One Stick Fail

[Newhunter1]

Great idea. Thanks. I think I will implement this on my tether as I have often found myself digging my fingers behind the rope as I move it up.

Question: I like the idea of using a caribiner on the end rather than a loop to make it easier to undo and move round limbs etc. I've heard others warn about cross loading here. What do you think about that? I guess my feeling is my tether is short as I'm climbing so I don't know if I need the full 23 KN. But, I've stuck with using the loop and pulling the tag end all the way through....the triangle caribiner is OK, but it's a bitch to open and close so I don't use that....

I understand, but I use the petzl triangle link. It is rated for 44kN and designed to take the side load. This is what I use and it's not terrible...I one stick up the tree as well.

Petzl Triangular Screw Link | REI Co-op

Made with a wide opening for use with rope, the Petzl Triangular Screw Link is a compact, lightweight alternative to carabiners for semi-permanent attachments.

www.rei.com

 

[TreeMunkie]

As others have said, thanks for sharing your mishap. It's something I never considered. As I think about all my contingency plans I realized most, if not all of them, would be useless if my right hand was pinned under my tether.
Hope you have a quick and full recovery.

 

[CrackbottomLouis]

Thanks for all the well wishes. Didn't turn out as bad as it could have. 2 broken fingers and a dislocation. ER was wrong no fracture in my wrist. A small out patient fix of the ligament in my ring finger and I'll be back to whole by fall. Regardless I'll never put my fingers behind my tether again. Lesson learned. I don't think it would have been inevitable had I appropriately altered my climbing stick so as not to cause lateral tension to one side. I have racked my brain for an easier, faster, lighter and safer way to get up a tree. Lots options but none that worked as well for me as climbing sticks. I think I will cut down my other 2 and do an aider on them like my top stick and just use all 3 instead of one sticking. I could always do one move at the top if I need extra height. That way I don't have to really move up the tether like I do to one stick from the bottom. My problem with the longer sticks is packing them in. Shorter sticks will lay horizontally across my lumbar pack without being long enough to catch on brush. I might also change out the brackets (whatever that piece is called) that wedge against the tree for the ones eastern outdoors sells. Dano is squared away and I like the look of his better. Without the sideways tension, with better brackets and a way to move up my tether without putting my fingers under the rope I think that will be much better. Then I can hang my sticks by the aider from my saddle belt for ease of access while climbing. Not as light as a one stick set up but a lot less effort and quieter. Hunt a lot from pines and moving that tether up on crackly bark trees makes a racket. 3 cut down sticks really isn't that heavy anyway and I still retain the ability to make a couple 1 stick moves if I need to. I don't know. I'll play with it and figure out my sweet spot. I'd rather be quick, quiet and easy than as light as possible. Until one of you crafty crafty folks come up with the ultimate tree climbing solution anyway . The aider solution looks promising. I haven't stopped trying to solve climbing myself just haven't come up with anything good. And that's my afternoon pain pill ramble. Takes a long time to type this stuff out without 2 hands.

 

[Aaronpaul14]

Thanks for all the well wishes. Didn't turn out as bad as it could have. 2 broken fingers and a dislocation. ER was wrong no fracture in my wrist. A small out patient fix of the ligament in my ring finger and I'll be back to whole by fall. Regardless I'll never put my fingers behind my tether again. Lesson learned. I don't think it would have been inevitable had I appropriately altered my climbing stick so as not to cause lateral tension to one side. I have racked my brain for an easier, faster, lighter and safer way to get up a tree. Lots options but none that worked as well for me as climbing sticks. I think I will cut down my other 2 and do an aider on them like my top stick and just use all 3 instead of one sticking. I could always do one move at the top if I need extra height. That way I don't have to really move up the tether like I do to one stick from the bottom. My problem with the longer sticks is packing them in. Shorter sticks will lay horizontally across my lumbar pack without being long enough to catch on brush. I might also change out the brackets (whatever that piece is called) that wedge against the tree for the ones eastern outdoors sells. Dano is squared away and I like the look of his better. Without the sideways tension, with better brackets and a way to move up my tether without putting my fingers under the rope I think that will be much better. Then I can hang my sticks by the aider from my saddle belt for ease of access while climbing. Not as light as a one stick set up but a lot less effort and quieter. Hunt a lot from pines and moving that tether up on crackly bark trees makes a racket. 3 cut down sticks really isn't that heavy anyway and I still retain the ability to make a couple 1 stick moves if I need to. I don't know. I'll play with it and figure out my sweet spot. I'd rather be quick, quiet and easy than as light as possible. Until one of you crafty crafty folks come up with the ultimate tree climbing solution anyway . The aider solution looks promising. I haven't stopped trying to solve climbing myself just haven't come up with anything good. And that's my afternoon pain pill ramble. Takes a long time to type this stuff out without 2 hands.

Good news on no fracture.

You should check out OOAL Mini Shikars. They bite crazy good and each way 1lb.

 

[kyler1945]

Glad damage was minimal. Thanks for sharing!

It's worth pointing out to folks who are thinking "I don't one stick climb, so I'm fine." - this failure mode can happen to anyone using any sort of climbing method or platform, while reaching up to adjust their tether.

 

[Reedler]

I really appreciate you sharing this. This Fall will be my first season in a saddle, and I’ve been practicing 1 sticking as my main climbing method. I feel very safe being tethered to the tree the entire climb, but this post made me realize that I need to slow down and check the small details in my setup. Again, thanks for sharing and I hope you get back out there soon!


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[boyne bowhunter]

Ok, you've convinced me to try a modification to my tether. The fact that you were both feet on the bottom steps and experienced a kick out makes me a little nervous despite the offset attachment.

I don't typically worry about my right hand because I just grab the threaded link with my fingers in the opening so it would be difficult to get pinched. However, I am sometimes forced to grab the rope on the backside of the tree with my left hand as much as I try to just push it up with my knuckles. The mod I made was to add a piece of 1" webbing to my tether to provide a grab on the backside for advancing with my left hand. The webbing has a sewn loop which is just big enough to slide on the tether if I am trying to move it but tight enough so that it stays put and doesn't slide around on its own. I haven't tried it yet but as soon as we get a break in the wind and rain I'll go give it a shot and see how it works.

 

[CrackbottomLouis]

Ok, you've convinced me to try a modification to my tether. The fact that you were both feet on the bottom steps and experienced a kick out makes me a little nervous despite the offset attachment.

I don't typically worry about my right hand because I just grab the threaded link with my fingers in the opening so it would be difficult to get pinched. However, I am sometimes forced to grab the rope on the backside of the tree with my left hand as much as I try to just push it up with my knuckles. The mod I made was to add a piece of 1" webbing to my tether to provide a grab on the backside for advancing with my left hand. The webbing has a sewn loop which is just big enough to slide on the tether if I am trying to move it but tight enough so that it stays put and doesn't slide around on its own. I haven't tried it yet but as soon as we get a break in the wind and rain I'll go give it a shot and see how it works.
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Let me know how it works. Was gonna try the same thing. Problem I see is being able to keep the tether quiet when I slide it up. Probably easy on an oak but not sure about a pine. That's why I end up with my fingers behind the tether. Making it loose enough to not scrape loudly as I get it up high.

 

[boyne bowhunter]

Let me know how it works. Was gonna try the same thing. Problem I see is being able to keep the tether quiet when I slide it up. Probably easy on an oak but not sure about a pine. That's why I end up with my fingers behind the tether. Making it loose enough to not scrape loudly as I get it up high.

Yeah, I'm climbing mostly hardwoods, maples and oaks. Sliding the tether up on the barks of them is pretty quiet. I hardly, if ever, am hunting out of pines here in northern Michigan.

 

[mtsrunner]

I've been using a small NiteIze twist tie for one hand and the Petzl ring for the other to lift my tether to prevent my fingers from getting caught in that situation (thanks to @mtsrunner for the idea).

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This has worked pretty well for me. It definitely slows you down a little bit, but it’s worth it to me.
Once at hunting height, the gear tie also serves to hold my quiver.
As [mention]Bwhana [/mention] said, just have to remember to remove it before rappelling or it can be a pain to retrieve the rope.

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[bj139]

Glad damage was minimal. Thanks for sharing!

It's worth pointing out to folks who are thinking "I don't one stick climb, so I'm fine." - this failure mode can happen to anyone using any sort of climbing method or platform, while reaching up to adjust their tether.

Not SRT. I only use a tether for backup once at height.

 

[kyler1945]

Not SRT. I only use a tether for backup once at height.

What do you stand on at hunting height? How are you connected to the tree? What would happen if you stood on your platform, grabbed your tether or srt rig to move up or over or whatever, and you slipped off your platform?

 

[bj139]

What do you stand on at hunting height? How are you connected to the tree? What would happen if you stood on your platform, grabbed your tether or srt rig to move up or over or whatever, and you slipped off your platform?

I throw the line over a crotch and leave it alone or push the rope up a tree with my electrical conduit push pole and leave it. Since I'm not moving it there is no chance of my fingers getting caught under my climbing line. I stand on a Primal step with added platform when at height but mostly sit.

 

[NikoTheBowHunter]

Thanks for sharing. I always had that thought running in the back of my mind what might happen should my stick kick out while moving my tether up. To avoid that happening as much as possible, I started using the tree to climb up. Then once I’m standing on my top step I move my tether up. This way I’m not moving or putting any kind of side pressure on mybstick when I go to move the tether.

 

[five]

I was watching this video the other day, where @Red Beard had zip ties on his tether and from the outside looking in, I thought it was a bit crazy / silly. Thinking to myself that he must be really OCD. I have these plans to do saddle hunting this fall and get familiar with mobile climbing options, but as of yet I have only used climbers and/or ladder stands. But now after reading this injury report and seeing various solutions to the "fingers in-between the tether and the tree" problem, it makes more sense.

Thankful for the site and the knowledge I am slowly learning.