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Climbing system failure

Thanks @Slingpredator06

Here is a pic of the step without the failure. Hopefully it will prove insightful.

This gives me pause, as I am 275 - 285 lbs dry weight.
Thanks for sharing.

f4abfc649b7fea71a866595fad149882.jpg
 
enkriss said:
Hmmm....I would like to see what failed on the stick. The step pushed against the inside of the stick. I thought that was a pretty solid way to do it. I stopped using them after bending the bottom of a few. I have also seen some pics of the bottom 4” breaking off.
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What do you mean bottom 4" breaking off? Or bending? Got me curious
 
Appears to me that the step must have cracked and fractured across the bottom under the support screw. Could have been due to a defect in the original part or a stress fracture from use. Luckily this area is readily visible when the step is folded up so it is easy to look for a flaw here. I just checked mine and although I have the witness mark on the center post there isn't any damage to the step . . . at least not yet. It's something I'm going to inspect regularly from now on.
 
boyne bowhunter said:
Appears to me that the step must have cracked and fractured across the bottom under the support screw. Could have been due to a defect in the original part or a stress fracture from use. Luckily this area is readily visible when the step is folded up so it is easy to look for a flaw here. I just checked mine and although I have the witness mark on the center post there isn't any damage to the step . . . at least not yet. It's something I'm going to inspect regularly from now on.
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Yeah my checked out fine as well. I have no idea what caused this. As I said earlier I put some weight on my back and tried to make something break on his other stick and it wasnt happening. As I said before sometimes things just happen. Hawk has made good products in my opinion and Ive enjoyed using them with no issues. I would think something like this mightve had signs pointing to it for a while but maybe he didnt notice. Maybe not. Who knows.
 
weird....
the section that broke off is the part that is exposed when it is folded in. Maybe it's just the picture, but it appears to me that that step may have been damaged previously, then with only a littl bit of a "foot" to brace with when folded out, it eventually rounded off and broke off. Wouldnt take much to damage during transport IMO if that stick was folded in and strapped to say a treestand and put a little roughly in the back of a truck, sticks down toward the bed, to crack the cast aluminum, or such. They're not really designed for strength from the flat side... I bet 1 gentle whack with a hammer when folded in would shear that foot off from the side....
 
Man Im so tempted to do a full on unofficial weight test on one of my heliums just to see what happens. I have 3 and only use 1 and when my prototype gets back Im going back to using that again anyway. Hate to waste the gear but I think it would benefit a lot of people on here if for nothing else just to know if its due to a fluke or the structural integrity of the stick.
 
Anything made of metal can fail. I'm just as guilty as some of you for not checking my steps as often as I should. Straps, steps, post check them all before each use. Thanks to this post I will be checking my Hawk helium and lonewolf steps. More often. Thanks for the wakeup call.
 
Glad he 's OK! I have a family member that spent a year in bed after a fall breaking his back when a step gave way. I know way to many stand hunters that still use no harness. I think they say 1 in 3 hunters will have a fall in their lifetime.
 
I actually read that too. Other than unsafe practices another contributing factor could be that when someone has an accident with a popular piece of equipment people tend to automatically blame the individual or find any other reason for it not to be faulty equipment instead of wrapping their head around the possibility that just because they like it doesn't mean it's fail proof. Bottom line is if your soley relying on a climbing stick or tree stand to save your life your wrong.
 
Man that is scary but I'm glad to hear your buddy is OK. I am also guilty of running up and down my sticks untethered most of the time, only tying in when attaching my platform. But thanks to this forum my eyes have been opened to the ugly reality that "accidents" can and do happen and none of us here wants to be crippled or killed because of the extra minute or two it would take to safely get up a tree.
Just an FYI guys, it is very rare to be able to see a defect in metal unless of course it is a surface crack. X-rays or mag particle testing will be needed to identify subsurface cracks, voids or porosity in castings but we should all get in the habit of a prehunt visual inspection of all our life support equipment. Be safe guys.
 
Glad to hear he is ok. That's why I only use screw in steps from Cranford. Had to many sticks kick out on me or platforms kick out or slide while stepping onto it. Just don't trust a strap to hold me up.
 
It is so hard to say what actually caused this I was a CNC machine service technician and have went into many top notch manufacturing facilities including aerospace engineering facilities and I will tell you I don't care how good their inspection is sometimes things just happen it could be an off center hole in the step an off center hole through the stick a weak spot in the middle of the step a undersized stop lip on the step who knows The best part about the whole scenario is that he is OK and he is now wearing a lineman's belt I think it's safe to say someone was watching over him and I'm glad he's OK
 
Slingpredator06 said:
A buddy of mine took a fall this morning. As he was climbing up to his hang on stand a folding step on a very popular climbing stick failed causing it to rotate straight down. (Item is not under recall) This caused him to lose his balance falling to the right while hanging on to the top steps which then caused lower kick out on the climbing stick, subsequently throwing him off. Luckily he said it was only about a 10ft fall and he is ok minus some bumps and bruises. Thankfully he wasn't higher. Regardless, I wanted to share this for situational awareness on the importance of constantly checking your equipment and to ALWAYS use some form of tether system no matter your climbing style or what you hunt from. Your life depends on it.
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Thanks for posting this. I did not ever think to look at the steps on my Heliums in that area. So, in addition to the fact that I'm thankful that your friend is ok, I'm thankful for the reminder to check everything thoroughly.
 
Gumbymedic said:
Thanks for posting this. I did not ever think to look at the steps on my Heliums in that area. So, in addition to the fact that I'm thankful that your friend is ok, I'm thankful for the reminder to check everything thoroughly.
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I have to second this. I love my Hawk Helium but as with many I take these mass produced, manufactured items for granted. Your post here has shown me that I need to inspect those as much as I do my DIY mods. Thanks for posting and no bashing from me.
 
Thanks for posting. That's a big fall your buddy took, glad he is okay. :astonished:
What happened to the nut? Is it possible it came off and the screw backed out? That could have caused the step to twist under load, snap, and give way. I have two sets of the Heliums. One stick...straight out of the box...did not have all the nuts tightened. Took them all off and reinstalled with red loctite.
 
It looks like the piece of the step that’s missing has been gone for a while - is that dirt or oxidation in the area where the aluminum was cracked/broken off? When aluminum or any metal is exposed like that it’s bright and shiny. Kind of odd it’s dirty or oxidized - it could have been that way a while. It also appears the same oxidation or dirt is on the inside of the post where the step sits.

It looks like the step had been broken for some time before it was loaded with enough weight to make it fail.

Like @Vtbow said, any number of things could have caused that - throwing it in truck, dropping on concrete, etc.

If not and it was just a bad step, hopefully it’s a reminder to everyone to inspect your equipment carefully - the fall could’ve been avoided if the piece of material was missing before the climb, and noticed.
 
kyler1945 said:
It looks like the piece of the step that’s missing has been gone for a while - is that dirt or oxidation in the area where the aluminum was cracked/broken off? When aluminum or any metal is exposed like that it’s bright and shiny. Kind of odd it’s dirty or oxidized - it could have been that way a while. It also appears the same oxidation or dirt is on the inside of the post where the step sits.

It looks like the step had been broken for some time before it was loaded with enough weight to make it fail.

Like @Vtbow said, any number of things could have caused that - throwing it in truck, dropping on concrete, etc.

If not and it was just a bad step, hopefully it’s a reminder to everyone to inspect your equipment carefully - the fall could’ve been avoided if the piece of material was missing before the climb, and noticed.
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The piece that's missing is huge. Pretty noticable and now easily clears the center beam allowing it to rotate down. Happened as he was climbing.
 
Slingpredator06 said:
The piece that's missing is huge. Pretty noticable and now easily clears the center beam allowing it to rotate down. Happened as he was climbing.
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I’m pretty certain that damage occurred some time ago. Aluminum doesn’t oxidize in one day.

Doesn’t change much, other than make it considerably less likely that some sort of impact to the step once in possession of your friend, didn’t cause the damage.

Still a lesson for all of us to learn from - check your equipment.

I don’t think it’s cause for concern for people who use the steps, but I’d get the info in hawks hands and let the professionals make that call.
 
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