Have you had a fall climbing?

[Plebe]

one thing often missed is looking at the trees around you or dead snags stuck above you

2 years ago, i had a big tree lose a big branch around 15 yards from me...pucker factor was 10,000

A few years ago I saw huge tree fold like a deck of cards right in front of me. It's hard to describe what that looks like, but the ground shakes like you're on a fault line as it goes.

 

[raisins]

A few years ago I saw huge tree fold like a deck of cards right in front of me. It's hard to describe what that looks like, but the ground shakes like you're on a fault line as it goes.

watch out for beeches with beech bark disease

live ones with leaves will snap right in half

beech snap - Wiktionary, the free dictionary

en.m.wiktionary.org

 

[GravityTension]

Closest thing to a fall I had was when I was putting some Ameristep screw ins on an old willow tree. I had just taken my lineman's belt off to pass a limb when the step I just installed shifted position a bit, and I went backwards. Luckily, being a willow, there was a large limb behind me and it stopped me before falling at all, but for half a second I was convinced I was going to fall 10 feet right on my back.

This happened during my first year in a saddle. It was a good experience to have early because safety has been my #1 concern since then. I mostly SRT from pre-sets now.

 

[Plebe]

watch out for beeches with beech bark disease

live ones with leaves will snap right in half

beech snap - Wiktionary, the free dictionary

en.m.wiktionary.org

When I was a kid we used to do Columbus Day weekend camping in ASP with my mom's whole family. A couple of the Dad's would rotate guiding all the kids on hikes, and my Dad was particularly known for taking everyone off trail for a "compass hike."

On one such hike, we navigated back to camp instead of a trailhead. Nearing the campground, we took a rest. During which I leaned on a smallish tree and it fell over. I jumped, bumped another, and it fell over too.

I have one cousin who is very slight, and she was amazed that I was so strong I could knock trees over, lol. I was quite proud.

On the way down the final slope, she grabbed a tree for stability and it pulled over too...

At first I thought my superhero status took a major hit, but she was beaming that she was getting super strong like me too, so we both finished the hike feeling pretty good of our accomplishments.

No idea what those dead trees were...but if a couple of 8-12year old kid can knock trees down, best be sure the trees and limbs we climb on are healthy.

But...I know of a fall (15-20ft) this past Saturday where a good sized live limb on a pine snapped. It was a handhold for tye climber who was using sticks. Luckily, bumps and bruises only...So, careful with live trees too.

 

[gwhalin]

one thing often missed is looking at the trees around you or dead snags stuck above you

2 years ago, i had a big tree lose a big branch around 15 yards from me...pucker factor was 10,000

Yeah I have seen a big tree uproot and tip once when I was up in a tree about 50-60 yards away. Did not make me excited about being up in a tree even though I was confident mine was healthy and stable.

 

[John RB]

While not hunting related, I had 2 close calls aloft as an arborist - one was doing a basswood removal, the other was doing a willow removal - and while not hunting related, I think it emphasizes the point about proper tree selection, and tie in location for those of us using rope access techniques. There's a great book out there called the tree climbers companion by jeff jepson - IIRC you can find it as a PDF online. It covers a lot of basic fundamentals for pre climbing inspection and safety that would be a good read for anyone going aloft.

I have heard about willow... was it a weeping willow? As for basswood, i believe that's also the American Linden tree and about the softest wood around. And the lightest. I had some in my woodpile years ago and it splits in an almost white color. Were both of these crotch failures?

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[spracklin]

I have heard about willow... was it a weeping willow? As for basswood, i believe that's also the American Linden tree and about the softest wood around. And the lightest. I had some in my woodpile years ago and it splits in an almost white color. Were both of these crotch failures?

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no, in both cases the trunk failed. the basswood broke 10' below my feet while I was cutting the top out of it, thankfully my life line was to an adjacent sugar maple or Mama Spracklin woulda been minus one son as i was about 70' off the ground.

and yes the weeping willow trunk failed when i was using a technique called double crotching, where you essentially have two tie in points, i was tied in around a 10" stem for my primary line , and due to the angle i needed to work, i used the tail end of my life line to tie into a secondary crotch that was about 6" diameter. the 10" stem buckled and had i not had the secondary tie in, i'd have been doing an impersonation of a pancake.

ive never had a crotch failure from a lifeline, but have seen crotch failures from excessive rigging loads.

in general i'll happily tie in my lifeline on a trunk of a hardwood that is showing no signs of defect as small as about 4" in diameter, some species i can get away with smaller like honey locust or hickory, down to about 2.5-3" in softer deciduous trees like silver maple that are know for weak branch unions, i'll pay a lot more attention to the branch union. in stuff like linden/poplar/willow/whitepine 6" minimum. i'm 6' and 225... 20 years and 20(or maybe a few more) pounds ago, id tie into smaller stuff.

 

[John RB]

no, in both cases the trunk failed. the basswood broke 10' below my feet while I was cutting the top out of it, thankfully my life line was to an adjacent sugar maple or Mama Spracklin woulda been minus one son as i was about 70' off the ground.

and yes the weeping willow trunk failed when i was using a technique called double crotching, where you essentially have two tie in points, i was tied in around a 10" stem for my primary line , and due to the angle i needed to work, i used the tail end of my life line to tie into a secondary crotch that was about 6" diameter. the 10" stem buckled and had i not had the secondary tie in, i'd have been doing an impersonation of a pancake.

ive never had a crotch failure from a lifeline, but have seen crotch failures from excessive rigging loads.

in general i'll happily tie in my lifeline on a trunk of a hardwood that is showing no signs of defect as small as about 4" in diameter, some species i can get away with smaller like honey locust or hickory, down to about 2.5-3" in softer deciduous trees like silver maple that are know for weak branch unions, i'll pay a lot more attention to the branch union. in stuff like linden/poplar/willow/whitepine 6" minimum. i'm 6' and 225... 20 years and 20(or maybe a few more) pounds ago, id tie into smaller stuff.

Great info. Thx!!! I generally use the rule that the branch forming the crotch has a minimum thickness of my wrist... but i know my local trees and go thicker on soft maples, or tulip poplar. Not much basswood here but some. I climb a weeping willow in my front yard all the time though. It seems so solid. I was shocked when i first heard not to trust em.

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[spracklin]

Great info. Thx!!! I generally use the rule that the branch forming the crotch has a minimum thickness of my wrist... but i know my local trees and go thicker on soft maples, or tulip poplar. Not much basswood here but some. I climb a weeping willow in my front yard all the time though. It seems so solid. I was shocked when i first heard not to trust em.

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yeah the branch angle is also really important. any union that is very narrow or V shaped runs the risk of being an included union, thats where essentially the two limbs are growing so tight to eachother that it looks attached but actually isnt. this is typically what you see when half a tree falls off in a wind storm. Generic rule is U shaped branch unions are ok, avoid unions where the branch has a downward angle unless your line is around the trunk, and for anything else you want the branch angle to be no less than 45 degrees. tight unions also run the risk of getting your throwball wedged, or worse yet, your life line.