Christian “Puk ” Kruck

Splicing is at the heart of what I do. Stanley Longstaff taught me in 2001 and told me the key is to "be the rope".

I have been fascinated by rope and rope structure ever since, and splicing became part of my DNA

I was born and raised in Berlin and I have been an arborist since 1996. I started tree climbing and never looked back. For me, climbing trees and working in arboriculture is a lifestyle choice, not just a job. It opens up so many different avenues of interest, from ropes and rigging to teaching, gear and tree biology.

I have spliced for companies across Europe and I have run splicing workshops in countries across Europe, starting in the UK with Noddy from Treeworker.

My first carabiner was a Petzl Attaché screwgate made by Rock Exotica and my first harness was the Petzl Navajo Vario. Yes, really. I am glad I learned to climb when knots and footlocking were necessary! Following innovation and change over three decades has given me a solid foundation of understanding, and it is something I hope to pass on to the new generations coming up.

Rigging and organising a job site are the most underrated skills in the arb world. I take big pride in the work on the ground, finding solutions for tricky situations where ground skills are often more important than climbing skills. I also love my GRCS and would not recommend any other winch.

I have been a certified instructor since 2002. After training for several German tree climbing schools, the Baumsyndikat was founded in 2020 as a cooperative with four friends. It was born from a friendship project built around giving people starting their tree care journey high quality skills, understanding and good values. It was our way of giving back what we had learned, and what we believe sits at the heart of a long life and career in arboriculture.