TFTC #21 Jared Abrojena on Ropes

This year for the 2021 Master catalog, we got the chance to interview several leaders in the arborist community about their knowledge on different subject matters. We spoke with Jared Abrojena, owner of Evergreen Tree Care (ETC) and President and Co-founder of The Academy, about his general approach to ropes.

• There are three general approaches to ropes — the guy who has a rope for every occasion, altitude, humidity index, etc., the guy who burns through ropes like his dually goes through diesel; and the guy who keeps his precious rope no matter what, even when it has become dangerous. Which of these have you been in the past?
• I was never the turn and burn guy, I always had more care for my ropes because my family’s company wasn't a big company. Starting off, I had one harness, one carabiner, and one rope. If you messed up a rope, no one was going to give you another one. I would have to go beg Dad, he’d get mad, and I’d be in trouble. I knew I had to keep it clean, because I would have to take it to competitions. As I got older, there was a phase where I had a rope for every occasion because I could. On that end, it was more to test and learn.

• What were some of the benefits that came out of that for you?
• It enabled me to test products. I could use three different ropes in a day and really compare their characteristics side by side. I like to say, “you can't knock it till you rock it.” I don't like when people try something once and say it sucks. Wait, you tried it once and you’re saying it sucks? That's not fair. You have to either put some time on a rope or really do some research on why it doesn’t work for you. Then, if you can give me that why — that’s fair.
  
  I feel like people mock a lot of products these days without giving them a fair shot. That hurts these companies in the industry, keeping them from being able to build and grow. I wish more people thought that we’re all on the same side, that we’re all good guys. These manufacturers are all good guys, and they're trying to do good things. So instead of knocking them, figure out how to help. Be a part of the solution, not the problem.

• If someone buys a rope, and they don't care for it, what is the next step? Where should they go to get clarity on why they may be having a bad experience with that rope?
• I guarantee you if you put your experience on TreeBuzz, you’re going to have a ton of people telling you to try this, try that, use this hitch. They’ll ask how heavy are you, what diameter hitch are you using? There are a lot of resources online; there’s so much support out there now, it's just crazy to me that people can't find these answers. If someone’s having trouble using those resources, they’re likely at the beginning of their career, and getting proper training should be the next step anyway, where someone can explain the gear to them and how it works.

• Thanks, Jared, for taking the time to talk to us! We love following you @jaredabrojena to see what you and other arborists are up to! Check out our video interview with Jared for more rope talk.  

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