Have YOU ever took the plunge?

[rbtree]

Gland you weren't hurt, MB.

However, calling tree climb line dynamic is a bit of a misnomer. If you compare stretch characteristics of static kernmantle, you will see that the stretch is appx double that of 12 or 16 strand tree climb line. Our lines can easily transfer way over the acceptable Kn forces to a falling body, say in a full factor 2 fall of 16 feet, such as UIAA testing standards require a dynamic rock climb line to meet, These true dynamic lines stretch up to 70% at break, ours maybe 15-20, I'm not sure.

Full static line would be the high tech fiber lines, like Spectra and Kevlar, which stretch 3-5% at break.

Thus, my point, don't fall on tree climb line, you can get hurt!

 

[MasterBlaster]

Glad you weren't hurt, MB.

Me too, Roger!

So, where ya been???

 

[jason j ladue]

been waiting to see a thread like this for awhile butch. one time the lead climber and i were taking the dead stuff outta this huge vine maple. the trunk was about 16". huge for a tree of that variety georgous tree. we were both in it, getting out to the edge of the canopy i thought the tree would not hold me so i went to get the orchard ladder (14'er) from the truck. he didnt want to wait and started out to get the part i was scared to get. i think he thought i was scared of falling. maybe he just wanted to show me who knew better than mei was less worried about falling than ripping a huge limb out of this showpiece tree in the front yard of a 750k home. well no sooner had i grabbed that ladder down-rrrriiiip, crash. there has his dumb ass layin righton top of that limb in the middle of the brick walk way. the entire leader had ripped out, and he had a broken arm. i didnt say nothin, just called the boss.
ive taken a couple rides, nothing serious yet. thank my lucky stars...

 

[MasterBlaster]

been waiting to see a thread like this for awhile butch.

 

[MasterBlaster]

Ha! Something drew me to it... :alien:

 

[jason j ladue]

lmao

 

[Monkeywitha_saw]

only taken one bad fall that i came outta the tree 60' ft up on a palm and it snapped off so me and that chunck luckly landed in the 20ft deep pool the only thing that had me scared was that it landed on my flip line and couldnt get it out from underneath the chunck it smashed the snap shut and would not open

 

[P_woozel]

I got in a hurry on a day I shouldnt have been doing removals anyway, blowing about 30 knots, watched another climber lose a top onto a fence decided F&*% it time to call it. Slapped a munter improperly into the biner, laid back and cruised 40' to the deck, landed on my 020 cracked a couple of the lumbar. Now I can put a munter on blindfolded, underwater, and in a gale.

 

[greg carr]

I think most accidents start with "I can do that" A gas drill got the better of me while installing a cable one day.twisted my wrist until I had to let go.now its spinning in the hole- a full tank of gas.I figured I could grab it and shut it down.Im not green but I sure as hell wasnt thinking that day.shattered my knuckle.
only thing that helped was accupuncture.reduced the pain and swelling right away every time.i think I had 5 treatments and its almost 100 percent now.

 

[Dadatwins]

Was spiking up a hickory removal once with just a flip line cutting out limbs on the way up. Almost made it to the top, about 50' when the spikes kicked out and down I went. Sliding and grabbing about 20' down the stem. Flipline caught a knot that stopped my from riding the other 30' down to the ground. Tore the skin off my arms and chest. Took weeks to heal over. Should have been tied overhead first or wrapped the strap around the tree, but was young, overconfident and in a rush. Terrible feeling but good lesson that I will never forget.

 

[MasterBlaster]

I betcha a nickle you were using pole gaffs! The only time I've ever slid down more than a few feet was due to a combination of short gaffs and too long of a lanyard.
The long lanyard keeps your body to far away from the trunk, and shorter gaffs have a harder time regaining purchase after a kick-out.
The smoother and smaller the trunk gets, the closer I keep my body to it. And if you keep your feet at the right angle during a kick-out, it should restick itself almost instantly.

I've noticed a lot of climbers don't really know how to use their lanyard the way it's intended. You GOTTA push back against it to make it function properly.

 

[OutOnaLimb]

I have never taken a plunge, did a few good pendulem swings, but nothing major. Im pretty paranoid in a tree. I try and "what if" things just incase something happens. There have been a few dead cottonwoods that I have walked away from. The guy that tought me to climb used to say, "if your gonna be in this business for an extended period of time ya gotta be safe" and "theres nothing wrong with being a little nervous in big trees, if you were there would be something not right in your head, its what keeps us safe. Thanks for the experiences guys. Hopefully we can all learn from them.

Kenn

 

[OutOnaLimb]

Actually I take that back, when I was in the army I took two plunges. The first time a buddy of mine were rappeling and I was doing a 2 wrap Ausie rappell and my buddy hooked me up wrong on the military issue biner. (non-locking gate.) I was about 15 ft from the ground when one of the wraps popped out and I took a lil plunge. There was still enough friction on the biner that I didnt fall to fast. I landed on my feet and all was good. Needless to say he was buying the beer for about a month.

The second time was a parachute malfunction in Germany. We were jumping with the Germans to get thier jump wings, and we were jumping out of German cargo choppers at 2,500ft. When I exited the chopper and felt no opening shock I tried to look up and check my cannopy, but the suspension lines were twisted from the risers all the way up to the anti inversion netting. The chute was barely open and I was falling fast. I had two choices, either cut away and deploy my reserve, or reach up pull out on the risers and bicycle my legs like crazy to get the twists out. Since we were jumping German chutes and they sew pads over the canopy release assemblies, All I could really do was course of action B. I finally got all the twists out and got a full cannopy about 100 ft off the ground. Whew!!! If we would have been jumping at 1,500ft like we usually do I would have been a dirt dart. The other thing about having padding sewn over the cannopy release assemblies is that when you are on the ground and the wind catches your canopy you cant release them and you wind up gettin drug all over the drop zone. And the reason I know this is thats because thats what happened. I was gettin drug across the DZ and I hear this German Paratrooper yell out in an accent that sounded like Clause from Hogans Heros. "Do not worry, I will save you!!" So I see this guy sprinting to my chute, take a flying leap, and bounce off the inflated cannopy, not once, not twice, but three times before he finally mugged my chute down. Every thing worked out and Im still here, but it makes for a pretty cool story dontcha think?

Kenn :angel:

 

[Dadatwins]

I betcha a nickle you were using pole gaffs! The only time I've ever slid down more than a few feet was due to a combination of short gaffs and too long of a lanyard.

You win the nickel, I think I was wearing shorty's back then, remember my lanyard was a home made three strand looped around itself with a prussic. Bad combo of hard wood, wrong gear, and inexperience/ over -confidence, (you know, a teenager ) Everytime I look at a hickory even 20+ years later my arms start burning again.

 

[jason j ladue]

OUCH!
dada twins, a couple weeks ago a was catching some guff from a couple guys here because i use such a long flipline (18'). but i am scared of doing just exactly what happened to you so- when im on a spar like that i take an extra wrap around the spar, and i have plenty of flip line to doit w/ no matter how big the tree.. that way if i kick out the flip line instantly cinches around the pole and you dont move(fall) an inch. pretty cool. works like a charm. try it youll never go back to the other way.

 

[cowboy1968]

that was dumb

i fell out of a soft maple about 15 to 20 feet up. when i went to step on a branch i cut off 5 minutes before landed hard between a deck and a cement garden no brain bucket no harness and no one around now that was dumb

 

[topnotchtree]

Never fell down, but had 1 scary ride. Very large uprooted boxelder. Limbs still tangled in power lines. Had to climb a lead going upwards to tie in and work out the limbs near the conductors. Got everything stripped off except the limb I was tied into. As I was workin out the last limb a crewmember was cuttin up the trunk that was laying on the ground. As I cut the last piece of brush and was tied into just a 25 foot stub, the guy cuttin the trunk finished a cut. The weight of the root ball became more that the weight of the tree and the whole thing stood right back up. All was well but scary!

 

[blue]

had spikes pop out a few times.the most painful was a few years ago on a Pear tree,the crown at the top forked into 2.i had spiked up removing branches to this point so i was now position with my strop just under the fork. i removed one side and was just about to do the same when both spikes popped out i managed to stop myself with my jaw on the cut of the other tower.it felt like i'd smashed all my teeth to pieces and broken my jaw.it hurt like hell for a week but i didn't even crack or chip a tooth.

worst accident i had at work was falling about 7' off a ladder.nearly broke the top of my shoulder blade off.was off work for about 3 month's and still gives me some probs to this day

 

[Al Smith]

I "cut out"on a 45 ft blackjack[creosote pole].When I got a hook back in,my belt was up around my chest[days before saddles],and there I dangled,with one hook pawling air,looking for some wood.My buddy,on the ground ,was rolling on the ground , laughing.I failed to see the humor.

 

[hobby climber]

Years ago before I had a clue as to what I was doing...a cousin of mine asked me over to help him take down a tree. It was a Manitoba maple with long reaching limbs. I placed a 12' extension ladder up to this good size limb that was about 19' up and say at least 15' from trunk. I secured the top rung of the ladder to this large limb and made an under cut with the chainsaw. I started the top cut with the chainsaw then swapped it for a bow saw and finished the cut. I figured the limb might jump a bit & didn't want to be holding a chainsaw,(the ONLY smart thing I did that day)!!! Well sure enough, as the cut section fell to the ground, the rest of the limb did jump up with me & the ladder with it. As you probably guessed, the lower part of the ladder detached and fell to the ground leaving me hanging. I tossed the bow saw to the ground and began climbing down the ladder as far as I could then let go & landed on the ground without any injury. Felt pretty stupid afterward and rightfully so. What was I thinking! HC