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I do like seeing my thoughts in writing lol
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Another one-sticking safety thread (sigh)
- Thread starter _Dario
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How many OOAL Monarch platforms, EWO ultimate 1 stikcs, & Catalyst IONs have sold? Answer that and we're just scratching the surface.
Of course, not everyone will use theirs all the time...in fact some may only use it infrequently...which may or may not increase risks, depending on individual users' knowledge and mindset.
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Good point!
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To me, the best thing about posts like this; it sparks conversations and makes people think. We will never all agree but if we are talking about it, then everyone is at least doing some thinking on it. Also it may very well help a new hunter consider safety before trends. If it saves one life a year because y’all contributed, then the whole thread is worth it
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I do find it VERY sketchy to move my tether up while I am ascending a 3 step aider. This is just my personal experience. You’ll hear everyone on YouTube ‘and we’re making sure we’re moving our tether up as we go’ but no one mentioning how unstable of an action that is with very marginal 3 points of contact while in a floppy webbing aider.
I climb up with my LB all the way until I am on the stick, then I tighten the LB way up and I raise my tether, sit into, unclip LB, move stick, repeat. There is a split second where my LB has slack and slightly below waist level when I need to move my tether above it but I am willing to accept that much risk for that amount of time personally.
I wonder if anyone on here is one sticking with no aiders and something like a ‘full length’ stick?
I climb up with my LB all the way until I am on the stick, then I tighten the LB way up and I raise my tether, sit into, unclip LB, move stick, repeat. There is a split second where my LB has slack and slightly below waist level when I need to move my tether above it but I am willing to accept that much risk for that amount of time personally.
I wonder if anyone on here is one sticking with no aiders and something like a ‘full length’ stick?
My idea brewing for the last 5 years is a 4-5' walking stick, with three standoffs and lone wolf single steps. Just never got around to making it.
I learned to one stick with a muddy pro and no aider before I knew it was a thing. I saw @Cbigbear one stick with a lone wolf full length around the same time, and was amazed someone did it on purpose. From then on it became really difficult to carry more than a stick in the woods...
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first of all, if someone makes that stick it needs to be called ‘The Gandalf’.
I’m still waiting on the instructional video
Oh I won’t be showing anyone how to anything. All of my liquid cash is tied up in the classifieds right now, I wouldn’t be able to handle the retainer 
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Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
I’m going to apologize in advance for the length of this post. I have intentionally been avoiding posting in these threads as I am probably as guilty as anyone in the promotion of one stick climbing. Let me say right off the bat here I’m not trying to justify one stick climbing as completely safe in any way, shape, or form nor am I going actively recommend anyone to climb using this method. In fact, if you’re new to saddle hunting (or even have been playing with it for a while but are not yet fully trusting of your saddle or completely comfortable in your rope/safety management) I would highly recommend you utilize a more conventional means to climb until you achieve comfort, trust and a repeatable safe hookup procedure while in the tree.
Now with that said let me also admit I have taken the 3.5-4 foot plunge on a slack line early on in my saddle hunting journey when the completely inappropriate stick I was attempting to use failed as I was transitioning to my platform. And all this occurred while attached to my tether and lineman’s and using a . . .gasp . . . Ropeman 1. The story behind that is also long winded and I won’t repeat it here but I have shared it before and the link is posted below.
I can say I don’t recommend the drop, in fact immediately after this incident I moved from one sticking to using WE stepps for quite a while. I will also say, while it did hurt, I can without hesitation say I’ve bounced a lot worse. Honestly I was more shook up than hurt. How is that?, you may ask. Well I’ll try to get to that later.
First let me discuss the biggest reason this happened to me in the first place. I was complacent and cocky and didn’t take any time to evaluate the risks I was taking at the time. Furthermore, since I hadn’t tried to evaluate the risks I took absolutely zero steps toward mitigating them. I hadn’t considered what would happen if the stick I was standing on suddenly fell out from under me. I hadn’t even considered it as a possibility. When I encountered my first failure, instead of retreating and returning to fight another day I continued on hoping to salvage a hunt (oh horrors, I can’t waste an evening hunt!). I did have the presence of mind to attach my lineman’s at that point but I certainly failed in the aspect of advancing my tether before trying to step off the stick. Why?? Because I wasn’t schooled enough in the rope management and safety aspects thereof. Now-a-days I wouldn’t consider transitioning to a platform on a slack tether even a couple feet off the ground. Then, I hadn’t the experience to develop that habit yet (hence my warning to newbies). Also, I had a false sense of security from the lineman’s belt. Truthfully, when the stick gave way, the lineman’s belt did nothing toward arresting my fall until it looped over the platform that was already attached to the tree. By then the tether was taut and I was already hanging.
How did I avoid certain cataclysmic injury? Well, the short answer is I was holding the tree between both hands when I fell. Longer explanation comes from the fact that the fall forces frequently quoted herein are based on an unrestrained free fall for the entire distance similar to stepping off a bridge while connected to a length of rope. Could this situation happen while one-sticking . . . absolutely, which is why we all need to be aware of the risks involved. However, there are things that can mitigate some of those forces. Thankfully gripping the tree with both hands helps. Although most of us aren’t strong enough to stop our descent this way, at least we can provide some upward resistance to slow our acceleration due to gravity so we don’t hit with the full free fall forces available.
In time I migrated back to one stick climbing, FOR ME, it checks the boxes I’m looking for in a climbing system but the story doesn’t end there. When I returned to it I changed to a more conventional stick and a short single step aider, but I still hadn’t fully considered the risks associated and potential mitigations. I have to admit that it was a post in a thread here by @kyler1945 that got me thinking about improvements that I could make to my system that, while they might not fully alleviate the risk of a fall, they may help mitigate the affect on me of such a fall. Some of those are, in no particular order: Ditch the Ropeman tether connection. It worked once, but I’m not going to push my luck. Add a ripstop into my connection to the tree. The concept is similar to the progressive tearouts on conventional safety harness. Always maintain three points of contact with the tree. In addition to my feet securely planted and balanced on the steps of my stick (not standing in an aider) I always have one hand in contact with the back side of the tree. Never, get my fingers inside the girth hitch. If you fall and that rope catches your fingers against that tree good luck freeing them.
I’m not trying to say these steps make me completely safe but they do mitigate the risks enough FOR ME to climb using this method. Anytime we leave the ground we are assuming risks and we all have to decide for ourselves whether or not that risk is acceptable to us. The important thing is that we do our best to evaluate the risk and take mitigation steps where we can. One example for me. I personally will not climb on a multistep aider. I don’t feel comfortable that poking my toe into the tree will provide enough bite to keep me from kicking out. That’s one of my personal risk levels I can’t make the justification for.
One final thought before I end this. We’ve all experienced quiet time while sitting in the tree with nothing but chickadees around. Think about using some of that time to examine your setup and methods, not overall, but actually analyze each individual component and try to imagine all the ways it could fail. For each potential failure mode consider if its worth implementing a backup plan for and how best you can do that. After all, you’re just hanging there doing nothing anyway.
Now with that said let me also admit I have taken the 3.5-4 foot plunge on a slack line early on in my saddle hunting journey when the completely inappropriate stick I was attempting to use failed as I was transitioning to my platform. And all this occurred while attached to my tether and lineman’s and using a . . .gasp . . . Ropeman 1. The story behind that is also long winded and I won’t repeat it here but I have shared it before and the link is posted below.
Lessons Learned - A Safety Perspective
As we all know @redsquirrel has declared 2019 The Year of Safety. With the rapid growth of this site and large number of new saddle hunters I thought it might be beneficial to start a “lessons learned” thread focusing on safety where we can share some of our close calls, lessons learned and...
saddlehunter.com
I can say I don’t recommend the drop, in fact immediately after this incident I moved from one sticking to using WE stepps for quite a while. I will also say, while it did hurt, I can without hesitation say I’ve bounced a lot worse. Honestly I was more shook up than hurt. How is that?, you may ask. Well I’ll try to get to that later.
First let me discuss the biggest reason this happened to me in the first place. I was complacent and cocky and didn’t take any time to evaluate the risks I was taking at the time. Furthermore, since I hadn’t tried to evaluate the risks I took absolutely zero steps toward mitigating them. I hadn’t considered what would happen if the stick I was standing on suddenly fell out from under me. I hadn’t even considered it as a possibility. When I encountered my first failure, instead of retreating and returning to fight another day I continued on hoping to salvage a hunt (oh horrors, I can’t waste an evening hunt!). I did have the presence of mind to attach my lineman’s at that point but I certainly failed in the aspect of advancing my tether before trying to step off the stick. Why?? Because I wasn’t schooled enough in the rope management and safety aspects thereof. Now-a-days I wouldn’t consider transitioning to a platform on a slack tether even a couple feet off the ground. Then, I hadn’t the experience to develop that habit yet (hence my warning to newbies). Also, I had a false sense of security from the lineman’s belt. Truthfully, when the stick gave way, the lineman’s belt did nothing toward arresting my fall until it looped over the platform that was already attached to the tree. By then the tether was taut and I was already hanging.
How did I avoid certain cataclysmic injury? Well, the short answer is I was holding the tree between both hands when I fell. Longer explanation comes from the fact that the fall forces frequently quoted herein are based on an unrestrained free fall for the entire distance similar to stepping off a bridge while connected to a length of rope. Could this situation happen while one-sticking . . . absolutely, which is why we all need to be aware of the risks involved. However, there are things that can mitigate some of those forces. Thankfully gripping the tree with both hands helps. Although most of us aren’t strong enough to stop our descent this way, at least we can provide some upward resistance to slow our acceleration due to gravity so we don’t hit with the full free fall forces available.
In time I migrated back to one stick climbing, FOR ME, it checks the boxes I’m looking for in a climbing system but the story doesn’t end there. When I returned to it I changed to a more conventional stick and a short single step aider, but I still hadn’t fully considered the risks associated and potential mitigations. I have to admit that it was a post in a thread here by @kyler1945 that got me thinking about improvements that I could make to my system that, while they might not fully alleviate the risk of a fall, they may help mitigate the affect on me of such a fall. Some of those are, in no particular order: Ditch the Ropeman tether connection. It worked once, but I’m not going to push my luck. Add a ripstop into my connection to the tree. The concept is similar to the progressive tearouts on conventional safety harness. Always maintain three points of contact with the tree. In addition to my feet securely planted and balanced on the steps of my stick (not standing in an aider) I always have one hand in contact with the back side of the tree. Never, get my fingers inside the girth hitch. If you fall and that rope catches your fingers against that tree good luck freeing them.
I’m not trying to say these steps make me completely safe but they do mitigate the risks enough FOR ME to climb using this method. Anytime we leave the ground we are assuming risks and we all have to decide for ourselves whether or not that risk is acceptable to us. The important thing is that we do our best to evaluate the risk and take mitigation steps where we can. One example for me. I personally will not climb on a multistep aider. I don’t feel comfortable that poking my toe into the tree will provide enough bite to keep me from kicking out. That’s one of my personal risk levels I can’t make the justification for.
One final thought before I end this. We’ve all experienced quiet time while sitting in the tree with nothing but chickadees around. Think about using some of that time to examine your setup and methods, not overall, but actually analyze each individual component and try to imagine all the ways it could fail. For each potential failure mode consider if its worth implementing a backup plan for and how best you can do that. After all, you’re just hanging there doing nothing anyway.
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You found a way to high light every aspect into a single post. Operational risk management (evaluate the risks and mitigate them) you can’t completely prevent accidents but you can minimize them or the severity of those events. You hit forces. Also given how your linesman rope acted, I’m guessing there was a little unintentional slack there. I scream this all the time that a linesman rope does nothing if it’s not above your waste and weighted! You hit on experience and practice. Familiarize yourself with your system. And most of all complacency breeds failure. When we get too comfortable or confident we tend to miss the little things. I am glad you shared this post because I was unfamiliar with your story. Also glad that it wasn’t as severe as it could have been. As repetitive and nerve racking as these types of threads are, we all need to see them. Sometimes it’s that one story that you can relate to, that will change your whole outlook. I find that self preservation is a powerful motivator!
Patriot38
Well-Known Member
My favorite part of saddle hunting is the safety behind it. Like many others, I to never used a climbing harness with ladder stands or hang on stands. Its actually really nice climbing with a linemans belt.
I think more people will try one sticking because good videos do make it look easy and effective. I tried it last season and to me its not as easy or much quicker than any other climbing method that you are comfortable with.
I really think saddle hunting is the safest way to hunt as long as you are doing it properly and using gear that was built for it.
I think more people will try one sticking because good videos do make it look easy and effective. I tried it last season and to me its not as easy or much quicker than any other climbing method that you are comfortable with.
I really think saddle hunting is the safest way to hunt as long as you are doing it properly and using gear that was built for it.
That was a great post [mention]boyne bowhunter [/mention] thank you very much for sharing that.
I keep on harping on the YouTube videos because those have the biggest potential to reach the largest audiences. One of the major themes I see in almost all of them, is this concept that since you are tethered into the tree you are being safe. “One sticking is safe because I am always tied in”. It is ubiquitous in the videos. It just couldn’t be further from the truth.
And they are not being malicious. The fact of the matter is that you don’t know what you don’t know.
I wish there was a way to make it a requirement for all one stickers to talk themselves out of one sticking. Picking apart every risk and then building a strategy to mitigate every one. Only after that, beginning to do it. Unfortunately [mention]boyne bowhunter [/mention]was forced to talk himself out of it because of that accident.
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I keep on harping on the YouTube videos because those have the biggest potential to reach the largest audiences. One of the major themes I see in almost all of them, is this concept that since you are tethered into the tree you are being safe. “One sticking is safe because I am always tied in”. It is ubiquitous in the videos. It just couldn’t be further from the truth.
And they are not being malicious. The fact of the matter is that you don’t know what you don’t know.
I wish there was a way to make it a requirement for all one stickers to talk themselves out of one sticking. Picking apart every risk and then building a strategy to mitigate every one. Only after that, beginning to do it. Unfortunately [mention]boyne bowhunter [/mention]was forced to talk himself out of it because of that accident.
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One final thought. The risk in our pastime does not limit itself to climbing a tree or being at height. I will never forget the experience of sitting on a bucket in the woods and having bullets zinging through the trees over my head as another unseen hunter let loose a barrage at a doe running between us. Just one of countless "at risk" events I've experienced (as has anyone whose spent a lot of time in the hunting woods) during season. Those risks are no less real than the obvious falling from a tree risks.
blasphemy! first rule of bucket club. You do NOT disparage hunting from a bucket in any way in a public forum!
Please don’t bring the bucket guys in here….please
There it goes
We’re already here amongst you.