I made a horrible mistake.

[ropensaddle]

Ahhhh. Now I see.

Not a case for 1 TIP but rather a case for 2 GOOD TIP's.

A little trick i picked up from watching Graeme Mcmahons videos is to strap suspect timber. If you think there is a chance of it barberchairing when felling or splitting when limbing simply wrap a tie down strap around the stem below your cut and slip back through the ratchet. If the wood can split a half tonne strap then you were dead anyway!

I thought of that also but that requires more stuff to carry. If your saddle has d's in the middle a simple buck strap with snaps can be clipped into them clipping the two d's together. I have done this since the scare I had early in my career. I have had splits since, it can only pull on you til the d's reach the wood and then the strap takes the brunt of force instead of you! Its not perfect but I don't worry about a crushing event in the tree. I was almost crushed just like Ghillie the strap broke and I found a way for it to never happen again. I understand some of you don't use saddles with d's but the same method can be employed to your side d staying on just one or to your bridge. I have hooked my steelcore back to the same d it originates from as a quick safety its the same principal it will only pull to the end of that circle! Side d's should have a warning of crushing on them because you become the weak link in the circle if things go a bit wrong.

 

[ropensaddle]

I have got in the practice of using both side d's only for stuff that has low risk of crushing.
I hope my explanation helps and is understandable I may take a picture to further explain as if it saves one brother from crushing it is worth explanation.

 

[outofmytree]

Crystal clear for me Rope.

It's good that we all share ideas on this sort of stuff. I cannot count the number of tips I have picked up from just this sort of discussion.

 

[Ghillie]

This turned into a good discussion I believe. I hope it helps someone out.

A reminder to take stock of how tired you are and to think everything through.

I knew exactly why it happened as soon as it did, i just made the mistake of not realizing my second tie in was not in a good place. An oversight that I do not see happening EVER again.

Luke at TreeStuff sent me replacement D rings and I put them on tonight. The beauty of the harness I was wearing is it's modularity. I only destroyed about $100 worth of gear counting the captive eye biner. Oh, I guess add to that a rope snap and 15' of 16 strand and a handfull of icetail.

A SMALL price to pay considering what the outcome could have been.

Stay safe!

Fred

 

[jimmynz]

never work on a sunday. bad #### happens.