'll see how it
goes.
As far as the relaskop goes, I agree with Joe Schmoe that it is prohibitively
expensive and too damned bulky. A cool tool, but not worth the $1300 you'd
purchase one for new now as far as I'm concerned. The tallest tree in my main
service area is probably less than 150', and there are no requirements of any
agency or landowner that I am aware of that enforce the use of relaskops similar

to what the USFS does out there in region 1 and whatever the PNW region number
is - so I'll stick to using prisms (10 and 20 factor are all I need here), a
tape, and a
clinometer for the heights and other reasonably-priced tools that pay for
themselves
over and over again.

Joe Z - In most cases I don't use a clinometer much either (a 3-log tree is the
premium
here), but I think site index is a relatively valid concept to measure tree
growth
productivity, and since I promised to include that on the plan I will be writing
for my clients,
I have to have some valid way to measure the tree heights other than bringing
Bob Leverett
along.
The other clinometer is for my vest that I use for big marking jobs and that
vest scares
little children it's so painted up and faded. My thought is spend another $300
bucks and
get a vest that I can actually wear when I meet customers for the first time to
make at least
a decent impression. It's a cheaper alternative to buying one of those pretty
fancy new
dodges that the rich mills buy for the woodchucks...hopefully this year I can
afford to buy one
of their old used beat-up trucks that is slightly nicer than my current one, but
we'll see!



This shows how different inventory can be in different places. A
relaskop is standard equipment for cruisers in the far west, as
necessary as corks. I haven't seen a prism used since I taught a bunch
of fish bios how to determine basal area in riparian strips a few years
back. It was the simplest tool for the job.

It's possible to eyeball trees accurately - if circumstances are good
and there are times we all do it - but in the not very long run the
error will get you. West coast cruisers are instrument-centric.

Most cruises on the west side are done on the basis of sorts, which mean
you're using variable length logs limited by appearance and minimum
diameter. Since the most often used cruise program uses Behre's
hyperbola as the model, diameters are taken at dbh and formpoint and at
the top of each log, plus the bottleneck at the top. A typical tree has
three to six measure points on it. The sometimes steep country
occasionally means you've got to relaskop the dbh too. Those of us who
use em a lot have memorized all the BAF and bar/scale measures for
different distances out from the tree. They even serve as a fair
rangefinder when the 75 foot tape breaks.