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The Dangers of Short Static Falls

Ok so which scenario is worse? ...

1. You are standing on a stick. Only your tether is connected and you have 1' of slack in the system. The stick fails and gives way.

2. You are standing on a stick. Only your lineman belt is connected. The stick fails and gives way.

Thoughts?
 
DB4x4 said:
Ok so which scenario is worse? ...

1. You are standing on a stick. Only your tether is connected and you have 1' of slack in the system. The stick fails and gives way.

2. You are standing on a stick. Only your lineman belt is connected. The stick fails and gives way.

Thoughts?
Click to expand...
Assuming you have proper equipment? Guessing #2 is worse. Then again, what is your tether made of? Your bridge? How are you attaching the two?
 
I would say #2 is better since it will slide some and wouldn’t be a static shock load. However you may slide into other sticks, etc., but I think a 1 foot shock load is worse than some scrapes and bruises.

“This is my unqualified opinion”

Spencer


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
DB4x4 said:
Ok so which scenario is worse? ...

1. You are standing on a stick. Only your tether is connected and you have 1' of slack in the system. The stick fails and gives way.

2. You are standing on a stick. Only your lineman belt is connected. The stick fails and gives way.

Thoughts?
Click to expand...
Tough one, I guess I’d rather eat it w/ LB at least it’s loaded & just tugging (violently) into the tree. I’d like to not find out, but there are those herd that have......
 
Alright, who is going to volunteer to purposefully fall two different ways to tell us which one hurts worse?

(Not it!) :)
 
DB4x4 said:
Alright, who is going to volunteer to purposefully fall two different ways to tell us which one hurts worse?

(Not it!) :)
Click to expand...


I asked @Nutterbuster if we should collaborate on a video taking different falls to illustrate a lot of what is being discussed. After about ten seconds of voicing both of our genetic predisposition to back issues, we nixed it.
 
Bigterp said:
Tough one, I guess I’d rather eat it w/ LB at least it’s loaded & just tugging (violently) into the tree. I’d like to not find out, but there are those herd that have......
Click to expand...

If you are standing on the stick and only lightly leaning back into the LB, is there any guarantee that it will catch you at all?

A 1-2' abrupt stop has to be better than an abrupt stop after 10 or 15', right?

(I don't really know, that's why I'm asking)
 
DB4x4 said:
If you are standing on the stick and only lightly leaning back into the LB, is there any guarantee that it will catch you at all?

A 1-2' abrupt stop has to be better than an abrupt stop after 10 or 15', right?

(I don't really know, that's why I'm asking)
Click to expand...
I can see your point I guess what I’m getting at is when you’re climbing with LB properly is usually loaded (except for the flip) but your scenario suggests your standing stationary at the top ( or somewhere on the stick) . At this point you should be loaded. If I take it just a bit further, mid flip while climbing it would still catch & low point before the flip would catch but be a mean fall. Now if the tree is real slick or other factors then maybe you roll the dice on a 1’ shock load........ just hope you gambled right on your setup!
 
So last year, I hunted atop 3 Heliums with custom 2 step aiders on each that would get me anywhere from 18' to 25' depending on the tree and stick spacing. It worked well, but I felt clumsy hanging the sticks and climbing with my LB. I always seemed to have it too tight, and had trouble lifting my leg high enough for the next step, or so loose that it didn't provide much fall protection.

I eventually cut one of the Heliums down and reinstalled the 2 step aider. I use this mini stick to One-Stick climb. One-sticking feels a lot more natural to me, especially coming from ~15 years of climbing stand experience. It is essentially the same process, but allows me to go around branches and carry a lot less weight and bulk. It also feels safer to me, because I am always attached to the tree with my tether. At most, I can only fall maybe 2-3' in an absolute worst case scenario. However, it seems even a 1-2' drop can mess you up.

50% of the climb, you are hanging on a slackless tether and are 100% safe (in my opinion), but the other 50%, you are ascending a stick in the same manner you would if you were using 3 or 4 sticks.

My question to those who One-Stick climb:
Are you using only your tether or do you incorporate your LB as well?
 
Another idea/question:

I typically only use my tether when One-Sticking, but I always have a LB on me at the ready for sketchy tree sections or going around branches. Has anyone ever considered or tried using a 2 tether combo (1 dynamic, 1 static) for One-Sticking instead of a static tether/LB combo?

You could One-Stick climb, using a dynamic tether as your main connection. That way, if you were to fall, the dynamic tether would reduce the force transferred to you. (Similar to Kyler's DMM Ripstop setup) You could use the static tether as a LB or temporary tether to go around branches, then when you get to hunting height, you could replace the dynamic tether with the static one, and hunt.

I guess if the dynamic tether stretches, the prusik may not tighten or lock right away. That said, when I start climbing with one stick, I usually adjust the prusik on my tether accordingly and I don't touch it again until I am at hunting height so that all my moves are consistent and predictable. Why couldn't you use a dynamic tether with no prusik, where you simply tie a temporary loop where you would normally position your prusik and hook your bridge into this loop with your biner?

This would make your moves consistent and predictable, provide energy absorbing fall protection, and still allow you to go around branches easily.

What do you guys think? Is this feasible or worth pursuing? (I have zero experience with dynamic rope - Maybe it stretches too much when hanging on it?)
 
My advice - Don't fall.

Seriously, keep your tether'd tight - not sure why people fail to understand this? We are not arborist moving from limb to limb and up and down - get to your position, tether in and keep it tight and above your waist. Another advantage of my chest high tether - less rope for a fall.

Now a linemans on the way up - I have said it 1000 times, this is the most dangerous aspect of saddle hunting. Slow and easy is always your best bet.
 
DB4x4 said:
50% of the climb, you are hanging on a slackless tether and are 100% safe (in my opinion), but the other 50%, you are ascending a stick in the same manner you would if you were using 3 or 4 sticks.

My question to those who One-Stick climb:
Are you using only your tether or do you incorporate your LB as well?
Click to expand...

What is this same manner? How are you treating your tether during the ascent? There's a huge distance between tightening at the top vs. tightening as you go.
 
Vtbow said:
The original trophyline tehtres also had an acordian sewn in set to fail at a high factor fall...I"d like to see manufactureres bring this back...
Click to expand...
Put it in the bridge loops. Then even aftermarket tethers are protected.
 
mattsteg said:
Put it in the bridge loops. Then even aftermarket tethers are protected.
Click to expand...
But then you have to retire the entire saddle if it "lets go", and people would have to stick to strict guidelines for retireing as the thread rated to go at a certain factor would deteriorate over time due to exposure to the elements. I"d rather replace a tether every 3 years(whether it went off or not) and a saddle every 10.
 
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