Have you ever practiced what you would do on your "lucky day"?

[Nomad]

I've had a few mishaps over the years. Usually equipment failure. TMA certified or not....things can still break.

 

Just last year I had a cable pop on my stand. Pitched me right out. (this stand is never left outside, used mobile at all times). Because I was filming my youngest brother, the way I hung the stands made it so I had to get him and his equipment out of the tree before I could access the sticks. Safety harness saved me, but having some physical ability definitely helps you recover. I was able to get back on what was left of the stand and aid him in getting out of the tree. Took down the broken stand and got him back up and settled in to hunt. 

 

Years ago I tested my harness, haven't done it since except real world applications, but I have a pretty good idea of what needs to be done to recover. 

 

Climbing is inherently  dangerous though, so always stay connected, and always be careful. I try to always have grasp of something that would prevent a free fall. 

 

Having a failure of the linemans belt, it's carabiners, or harness loops it attaches to is my biggest fear. Leaned into that belt while hanging sticks or stand is when I'm most vulnerable to a fall.

 

Good thread....Be prepared, be careful and be safe!

 

xop broken cable.jpg

xop, isn't that the Lone Wolf knock off brand?

[Matty]

Yeah. Actually the original owners of Lone Wolf run XOP, the DAqcuistos. Great folks. The father came up with the original LW stands....and now you can tell they are the true innovators, because they keep coming up with some great improvements for the new stands and sticks. LW stagnated when he sold it. 

 

Also to be fair, that stand is one of the very first XOP stands made and it's actually just a leftover Lone Wolf from when they moved their manufacturing to China and then back to the US. So there are lone wolfs out there made identically to my original xop (minus the cast seat post). I have a USA made lw stand and sticks and they are almost identical in quality to the newer xop stuff.

 

But.....Made in china scares me a bit too though. I questioned using this stuff after that....but I honestly think I had the cable rotated over itself. I did all the safety checks on my brothers stand but not mine for that hang. Now I always make sure everything is just exactly perfect before stepping aboard.

 

I talked to Cody about it and he was upset that it happened. Said that has never happened and never should. Offered to overnight me a new stand. I had hunted out of it at least 50 times before that though and some of those hunts were when I weighed a LOT more....It failed within 20 seconds of stepping on it. So something wasn't right. I declined the new stand because I wasn't sure if it was my fault (having the cable rotated oddly). I just took new cables. I still use it...Been safe for at least 30 more hunts. Hopefully it never fails again. 

Edited October 21, 2017 by Matty