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Thanks New Tribe

boyne bowhunter

boyne bowhunter

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Thanks New Tribe for a ultimately safe product!

It's a long story but I gave the Kestrel an unintentional, and very successful stress test Friday evening. The readers digest version is that I had a climbing stick fail while single sticking into a tree. The stick failed as I was stepping from the stick to my platform. This resulted in an approximately 3 foot drop from where I started. Luckily I had both the lineman's belt on the tree and the tether attached to the bridge and the Kestrel saved me from dropping 15 feet into the crotch of a pair of maples. Other than a scratched up arm from bouncing off the platform, no other injuries. I'm 6', 250# so I'd say that's a pretty successful test.

Thanks again New Tribe!
 
The stick is a four foot bottom piece of a interlocking set of sticks I've had for over 20 years. I've been using it to single stick this year since it had V's welded on both ends. As I was stepping off the top rung to the platform the upper V broke clean off the stick. This threw me off the stick before I had a foot on the platform.
 
boyne bowhunter said:
The stick is a four foot bottom piece of a interlocking set of sticks I've had for over 20 years. I've been using it to single stick this year since it had V's welded on both ends. As I was stepping off the top rung to the platform the upper V broke clean off the stick. This threw me off the stick before I had a foot on the platform.
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Lucky... good youre ok. Guess its time to retire that one:)
 
Glad you are OK. Question, how were your linemans and tether rigged? Friction knots like prusik, or an ascended like a ropeman?

Again, glad you are safe and able to post about it.
 
Glad your ok! That had to scare the crap out of you. 3' probably felt like for ever.
So that was from one of those 20' ladders? I'd imagine those standoffs arent designed for that kind of pressure. They are really there just to keep the ladder off the tree. The bottom t that sits on the ground is where the downward force is really concentrated.
 
sojourner said:
Glad you are OK. Question, how were your linemans and tether rigged? Friction knots like prusik, or an ascended like a ropeman?

Again, glad you are safe and able to post about it.
Click to expand...

Thanks, I am using Ropeman on both my linesman belt and bridge. A GriGri2 attaches me to the tether so I can rappel down. When I came to rest the linesmen belt was loose so I was able to just unhook it. All the weight was on the GriGri and tether.
 
lpv77 said:
Glad your ok! That had to scare the crap out of you. 3' probably felt like for ever.
So that was from one of those 20' ladders? I'd imagine those standoffs arent designed for that kind of pressure. They are really there just to keep the ladder off the tree. The bottom t that sits on the ground is where the downward force is really concentrated.
Click to expand...

Thanks. Actually it happened pretty fast. I didn't have time to feel any fear. I bounced off the platform in the process and was hanging there suspended before I could actually figure out what had happened. No serious injury so I dropped the platform off the tree and rappelled down. I do know what you're talking about though. I've taken a couple of pretty decent falls from trees (luckily never seriously injured) in my 40+ years of bowhunting. Once that adrenaline kicks in and time slows down you feel like the impact is never gonna happen an when it does time speeds back up again.
 
Glad you're OK!
If you are going to climb that way (Climbing above your tether), you really shouldn't have a ropeman on your bridge.
 
justsomedude said:
Glad you're OK!
If you are going to climb that way (Climbing above your tether), you really shouldn't have a ropeman on your bridge.
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Yeah, I came to the same conclusion. I'm really more comfortable SRT climbing where my weight is always on my bridge. I like the adjustability of the ropeman on the bridge because I like a very short bridge for climbing and then want to lengthen it once I set up.

I was using the one stick method in new area that had been select cut a few years ago and there aren't any horizontal branches to get the rope into the tree. Never really got comfortable with the method though. Broke down today and purchased some Wild Edge Stepps for these types of areas.
 
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