Anything Can Happen!
I had a short fall of approximately 3’ at 20’ during a recent KY hunt. There were many contributing factors that lead up to the event. First, I am splitting up my gear to hunt both KY and Al. I do not want to haul all my equipment back and forth. For the past three years I one stick and rappel with a Madrock Safeguard. I hunt hanging from the Safeguard and rappel rope. This summer I practiced with a figure 8 and felt confident with the device. For adjustability I decided to use the Ropeman during the hunt then descend using the figure 8. At the end of my hunt, I stood up on my platform to install rappel rope and 8. This act introduced slack in my tether. The tiny release wire on the Ropeman 1 snagged the G-Hook on my gear strap releasing the Ropeman 1. I was in a fall. Fortunately, the aluminum G-Hook broke resetting the Ropeman 1. I had no idea what happened until I regained composure. That is when I notice the gear strap was hanging from a limb balanced with my bow on one side and my backpack on the other. My stopper knot was my next level of protection, but it would have put me at the end of my rope.