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Faster Than Rappelling! New descending method!

Bore the tree trunk you're in for a pole vault pole....ha! :)
 
When I was around 14 or 15 I jumped out of the 10 foot ladder stand we had in our backyard to practice shooting. Thought it couldn't possibly be high enough to hurt. My meniscus was not appreciative. Old enough to know better, still young enough to be doing stupid crap.
 
I think we have all done this at some point in our lives. I know as a kid I used to do this all the time. At the point in my life where I dont take stupid risks, my luck it would snap and I'd pull something and be limping around for the next two weeks lol.
 
We used to climb up trees until they bent over let us back down when I was a kid.

A family story is that 40 years ago my uncle did this exact thing in his excitement after shooting a nice buck out of a climber. He had a heck of a time figuring out how to get his climber out of the tree when he returned.
 
When we were kids we always call this a "tree riding". One day we were trying to prove who could climb the biggest tree. I grabbed on to one about 6" in diameter and started climbing. When I got up about 25' I thought I would just drop my feet on, which typically made the tree drop you to the ground, but not this time. When the tree began to bend it stopped...with me about 15' in the air... That was the last time I climbed one that big. lol
 
We used to climb up trees until they bent over let us back down when I was a kid.

A family story is that 40 years ago my uncle did this exact thing in his excitement after shooting a nice buck out of a climber. He had a heck of a time figuring out how to get his climber out of the tree when he returned.

Did this all the time as kids….. I’ve even done it aS an adult. Just climbing until tree bends you over to ground. Never from a stand though.

In the old Baker climbing stand days when I just had a platform and no top piece.( had to hug the tree to climb)…. When it was time to get down I would hug the tree kick the platform out so it went down the tree to the ground. Then hugged the tree with my arms and legs and slid down like a fireman’s pole. The good ol’ days.
 
Did this all the time as kids….. I’ve even done it aS an adult. Just climbing until tree bends you over to ground. Never from a stand though.

In the old Baker climbing stand days when I just had a platform and no top piece.( had to hug the tree to climb)…. When it was time to get down I would hug the tree kick the platform out so it went down the tree to the ground. Then hugged the tree with my arms and legs and slid down like a fireman’s pole. The good ol’ days.
Did the same Brother. Once the board broke on the way sliding down.
 
When we were kids we always call this a "tree riding". One day we were trying to prove who could climb the biggest tree. I grabbed on to one about 6" in diameter and started climbing. When I got up about 25' I thought I would just drop my feet on, which typically made the tree drop you to the ground, but not this time. When the tree began to bend it stopped...with me about 15' in the air... That was the last time I climbed one that big. lol

We called it tree parachuting. I remember a similar instance. I don't know how high up I was but, I remember not wanting to jump and after I did, not climbing a tree that big again.

We also used to cut off grape vines and swing on them like ropes. The steeper the hill the better. One spot we would swing across a rock bar and there was a large a rock at the bottom that someone else would stand on. The object was to swing into them and knock them off a la American Gladiators. I don't know how we didn't end up with more hospital trips than we did.
 
Did anybody else notice how wobbly his ladder stand was at the beginning? Yeesh...
 
Did this all the time as kids….. I’ve even done it aS an adult. Just climbing until tree bends you over to ground. Never from a stand though.

In the old Baker climbing stand days when I just had a platform and no top piece.( had to hug the tree to climb)…. When it was time to get down I would hug the tree kick the platform out so it went down the tree to the ground. Then hugged the tree with my arms and legs and slid down like a fireman’s pole. The good ol’ days.
If you werent on a flaky barked tree and had your burly's on, you could go hand under hand coming down and make almost no noise.
 
Not recommended if your over 180lb
They make trees for the big boys too, I would look at a minimum of 3 in diameter trees and stay away from pines lol. Remember fellas, you want to 1/3 of the tree above you if you don’t want it to snap prematurely lol. Make sure to check that the tree hasn’t be used before and the weight limit hasn’t been exceeded
 
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