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One Stick Fail

CrackbottomLouis

CrackbottomLouis

Well-Known Member
Joined
Aug 31, 2019
Messages
346
Location
Georgia
I remember reading in a thread about the danger of moving your tether up with your fingers between the rope and the tether and thinking "that won't be problem for me, I can't see that happening, etc".

I have learned differently. Hog hunting yesterday and was about 15-20 feet up and moving the tether on my last move and my stick kicked out. I dropped into the saddle, stick went upside down and tangled in my bridge and tether trapping my hand between tree and rope. It was a struggle to get my hand free with my weight on the ropes but I finally managed. Couldn't get enough weight off to untangle the bridge or my tether so I couldn't rappel down. Had to undo my saddle and slip out to hang and drop down.

Broke 2 fingers (they were completely S shaped), dislocated one (gonna need a minor surgical repair on one ligament) and fractured my wrist. The more important casualty was my ego when I had to text my brother to bring his climber over to help me get my stuff out of the tree and drive me to the hospital. Which sucked. Told hospital I was doing yard work in a tree so I wouldn't be a hunting injury statistic.

A painful lesson learned. And it's my right hand so gonna be a minute before I can get back to shooting my bows and firearms which is the most depressing part. Time to go back to the drawing board with a heavier emphasis on safety.

On the plus side my mantis was awesome. Stayed right side up and was able to get out and hang from it it drop without ever feeling it wouldn't hold. It's still in perfect condition. Great job on a really nice saddle tethrd.
 
Weldabeast said:
Ouch....crackfingerlouis
Did u see the cause of the kick out or did it happen to quick? How u heal up quick
Click to expand...

Kick out happened quick but I think it was my fault. When attaching my oplux to stick I tied it above the button instead of to it. I was thinking if I didnt like the system with ropecam I could attach something else there like a daisy chain or something. This allowed the rope knot to slip up higher than wise above the rope cam creating tension above and pulling to the right from the rope cam. Stupid. I can't be certain as it happened quick but that's what I'm thinking. I was also wearing crocs and the aggressive tread on my bottom step was biting into the soft rubber so when I shifted my feet they dragged the stick with them a bit. Just what the replay in my head is coming up with.

Here is pick of my stick so you can see what I'm talking about. This can all be chalked up to user error and dumbassery.

Screenshot_20200423-144637_Gallery.jpg
 
Man I hate to hear this and like others have said this could have been much worse .
I also use one sticking as one of my climbing methods and have came close to this very thing happening to me.
I thank you for sharing this to remind us all of the potential danger we are in climbing trees regardless of the method.
I hope you recover quickly and get back out there .



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
I am glad you were not hurt worse. I have been scared of using the cam cleat because of the cleat itself and then where is the best place to attach the other end of the rope. The versa buttons puts the pressure in the exact same spot of the stick.
 
So u were on the stick, stationary, reaching when it happened and not during the climb up the aider or aider to stick transition?
 
Glad to hear you are your way to mending and your post is a reminder to never to take anything for granted. As much as possible consider what could happen and not if it is going to happen but when.
 
Bigterp said:
@CrackbottomLouis glad you’re okay for the most part. I commend you for sharing most guys don’t & it sure helps show how a really seemingly small thing can go south quickly.
Click to expand...

I don't mind admitting my errors. Especially if it helps someone else not make the same mistake. I'll never move a rope with my fingers between the tree and rope again for sure. I seem to remember someone posting a solution to that. I'll have to hunt that bit of wisdom down.
 
Weldabeast said:
Now I look at the stick and the way u got it rigged I can see how it has rotational force.....i would think the rope attachment point would need to be as close to or under the cam cleat as possible
Click to expand...
Good point. That's WAY too far apart. This was one thing I considered on my buckle mod to my Helium.

My One Stick Helium Stick Mods

Do not attempt this at home. For information only. Platform I made a platform from an aluminum fence post insert which is used to strengthen vinyl fence posts for lock attachment and such. My platorm is 12 inches long. It seems to work fine. I still need a platform for when I climb SRT...
saddlehunter.com
 
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