Highpod/Gigapod

What is a highpod and and what is it for?

A highpod is similar to a classic monopod . The only difference is that is in the crown of a tree (or in more rare cases like Lützerath, tied to another monopod). The process of building the highpod itself is already well-documented in the Danni-technical-zine, and this page is partly copied from there, and partly informed by the experience of people who build highpods in various other occupations, like Lützi, Fecher, or Banny. 

A highpod has various use cases, including a potential function as a lightning rod, wind turbine above the forest, flag pole, or crow's nest. Most commonly though a highpod is used as a structure to significantly delay an eviction by having people climb on it. It is much harder to evict than a normal monopod, because it is much higher and harder to reach. Even after evicting it, it is quite hard to dismantle the pod itself, because of the fact that a trunk of several hundreds of kilos is standing upright in a crown of a tree, held up by ropes under tension. 

"In the Danni Eviction we made the experience that Building crazy structures lifts activists spirits
and can create lots of struggle for those who try to get people off these structures. A Skymono can
be built with our basic climbing and building equipment, but can easily extend over the cannopy 10
meters, more is thinkable as well!"

Advantages of the highpod

from the technical zine:

• None of the anchor-traverses can be cut before the whole area is free of persons, otherwise the
  Skymono could collapse. So freedom of movement through all traverses is given for a longer period of time
• Some standard cherrypickers cannot extend over 30 Meters, so bigger machines need to be
  brought in and maybe the ground must be prepared for their stability.
  
• It takes at least two cherrypickers to get activists down, and they must move to multiple
  parking-positions if climbers are not within reach.
• Climbing cops will not climb up the beam, as they can‘t trust it. So if cherrypickers can‘t
  access, it is not evictable and becomes a safe space for activists and valuable material.
• Every structure, that is above the anchor traverses, cannot be fully destroyed before the mono
  is down, because everything that falls on these ropes is a risk for the whole structure. So
  tree houses on the anchortrees can be reoccupied if the eviction isn‘t complete by dawn.
• The more anchor traverses are used, the less movability is possible for the cherrypicker-basket.
  Stacking smaller monopods over each other will create quite a web.
• Most cherrypickers with a basket cannot exceed much over 50 Meters, so climbing cops might
  hang from the hook of a crane, but not a technical unit required to open a lock-on at this height.
• The total amount of material is quite low, only for pulling it up a decent pulley system and
  around 15 activists are required. -super cheap!
• You get a great view of the defended forest!

Required Material

• main beam for the pod

The main beam for the pod should change in diameter as little as possible. more cone shaped pods mean weaker at the top and stronger at the bottom, so if you want them to be strong enough at the top, you will end up with very little weight at the bottom. In the technical zine it says ~20 meters long and minimum 20cm diameter where the anchor traverses are attached. This recommendation really depends on the use case: if the anchor tree of the of the pod is not that large, it would be irresponsible to load it with such a large pod. As the zine correctly notes: "A 20m beam 20-35 cm strong weights around 500 kg", which is not possible to rig in a lot of trees. If you are using a smaller pod and/or do not plan on climbing on the anchor traverses for some reason, it should safely be possible to go below 20cm in diameter where the traverses are attached.
Coniferous trees work well for this, because they usually grow fairly straight. Spruce, pine, or fir wood is also relatively light and flexible. Make sure to peel the beam before using it as it makes rigging easier and the beam more durable against insects, fungi and moisture. Removing braches is also strongly recommended for rigging.

• traverses

At least 3 traverses are necessary, more is better. From 5 on one traverse can fail without risking the pod falling over. Quality polypropylene rope of 14 mm is recommended, one 220m roll might be enough for 3-5 traverses.

• pulley system (2:1 in the tree, 8:1 compound at the bottom)
  • 100m static rope (minimum)
  • 7 pulleys + carabiners (1 on the tree, 1 on the pod, 1 redirect at the stem, 4 in the 8:1)
  • 2 loops of accessory cord (Raupe) for the 8:1
  • 1 Distel (preferably thick aramide cord) + 1 mallion rapide for progress capture
  • 4 heavy duty webbing slings (1 on the tree, 1 on the pod, 1 for the redirect, 1 in the 8:1)

The pulleys should preferably have ball-bearings, especially those that get the highest loads (anchor tree, pod, redirect). An alternative pulley system can also be built with a grip-puller winch (Greifzug) replacing the 8:1 at the bottom.

• base of the pod

The pod