Bravo. I've been a tree worker for about 8 years now and some words from a former colleague never leave me: if you're too afraid to do the job, you should think about quitting. If you're absolutely unafraid about anything that has to do with the job, you should definitely quit.

This is good stuff. As an arborist in training one year in, I have had a few nervous moments. What helps me is preclimb gear inspection, sound limb to tie into and if I get still unsettled to keep telling myself to trust the equipment and myself. You can pause going up for a minute to collect yourself and nobody won't even notice. A real psychological technique for relieving anxiety is to stay in the moment. For example, when you start to get anxious, pause and focus on something. Stare at the rope your climbing on, notice it's color, it's feel, it's strength etc. Perhaps focus on the leaves near you, the shape of them, their purpose etc. Notice the air, how it smells, it's temperature. You might see an ant 60 feet up next to you. Think about and wonder how it got up there, why it's there, how it might get back down... The objective is to redirect your mind from racing thoughts about potential future events to really concentrating on things around yourself. If you can do that you will find the anxiety goes away. Takes a bit of practice but it is amazingly simple and helpful. It's almost like a conscious form of meditation that only takes seconds to do.

"Fear is there to protect you, it's part of your checklist." great statement. Thank you.

I'm 66 years old and did my first 50 foot climb recently. Did a couple SRT redirects, pruned dead branches, limb walked and before I knew it 5 hours had passed. As I came down I was so happy with what I accomplished. I must be a kid at heart because I still love climbing in trees. Thanks Reg.

Sir, You are a master at problem identification and explaining on a level that anyone can understand. Thanks for the time and effort you spend helping people.

9 months later I still watch this video this is the best video that I have personally ever watched on KZfaq as a tree climber

Reg when u hang up you're spurs you should look into teaching the up and coming tree climbers I honestly think people could benefit from your knowledge.

Thanks thanks thanks Reg :-) as Buckin says “I am calm, I am at peace, I’m in no rush”.

Reg, you should write a book.

This guy is the epitome of chill, just amazing monologue videos. Mental strength- check

Thank you for you time and wisdom Reg. I just got down from a 100ft tree, highest I've been. I was up for hours last night in anxiety, I came across your video and just repeated the key points in my head until I fell asleep, and carried on doing that the whole way through the tree. I'm on lunch break now and my body is absolutely cooked. Hopefully these sardines give me some fuel for the next tree lol! Been at it about 2 months, and the unknown territory was the source of all my anxiety. It's becoming a bit easier now. You're a legend Reg!

If it was up to me this video would be played at every college or arb training organisation certainty in the UK where I live. Outstanding, truely outstanding, thoughtful, eloquent, and provides an insight that is delivered in a manner that I found simply was not available, it would be a terrible shame if this particular video was not widely consumed within arb training and early years development. Thanks Reg, your one of a kind mate.

Best book to read when your job puts your life at risk = The Bible! I did not have the luxury of a mentor, just a series of greedy company owners who looking back were willing to put my life at risk for money because I didn't know any better. Prayers and faith got me through all those years and still gets me through when I am faced with a task that nobody else is willing to do. Lol about the many crazy excuses and shenanigans that people will do to get out of climbing or even just to get out of work. Sometimes, you just have to have faith.

Well said! Havent commented before but I feel this might be useful to others, I've been a contract climber for 10years and the one and only thing I've found to really make the nerves go up are not having ground staff you trust or are even unsure their cerebral ability can comprehend the dynamics of rigging, it's all well and good working for a firm that has a boss that was and is very good, but for them to sometimes leave the job and leave the climber with ground staff that are doing the job for the summer or just dont care. I'd say to anyone going into subby climbing make sure everyone you work for has ground staff that can perform areil rescue make sure you can find out if they are even fit enough for resuce and can rig off well. I have been put into some seriously dangerous trees to only be told the decent chap wont be there and I will have to make do with the local crack head on 40quid a day. If someone had told me about these situations my stress and climbing ability would have improved to no end. Reg you make alot of sense mate thanks for sharing your knowledge and mega thanks for the arbtrolley

Reg, no illusions, you’re not perfect cause you’re human but you are also deliberate, thoughtful and incredibly inspirational. You’re the kind of guy one comes across, a total stranger, but yet, you think I’d like have a beer with that guy.

im 58 and i want to get into this profession. this was a great block of instruction and will definitely help me with regards to the perspective i should have on the fear aspect of this profession. well said and greatly appreciated.

Very thoughtful. I retired after 20 years plus climbing for a variety of reasons. But the most important was that I felt it was the right time. I had no accidents but saw some bad one's, felt like I needed a new challenge and realised that if my head and heart wasn't 100% into it I should stop. Now I landscape and periodically miss climbing but I don't regret stopping ever.

You are awesome!! I have watched this video at least 10 times. Hopefully one day I can take it all the way to the top of the tree…Thank you so much!!

I've been watching you so long Reg. I'm glad I have. You've rubbed off on me quite nicely, man. Awesome compliments to my all-around work balance. 😎🤙

absolutely true !very helpful, i was out of the game for a long time and recently restarted and the fear is back but I'm loving every minute !

“Weebles Wobble, but they Don’t Fall Down” kept me going in more than one tree early on! Thanks Reg for sparking some old thoughts I haven’t remembered for awhile.

It gets easier!! I was a total nervous wreck- thought I might never beat it. I'm not there yet but a little better each time. Thanks for lots of awesome advice! Love your videos

I think like you said it's a fear of unfamiliarity, and that stepping into something unfamiliar might trigger some panic and inability to handle things. It's a mental challenge that almost has nothing to do with heights or trees in the end. The good thing about trees is you can incrementally push your comfort zone bit by bit to become quite comfortable in a situation that would be scary if you felt thrown into it before you trust your tie-in/gear/whatever. I've found climbing trees in my free time hugely helpful to push my comfort without added pressures that come along with being on a job

Thank you so much for your content. I’m relatively pretty new to climbing I need to overcome the fears. Your video is going to be embedded in my brain on tomorrow’s job. Thanks brother. Keep the content coming!

Thank you brother thank you thank you thank you this is probably the most thought-provoking video I've seen in years I've been doing tree work for 22 years 15 of it climbing. With all that time everything you said in this video Perfect it was dead on point as soon as you said the word complacency I got emotional and teared up. Because complacency is almost cost me my life tree work is no joke and you should have a healthy fear always but thank you again you're really good Man reg a truly awesome human being I wish I had someone like you to work with take care brother stay safe thanks again for the video truly remarkable

Wow! This was like a guided meditation; it flashed a 1/2 dozen 'come to Jesus moments' thru my life experiences; priceless, thank you.

Hi Reg. I am a new subscriber. Buckin Billy Ray gave a shout out for you and I am so glad I made it over to check your channel out. This is psychology 101 for life and for being a tree climber. I truly enjoyed you sharing your common sense approach of what you do and how to build confidence for any thing we might attempt to do in life. I look forward to watching your videos and learning more about you. You are an interesting man. Thank you for sharing it with us!

This is probably one of the best videos on You Tube .Not only does it help a new tree climber, but anyone trying to achieve a new goal.

Good teaching moment from you. That said, my last CPR class the instructor said 2500 Americans die each year from falls off 6 foot or less ladders. I tossed my 3 foot step ladder in the burn pile decades ago as I realized a 3 foot fall on concrete with tools laying around hurts. Worked in woods since 1975 and I have hurt myself more at home. Luck/skill for sure. 180' is the highest I found a yellow jacket nest while cone picking. Thanks for posting vids.

Not many tree guys admit fear. But show me one who didn´t feel it, and I´ll show you a liar. I liked this video in particular. I feel the fear every time I am up there and controlling it is a bigger task for me, than planning the tree. You explained it very well

Your my choice for climbing guru. Thank you so much for all you share...it is the ground.

I cant thank you enough for this thoughtfully worded, helpful and inspiring video.

Thanks for your advice Reg. We look to folks like yourself as guides

I was gonna watch the entire video, but a swarm of bees showed up, made me get sick, & my phone went dead because I didn't have a charger😂👌 This was brilliant.... STAY SAFE BROTHER

Thanks for putting this so clearly. I wish I had you as a mentor 30 years ago.

Thank you. I needed that chat. This is perhaps the best video you've put out. Sincerely

One must trust their equipment, period. Inspection on a regular basis, and proper care of your equipment is crucial, but trust is top of the heap.

Excellent talk Reg. Thanks for this. I'm relatively new to climbing and you certainly have addressed a lot of the common fears. One fear that I have that you didn't address is the fear of making a mistake that would lead to a fall. Such as when fliplineing up and bypassing a branch, or just moving around the canopy and having to unclip, move and then clip back in, and I think I'm clipped in and let go only to find that I didn't put the line in proper place or whatever, and now I'm falling because of a personal error. I'm sure there are a thousand examples of things that tree guys have done to hurt or kill themselves through personal errors and mistakes. Gravity is not very forgiving. My way of handling this fear so far has been to just move slowly and deliberately, and thinking through and calculating each move. I'm sure some of you guys have dealt with similar fears and I am interested in hearing your thoughts and how you've handled this. Thanks

Thank you so much man that really made me ooen my eyes and get over some of my fears i watch your videos and i have looked at you as my teacher on some things along with August and some others but again thank you so much

Fear is the sum of Lack of Knowledge and Lack of experience... Thanks for sharing your exerience, reg.

Thank you so much Reg I want you to know that I explain this the exact same way I actually started having my apprentice watch your videos I had a good mentor when I started and I just put faith in everything he told me to do( he climbed several of the very broad maple trees with me) and very rapidly I just started building a wealth of knowledge in my head of what you can do in what species of trees based on how they were growing as far as tie ins limb walks what cuts work well in what situations in what trees and I tell everyone even my fellow foreman to be careful doing certain things while in trees and alternative solutions just so we can all grow together and always keep from being complacent our career is not one that you can ever come to work and just say blah blah blah same thing different tree I always run through the worst possible scenarios before doing a tree and the entire time I’m in a tree I’m focused on how to prevent them from happening

August sent me over. How the YT algorithm has failed this bad in keeping me from your channel is beyond me. Look forward to your content and input in the future. Great video. Be safe. Thanks.

Wise words dude the more we do, the more we learn, the better we get. Enjoying watchin your content so had to sub.

Reg, you're such a good student of life and so good at relating your life lessons to others. Everything you said in this discussion rings so true and I could relate to it so well from my own past experience. I unintentionally got into doing tower work for the Amateur radio folk in my area and had to progress through the trust the structure and trust your gear aspect in my late fifties. Not until in my early seventies did I out of need to manage trees on my own property get into tree climbing. I'm now to the point that my only 120' climb line isn't long enough.

Well said sir! Always enjoy this videos. Seeing you up a fir 150 plus makes me feel at ease in a 80 ft oak. You are correct about sitting back in your saddle and trusting your gear. Thank you for the words of encouragement!

Thank you. I appreciate you sharing your knowledge.

Best monologue Ever. Thank you Reg. 👍😁 🇬🇧

Thanks Reg. That was brilliant. Wonderful insight.

I love this reg! Ur the man and this helps !!

Reg in a truck talking tree climbing is the best .. Speaking of heights, I think you just topped yourself. Excellent video Reg . Thank for your time and effort .

Thank you, one of the most honest vids about this job i've ever seen, i love this job like i love skateboarding try and try again learn through the pain and celebrate the wins, knock on wood i've gotten lucky being caught by my rope a .5m from the ground after a fall from 20m, had croprice growth break off the stump and get dragged to the ground with it, and i've chickened out of heaps of climbs cause i don't like the feeling of the tree and some days thats what ya need to do, but its the drive to push yourself that keeps me wanting to go on, and things i've found that help is singing or making fun out of your anxiety like telling ya ground crew to stand back in case the shit falls out of ya pants, but having a break in the tree and just thinking of other stuff and resetting where your at....

I love it I’m new to it also but it’s the fear that I like most about it.. I love being up there looking to make sure the carabiners are clicked on and putting weight into harness before moving on.. it’s what I’ve earned by studying and getting my tickets that’s put me in a position that my life relies on my capabilities and hard work and therefore I get the buzz of being slightly on edge each day hahaaaaaa.. very few people get to see the world from a tall old tree so it’s a privilege for sure plus that bark and moss that’s on the tree all just adds to being lucky enough to be so close to nature

Great vid as usual Reg. The art of controlling fear is, reeling it back in when it starts to wander out. Love this topic.

I have only just found your videos a day or two ago, but this video is exceptional. You are a perfect mentor, although I don't do your job, but you get what I mean. You have so much common sense. Thank You for sharing this video .

You are awesome at what you do brother! But of course,that goes without saying. Thank you for sharing with us. It's an honor and a real treat to watch "to me" one of the best in the 🌎. My helmet & muffs off to you my friend.

Cheers reg continuing to shed the wise old school wisdom from a dying breed of climbers Always love hearing from you mate glad to know I’m not the only one still channeling fear to push thru sticky situations 6 years strong Keep em coming

Great perspective, and great to see folks like you on here to help coach and educate those who may not have access to a mentor. I have been climbing recreationally/ for personal tree care and I started with a pretty good fear of heights. It has helped my fear a lot, and one of the main things that helped is trusting the gear, trusting the rope, etc.

Thanks for these thoughts. I'll be watching this again when I resume climbing.

Another great video, it's something we all must try to overcome. Having full trust in your kit is essential. Daily checks and a good look at the tree helps a heap. Thank you Reg!!

I would say this was much more than just help, it was what I consider mentoring - WELL DONE!

Thanks RC, this hit home with me! Once I get over 90’ and the wind picks up something comes over me and I have to talk myself through getting the job done. Thanks again for the great video ✅

Reg, thank you for sharing your insights and experience about fear at height. Very straight and to the point. I appreciate you taking the time to make and post up this video. I was encouraged listening to what you said. Thanks again and keep yourself safe! Randy

Sage Advice! Lesson for my day. Thanks.

The power of youtube and the internet in general.. I wish it were around when I was young.

From a noobs stand point everything u said is spot on an the guys an girls around u can help make or break u thanks for ur input it’s helps a lot when a master at whatever tells u their troubles always helped me

That was amazing I have said the same things to many people over the years. Nice to have a video to reference for someone because sometimes we hear it different when it comes from somebody else glad you’re still putting out exceptional videos.

Thank you for sharing some of your knowledge with us.

rock solid talk! very practical advice, much appreciated

Great insight brother!! Awesome video, breaking through those fears and anxieties, then conquering them, is such an amazing feeling!!

Great video Reg, a very real no bullshit video, no arrogance or showing off. Just genuine helpful advice, one of the best tree videos I’ve ever watched.

As mentioned below mate you are an inspiration. Your experience and knowledge really shines bright when we can see how calm you are in certain situations. I have been climbing and working as an arborist here in New Zealand for only a year now and it is hands down the best job in the world. I study Arboriculture and advanced climbing and am now a qualified arborist, but I still sometimes find myself in stressful situations aloft. Experience is the number one teacher, I'm still learning and am happy to admit that, better than having false competence sometimes. Experience, trusting your gear and the rest of your crew, and most importantly trusting yourself is key. I have worked with many experienced people such as yourself and people like you can teach lessons that no tech classroom or climbing session can provide. Thank you for being you mate, this stuff helps more than you think I'm sure. Look after yourself and stay safe up there my friend. Muzz

Really appreciate your videos. This one is excellent, as all the others have been that I've had a chance to watch thus far. Thank you for taking the time to share your knowledge!

Like a proffesor. Thanks for sharing your knowladge

A truly exceptional video Reg. As you've touched on, complacency is a very real aspect of familiarity and I've seen an equal amount of injury from it as I have from beginners in any field. You've an immense ability to convey valuable information in a thoughtful way that invokes a strong sense of clarity. Thank you for taking the time to share your thoughts. Though I've only been climbing for a few years, I've been doing forestry work for over a decade & I simply think about my children & my wife anytime I feel I'm getting too comfortable with things.

Great stuff thanks a lot. The book, the comparations.... and the humor👍👍👍love your videos

I appreciate this video more than you will ever realize sir. Thank you reg

I want you to know this video has been a great help to me ,, self taught, 62 years old , minimal gear , and no mates to climb with. But I love this stuff ,, and YES I am super careful. So far I have managed just over 30 feet, so this lecture helps . Thank you so much.. By the way I did get the book,, Body Language of Trees,, it was expensive at about 125.00 US but the book is as you described. Very informative, I have learned to better examine a tree and better assess it.. Thank you for the encouragement.. Good luck to you.. Joe

Generally have been super scared of heights my entire life I’ve never really figured out how I got into this career path but you’re exactly right trust in your equipment and being confident in yourself will supersede your fear of the height

Awesome talk Reg hopefully the people that need the information take the time to sit and listen to a "mentor" because you live the work that you speak of. Thanks Reg!

I have been fortunate enough in my life to have great mentors. Listening to your video tonight brought me back to a time in my early climbing years. Having support from good mentors is the reason I chose this line of work. Thanks for offering your words of encouragement!

Reg - Thank you so much for your wise words! After this I believe I would just go anywhere and do anything if you told me to do it and how to do it!

Thankyou so much I am so grateful to hear this!! ❤️❤️ I have noticed small improvements as time goes on, I’m pretty anxious 😟 about climbing, I really love all your work!, you and Buckin are my favorite guys to learn from after work, thanks 🙏🏼

This is not just good advise for climbing trees but for life in general. Subscribed!

You're very good at giving advice ,you've done it a few times, just you speaking to the camera. In one of these you gave me the best advice any climber ever gave me " Never make a fuck it cut " .these types of videos are so valuable and helpful. Thanks Reg .

Thanks Reg! I am new to climbing and I got to a point where I was questioning if it was really for me. After watching this video I had a turning point in my climbing. It was a combination of reminding myself of how strong my gear really is and the place I’m tied in. The other thing that changed my climbing is changing my breathing. I noticed that I only felt scared or uncomfortable when I was breathing heavy and tired. So I started taking a lot more short breaks to control my breathing keep my heart rate down. All of a sudden I was moving around and climbing taller trees with less and less fear!

Once again, Thanks Reg! I have agreed with your fear philosophy before and I do think it is a very good way to stay focused on the task at hand, staying alive and doing competent work. I did not start to climb until I was 55, and will turn 65 in a week a or so, problem I have is I just don't get to climb as much as I want, but it does get easier all the time, and funner, learning to trust the rope etc is as you say very important, anyway I think this is a great help to many thanks again.

Thank you reg. This means so much to me.

As always , precise straight talking , love your vids . Amazing part of the world to be in your profession .

Absolutely love all of your videos Brother! 👍💪

Wow Reg, that was truly brilliant. Only just stumbled across your channel and this video but I was enthralled. Even though I may never climb a tree again (since I was a ‘fearless’ kid) those were wise words that you could apply to many other things in life. No wonder you come across as someone with Zen like calm! Take care and thanks again 👍

You're just amazing. Thank you for your service with this video.

Reg, yours is the best arborist channel I have ever seen on YT. This was a great video on the right mental attitude to have in this type of work. Excellent advice. It could even be called Zen in the Art of Arborist Work. Much respect for the work you do. All the best.

24:35 Brilliant, now I'm scared of driving too! Jokes aside, cheers Reg, your wisdom is always greatly appreciated.🙏

So inspiring!!, you are such a thoughtful and generous person, love, love the channel.

Wise words Reg, thank you for sharing mate.

This video went so in depth and you talked about things I haven’t heard anyone else say. Thank you for this video. I have always had a fear of heights but love Tree work and want to climb. I’ve set my mind to getting past the fear. I’ve also had the fear of the tree not doing what it should and just going opposite even though I do everything correct.

Interesting thoughts, true words, thanks for sharing 🙏

I would do anything to work beside you and learn from you I mean that I trust you a 100% just by watching your videos you are an amazing man I wish I had somebody like you to teach me

Absolutely inspirational the words and how you explained everything is all I needed to really hone in my skills learn how to refocus keep my wits ahead of me and accomplish what needs to be done. Much respect and well said

Reg I never minded being up high as long as I felt secure...when I was a paratrooper in the Army there was anxiety about jumping out of the door, but once I was out there and the chute was open it was just a fantastic experience...a feeling akin to being a bird. In the beginning the fear was based on the unknown...later on it was based on the known...having seen what could actually go wrong...but still once the chute was open all was fine. So when I started climbing I was surprised to find the old fear I used to feel when I was about to jump out of the door of a plane. But once I began to feel more secure with my equipment it got to be like riding in a parachute harness and was able to sit back & just enjoy the view:) To sum it up what I feel that what most people refer to as a fear of heights is not actually a fear of heights, but rather a fear of falling...for instance a person can look out of an airplane window at 30,000 ft and not have fear...and that is more than high. But stand them on the edge of a tall building & the fear kicks right in. But never mind I'm rambling now...thanks for sharing Reg!