I fell... Should I check my gear?

[Yipez]

I'm new and was practicing with my mantis and WEI Stepps on Sunday. I was maybe 10ft up trying to adjust my lineman's belt to get me closer to the tree, using both hands. I lost my balance and rolled to my right, bear hugged onto the tree and slid down maybe 2ft before my lineman's caught on one of my steps. I was able to grab a step and pull myself back up to where I was standing, but it was a weird experience. No injuries or obvious damages to my gear, but I do see how it could've gone much worse.

Is there anything I should check gear-wise after a fall? I went back to climbing after and hung from both my tether and lineman's, and nothing seemed damaged, but now I'm wondering if I could have stressed my carabiners or something. It was more of a slide than a proper fall, so it wasn't like I was abruptly jolted to a stop.. more just put into a hanging position faster than usual, but I'd like to have the peace of mind that if there is a shock load situation nothing will snap. Thanks!

 

[RRussell]

First off I'm glad you're ok.....I would give everything a really good once over for stitches' being pulled but I'm a newb so maybe someone else will have other areas to check

 

[NikoTheBowHunter]

Just one mans internet opinion but I think your gear should be fine. Its not like you free fell 20+ feet or something. I had a minor fall learning to use my WE stepps when I had them, similar to what your talking about. I honestly think your gear your should be fine but as Yipez stated, be sure to double check everything for any new signs of wear/tear/breakage.

 

[Chrighton]

You should routinely check your gear whether you fall or not.

 

[boyne bowhunter]

I won't say I check my gear everytime I go out but I routinely check it for issues probably every third to fourth time I use them. The specific things I look at are:

The steps on my Hawk helium. Do they look cracked, do they fold correctly, are the screws tight.
The aider attached to my helium, is it cut or frayed where its wrapped over the bottom standoff.
The rope and and cam cleat on my helium. Is the rope frayed where it wraps around the stick, is the cam cleat loose.
The splices on my tether, linesmans belt and rappel rope, do they look like they've slipped or are worn in any way.
The associated biners. Do they function normally or do they hang up when released indicating they may be bent or damaged.
The distel hitch on my tether. Are the knots secure with sufficent tag ends or have they slipped. Retie if necessary.
The stitching on my saddle connections, specifically the bridge webbing. After all this is what holds you in the tree. I'm personally not overly concerned about the waist belt and leg straps.
The amsteel bridge, is it frayed or worn. Pay particular attention to the spliced eyes where it attaches to the saddle not just where the bridge carbiner runs.
NEW for this year. Check the Safeguard, are all the rivets tight and does anything feel different.

Longer term (i.e a couple of times a year) take the screws out of the helium cam cleat and inspect. Replace if any wear noted.

With the exception of the longer term check, all of this takes me less than a couple of minutes. Not a very big deal when you consider whats potentially at risk.

EDIT: This isn't intended to be comprehensive guide to what you should check. All our systems are different, this just happens to be where I think my risks are.

 

[Chrighton]

You said it better then me Joe.

 

[PJC]

Good advise above. Glad you weren’t hurt in your fall.
I want to bring up another thought regarding your fall. Lineman’s lanyards are handy when climbing to allow hands free handling of sticks and other gear while setting up and taking down, but they often get way too much slack in them especially when we need to have room to take a step up or down. I find it easy to climb 23” steps without a lanyard but with a lanyard it becomes much more difficult. When stepping up the lanyard gets caught on the back of the tree down around knee height and I can’t stand up until I reach around and work the lanyard up the tree. I always use a lineman’s lanyard but it doesn’t mean I’m not going to get hurt if I fall.
The safest way to be attached to the tree is by a tether. It’s more work to move it up and down the tree because it has more contact with the tree. But it’s always above your head and your fall distance is much reduced compared to a fall in a lanyard. (If your lanyard hadn’t caught a stick, who knows how far you may have fallen)
Limbs are an issue with a lanyard or a tether but this is where a lanyard shines as an aid to help keep you up close and hands free while reposting the tether.
I’ve climbed with a lanyard up til now but I keep feeling it’s much less a fall restraint system than we as a saddle hunting community continually call it. Being “connected to the tree” is one thing. Being connected to the tree without sliding down the tree is another.
I know I go off the topic of your question, I just have been thinking about this a lot lately and thought I would bring it up with you since you had a fall with a lanyard. A tether would have kept you from going sideways and down the tree.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[EricS]

I won't say I check my gear everytime I go out but I routinely check it for issues probably every third to fourth time I use them. The specific things I look at are:

The steps on my Hawk helium. Do they look cracked, do they fold correctly, are the screws tight.
The aider attached to my helium, is it cut or frayed where its wrapped over the bottom standoff.
The rope and and cam cleat on my helium. Is the rope frayed where it wraps around the stick, is the cam cleat loose.
The splices on my tether, linesmans belt and rappel rope, do they look like they've slipped or are worn in any way.
The associated biners. Do they function normally or do they hang up when released indicating they may be bent or damaged.
The distel hitch on my tether. Are the knots secure with sufficent tag ends or have they slipped. Retie if necessary.
The stitching on my saddle connections, specifically the bridge webbing. After all this is what holds you in the tree. I'm personally not overly concerned about the waist belt and leg straps.
The amsteel bridge, is it frayed or worn. Pay particular attention to the spliced eyes where it attaches to the saddle not just where the bridge carbiner runs.
NEW for this year. Check the Safeguard, are all the rivets tight and does anything feel different.

Longer term (i.e a couple of times a year) take the screws out of the helium cam cleat and inspect. Replace if any wear noted.

With the exception of the longer term check, all of this takes me less than a couple of minutes. Not a very big deal when you consider whats potentially at risk.

EDIT: This isn't intended to be comprehensive guide to what you should check. All our systems are different, this just happens to be where I think my risks are.

Y’all act like your life depends on your gear.
Ok maybe it does. It would probably be a good idea for everyone to make a little punch list to go over periodically based on their own gear and uses. I checked my sit drag about every sit but have to admit I’ve become complacent with my commercial saddles.

 

[Jordan]

I’d like to mention something else I didn’t see above - and that’s once you do fall and your system takes that linear stress you should really think about replacing your rope and triple checking connections if it was a decent drop before the rope took your fall. Most quality climbing rope brands now all have number of UIAA Fall ratings on them before they should be replaced. Some are surprisingly quite low as in 1 fall and they are no longer considered “safe” by the manufacturer. My Ederid Pro dry for example is rated up to 9 falls, but every rope core is different.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Yipez]

Thanks guys! I would not have thought about checking a lot of the areas listed, or looking for fall ratings.. Going to have to do some digging on my ropes' and biners' ratings now.

 

[DB4x4]

I'm new and was practicing with my mantis and WEI Stepps on Sunday. I was maybe 10ft up trying to adjust my lineman's belt to get me closer to the tree, using both hands. I lost my balance and rolled to my right, bear hugged onto the tree and slid down maybe 2ft before my lineman's caught on one of my steps. I was able to grab a step and pull myself back up to where I was standing, but it was a weird experience. No injuries or obvious damages to my gear, but I do see how it could've gone much worse.

Is there anything I should check gear-wise after a fall? I went back to climbing after and hung from both my tether and lineman's, and nothing seemed damaged, but now I'm wondering if I could have stressed my carabiners or something. It was more of a slide than a proper fall, so it wasn't like I was abruptly jolted to a stop.. more just put into a hanging position faster than usual, but I'd like to have the peace of mind that if there is a shock load situation nothing will snap. Thanks!

Check your skivvies...

 

[Yipez]

Check your skivvies...

Honestly I felt more stupid than anything.. It was like a momentary out of body experience where I could just picture myself bear hugging this tree as I slid down. I caught and stopped and I just thought "ok.. what now?"

 

[deerfly]

if you're inclined to keep using the linesman belt instead of a tether as you climb you should cross the rope and attach at opposite sides of your hip. That will help keep the rope from sagging behind the tree so easily. As a result it will require you to move it up with you more frequently as you climb too. It will also catch the tree better if you slip.

A tether is a better solution as long as its girth hitched at head height or above at all times with minimal slack.

Neither method is good if you use them wrong.

 

[Yipez]

That's brilliant. I've definitely been in situations where I thought the lineman sagging was creating more danger than if I were to just climb without it.. I'll give this a shot when I practice tonight!

 

[deerfly]

That's brilliant. I've definitely been in situations where I thought the lineman sagging was creating more danger than if I were to just climb without it.. I'll give this a shot when I practice tonight!

lol, that's not my original idea, just passing along some things I've learned from others along the way.

I would still recommend using a tether over the linesman belt. Either will get in your way in use while hanging sticks and climbing, but the tether is safer as long as you keep slack to a minimum.

I reserve the LB as a temporary connection for when I need to get above a limb.

 

[bj139]

You really didn't have UIAA fall. This would stretch the rope considerably. You just had a stumble. Just check everything visually and make sure your knots have enough tail and maybe a backup knot as well. IMHO, most people should be more worried about their knots loosening and becoming untied than equipment breakage.

 

[Yipez]

Well I'll pay it forward! Likely will start using my tether as I climb as well.. probably way more bang for buck in terms of safety. I'll be sure to check my knots too!