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What is going to save you? (Preparing for the worst)

DanielB89

DanielB89

Well-Known Member
Joined
Nov 17, 2017
Messages
1,381
Location
Monroe, LA
Everytime we leave the ground there is a chance of falling. Some people are climbing with safety in mind and some are climbing with a carabiner attached to paracord attached to their g-string(Nutterbuster). Thanks be to God that I have never had any form of accident that left me hanging or anything like that. But, it does lead me to wonder exactly I would do should that happen.

What are your plans for AFTER the accident? if you were to climb on your platform or stick today and it shifted or broke and left you hanging, what would you do?
 
I would just lean back and relax. :mask: In the worst case, I would be sitting in my saddle ready to descend or keep hunting without a platform.
 
DanielB89 said:
Everytime we leave the ground there is a chance of falling. Some people are climbing with safety in mind and some are climbing with a carabiner attached to paracord attached to their g-string(Nutterbuster). Thanks be to God that I have never had any form of accident that left me hanging or anything like that. But, it does lead me to wonder exactly I would do should that happen.

What are your plans for AFTER the accident? if you were to climb on your platform or stick today and it shifted or broke and left you hanging, what would you do?
Click to expand...
Cut the rope...





Just kidding. If I was swinging I'd grab the tree, unclip and shimmy down. All my trees are around 1' diameter and perfect for this!
 
DanielB89 said:
are you going to be able to unclip with your full weight supported in the saddle?
Click to expand...
I would grab the tree and then unclip, if I wasn't able to, my emergency knife is always on my hip. I would grab the tree using my thighs as a pinch point and one arm to brace myself and cut my rope. I don't doubt my physical strength. In the case of injury upon the fall prior to hitting a stopping point (hindering my physical ability), I would plant my feet against the tree like a platform and regroup and reassess. Each situation will be different, but in the case of a serious injury I would be making a phone call. I always have a cell phone or radio depending on service and have a battery charger as a back up. Other than that, my physical condition, uninjured, I have no doubts of being able to manipulate myself down.
 
Hunter260 said:
My plan, and idk if it’s the best plan or not, but I did do it one time and it worked okay, is to use both linesman and tether and inchworm down until I get to a stick or the ground.
Click to expand...
That's my plan as well. I've tested it and it works. It's slow going but will get me back to terra firma should the need arise.
 
I think everyone should carry one of these 8' woven straps with them at all times, readily available in a dump pouch or pocket:

doublesteps.com

Daisy Chain Webbing

1″ polyester woven daisy chain that is very similar to the original Dutchware woven daisy chain sold at beginning of 2019. These straps are green/brown reversible and are available in 6.5&#82…
doublesteps.com doublesteps.com

You can feed it through one of the loops near the end, which creates a small foothold loop. Then throw the end opposite the foothold around the tree. Feed the foothold loop through one of the "top end" loops. This girth hitches it to the tree with the foothold loop at the bottom. You can stand in the foothold loop to take pressure off of your tether. Your lineman belt can be used in tandem to steady yourself.

This allows you to either lower your tether and inchworm down the tree, or creates enough slack to setup your rappel system if you use an ATC/autoblock or figure 8/autoblock.

In addition to being a useful self rescue tool, you can use the daisy chain strap as a gear/pack hanger on the tree, a foot strap for SRT climbing, and/or a deer drag. (Just to name a few)

It is so cheap, so light, packs up so small, and can be used for so many things...GET ONE (or two)

* OK @DanO - Do I get some commission when you sell 300 of these in the next week? Haha :cool:
 
Attach adjustable whoopie sling girth to tree trunk, adjust so loop is at desired height, step into loop, use tether/linesman/whoopie combo to get down. That how I get down if somehow my rappel rope disappeared
 
I recently added a small pounch to each saddle that contains a small 18kN biner, a 7ft amsteel 1/8 daisy chain and a 1/8th amsteel full buried foot loop. Each kit weighs less than 1/2 lbs and can get me out of any tree in an emergency.

If my saddle has a catastrophic failure, I plan to start doing flips. That increases my chances of landing on my feet by 50%
 
I guess this is a good justification to climb and tether using your rappel line. I kind of moved back to a short rope while climbing, but considering going back to my rappel rope....

I do pack a whoopie sling and foot loop, but I haven’t tested it yet.
 
bj139 said:
Then how would you get down if it failed?
Click to expand...
I carry an 80' section of dental floss and a brass Kong Ottino mini figure-8 keychain for just the occasion. Additionally, my hair is long enough that I can pluck 20 pieces and weave them together to fashion another tether if necessary.

Always have a backup plan to backup your backups...
 
I was standing on my platform once and tried a toe hook to get it tighter. Right as I tipped the platform up the rope went slack and the whole platform fell down. I was left hanging and couldn't release my ropeman for slack because it was under tension. Bear hugging the tree didn't work either. Thankfully I was just able to get my toe on the WE stepp I used for climbing and got just enough pressure off the release the ropeman and drop completely onto my step. If my step was another inch or two lower I would have been screwed. Now, I NEVER set a platform higher that 6 inches from the top of whatever climbing method im using. That way I always have 2 solids points in case one fails.

Regardless of what you do as a back up plan just make sure you have one!!
 
not ideal, but my lineman and tether are identical. attach both carabiners to bridge, and tie foot loops. can then use lineman as secondary tether, attaching a foot (or whatever you can reach) below the primary one. basically shift your weight to the bottom foot, while top tether is still weight bearing, then tighten bottom tether to take weight, remove top tether, replace below bottom tether, shift weight to other foot, then other carabiner on bridge, repeat and repeat until down to steps or ground. the key here is that you're always clipped in, and you never shift weight to a slack line.

I've got a few extra prussik loops, and two CT rollnlocks on the way (if latitude ever decides to ship them). perhaps just buying/carrying a 50 foot rope is the right answer, as solo toprope is possible with 2 rollnlocks, https://www.mountainproject.com/forum/topic/111807620/cts-roll-n-lock-for-tr-solo but again my personal knowledge of this is only theoretical, need to do it in the real world...


edit: seems like i'm trying to reinvent 2 tether climbing somewhat. i'd suggest searching for that or 2TC if you're interested.
 
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