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Dangers of a Ropeman 1

Rugby

New Member
Joined
May 30, 2018
Messages
7
I use Ropeman 1's on both my linesman belt and tether. Love the ease of adjustability of them.

However I had a friend fall backwards off one of my platforms because of one.

He had just got into the stand when he saw some deer approaching. With bow in one hand he went to adjust the length of the tether with the ropeman to be able to shoot on the side the deer were coming on.
He had his weight on the tether and when the ropeman was adjusted he slipped back a bit. This caused him to grab the ropeman firmly which kept it in the open position.
Now in slow motion he toppled backwards off the platform and found himself upside down.
What stopped him from hitting the ground was the knot in the end of the tether which fortunately I had retied after fitting the ropeman.

Apart from a bruise on one leg hitting the platform my friend was uninjured. They managed to quickly grab hold of the tree and right themselves. This was after having to drop their bow to the ground. He hung on to it as he fell.

He said the deer were amused to see him hanging there.

So now a mod I and my friend make is to tie a knot in the tether a few inches below the ropeman so cannot fall.
Hopefully everyone already knew this, if not then I how this story helps some be safer out there.
 
I am glad that your friend ended up alright. However I don't see this as a fault of the ropeman. Whether it was a friction hitch or what, had he grabbed hold of it while falling backwards it would have unloaded. I guess my bigger concern is why he was trying to let out slack with his weight on the tether under load? The ropeman is an ascender, not a descender. That being said, backing up your gear with an extra Alpine butterfly stopper is never a bad idea if you are concerned.
 
My friend was wearing a Mantis saddle so many thanks to the guys at Tethrd for a great design. Kept him safe.
 
I got sweaty and my heart raced reading that. Glad your friend is ok!

I have lots of contrarian thoughts on safety, risks, equipment here, but I won't bore you with those. I'll give some quick thoughts though.

The well built saddle didn't save your friend. The knot you tied didn't save him. Nothing he did after the ropeman slipped saved him. The fact of the matter is luck saved him. A whole bunch of things needed to fall into place for him to even be in the position to be sliding down that tether. But everyone seems to have a very poor understanding of just how often those things actually do fall into place. Our brains suck at internalizing statistics.

And once those things fell into place for him to even be in that position, quite a few other things had to fall into place to get him out of it alive. And the one that dominates is luck. Your friend should recognize that it was almost entirely luck that saved his butt, and think about what to do to prevent as much of his life riding on luck in the future. Lots of information here and threads to go through and get informed.

My only piece of advice to him would be to remember it's just a deer. Slow down, enjoy the ride, and don't rush to kill one and in the process take unnecessary risks.
 
In general loggers/ arborist are listed as some of the most dangerous jobs in the country. That being said many of the deaths are caused outside of climbing but these are individuals that in many times climb for a living. If anyone chooses to climb please learn proper technique, have a wide knowledge of hitches and knots. Also understand the difference between static and dynamic forces and how they apply to breaking strengths of different materials rope,webbing slings etc. We have a growing number of people getting into saddle hunting that I am afraid are putting themselves at risk by using materials in ways they were not designed for. I back up my attachments as much as possible and have a mindset of what could possibly go wrong and think about every move when climbing. We are climbing a fraction of the height that arborists, high line access specialists and those who work at height but make no mistake a fall from 10-20' can make you real dead. Just a little info falls from ladders less than 10' have a fatality rate in the 90 percent quite surprising.
 
I am new this year to DRT climbing and the whole saddle setup. I watched a lot of videos and read a bunch of posts about climbing. I am going with a very basic setup and feel comfortable with it. All tried and tested methods. I don't know enough to be experimenting with combining different gadgets and techniques,i feel that is an area where one could get into trouble very quickly.
Everyone needs to decide for themselves what they are comfortable with. Safety is a big reason for me switching to a saddle,and of course the mobility.
 
There is nothing dangerous about being a arborist LOl. But on a serious note, you make one mistake and you could be killed. As a arborist I always have a secondary tie in all the time and that leaks over into my saddle hunting also.
 

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Did something similar with the prusik on my tether once. Wanted tether a little longer for a different position. Stood up on platform to take weight off. Grabbed prusik and slid it down a few inches. Not thinking, I slowly lowered my weight back into the saddle using my hand that was grabbing the prusik. Because I was holding the prusik it wouldn't tighten on itself. It slid about eight ten inches. As soon as I let go of the prusik to grab the tether rope it tighten down and stopped me. 100% totally my fault and something that I am mindful off now.
 
I did the same with a prussic. I wasn’t adjusting it but actually just taking some weight off my saddle to adjust it. I didn’t stop until I hit the ground but luckily I was only a couple feet up to start with. Glad your friend was ok. I keep a proper stopper knot on the end of m tether but depending on how much tail is left I’ll add an overhand a few inches below my ropeman.
 
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