Treestand falls

[Greybeard]

18 hours ago, Rdfhunter said:

26’ but thankfully a screw in tree step caught me by my armpit ..  skin tore in both directions and I was stuck hanging until I could pull myself off. 60 or so stitches inside and another 60 outside.. 

That made me cringe.  My son ripped his palm open from one end to the other when his foot slipped on a screw in step, and his hand got caught on a tab at the end of the step his hand was on that's suppose to keep your foot from sliding off.

[_X7]

Wishing your) friend all the best in his recovery.

I came down a couple of times in the early day with a baker stand and a TSS..  Broken step left a bad cut and a sore shoulder after a short fall.. Rode the wet bark down on a Loggy Bayou and had a failure on a  Lone Wolf hand climber. I'm very fortunate not to have any major complications from all of that. I've since used a lifeline with all of my stands. I rarely used the climber and have and have always found the ground, before ground blinds, as an under utilized method.

I will freely admit that some of the falls were operator error with failure of equipment accountable for a couple.

[chenrossi]

Fortunately never experienced any serious falls. I always wear harness but I'm guilty of not attaching to tree until I get up into stand. Only had one scary instance coming down in climber, was about halfway down and platform slid down and caught, kind of left me dangling on top part of climber. Fortunately, way it caught, it bit so I was able to slowly put my weight on it and reach up and grab top and resume getting down. Took it a little more slow getting up and down after that.

[Nomad]

Watch your rings also.  My nephew got his wedding ring caught on a step, over his head, when he stepped off the last step.  Cut him to the bone.   Luckily I had see this before and I managed to pull the ring off his finger before it swelled up.  It wasn't easy though.   Then off to the hospital for stitches.

[hammer4reel]

9 hours ago, gaberdeen said:

Been cheating death for 40 yrs without a fall. Now that I’m an old man I don’t tempt fate any longer. Now I always use a safety harness and a climbing rope or linesman’s belt. One of my first treestands was a TSS that had a rubber belt on both the band and crotch of the stand. I remember once climbing a tree in the morning and then a fine mist/rain started. I didn’t realize it froze on the trunk of the tree and when I started to come down I went for a speed ride to the bottom of the tree. My friend hunted out of a Baker mighty mite. Don’t know how is is still alive!

Mighty mite was the safest of the baker stands .

i actually used one for years after they were no longer on the market .

their standard and xl stands were death traps .

switched from that to a tss home made. And a tree sling .

seems like 2 lifetimes ago

[Bucndoe]

19 hours ago, Nomad said:

Did the same.  Climbed a smooth barked, wet tree, and slid down to the bottom.

Got rid of that piece e of crap Loggy right after that and have only hunted in Summit climbers since

[Nomad]

30 minutes ago, Bucndoe said:

Got rid of that piece e of crap Loggy right after that and have only hunted in Summit climbers since

I still have mine out in the shed.  OK for dry days and rough barked trees.   Have not used it in a few years, have a Lone Wolf now.

[Lunatic]

4 hours ago, _X7 said:

Wishing your) friend all the best in his recovery.

I came down a couple of times in the early day with a baker stand and a TSS..  Broken step left a bad cut and a sore shoulder after a short fall.. Rode the wet bark down on a Loggy Bayou and had a failure on a  Lone Wolf hand climber. I'm very fortunate not to have any major complications from all of that. I've since used a lifeline with all of my stands. I rarely used the climber and have and have always found the ground, before ground blinds, as an under utilized method.

I will freely admit that some of the falls were operator error with failure of equipment accountable for a couple.

How did the lone wolf fail?

Edited October 20, 2019 by Lunatic

[bucky]

8 hours ago, Codaboy said:

Did your buddy fall in whiting

Sent from my SM-T550 using Tapatalk
 

Somerset County, Be safe out there guys, inspect your equipment, take your time climbing, if you're wearing a harness try it out first and see how it reacts, be prepared to cut yourself down if things go wrong and if your not wearing one maybe you should

[hunterbob1]

1 hour ago, Bucndoe said:

Got rid of that piece e of crap Loggy right after that and have only hunted in Summit climbers since

So I find a spot on a trail I gotta try.One climbing tree available. Against my better judgement looking at the bark I gingerly made my way up.Not a problem. Well time to get down getting dark.I turn face the tree and sit in my Baker slim Jim seat,undo the bungee reach down undo platform bungee...and boom platform hits the ground. Yes I know now what I didn't know then.(Tether)..not mentioned in the instructions. Lol.I'm dangling 20 ft up hanging by one arm in the seat,I let out a scream worthy of any of the best heard in a halloween horror movie.Climber bent like a pretzel. At first I didn't move I was in shock.First I say a prayer  Gain some composer. Ok I'm in deep do do,no one knows where I am,and Cell phones weren't evented yet,but I'm not gonna die here!lol.I made my way down slowly with one arm,legs wrapped around the tree,jumped down the last 10 feet.Made it out but the pain was BAD !!!.I was booked to hunt Illinois in a month.Took everyday little by little to finally come to full draw again just before the Hunt.I did eventually consider myself a master of the Baker,paracord and hook's to tether,AND drilled some more holes for extra bolts AND extra's of them damn wing nuts I was always droppin.I took a hand grinder and formed teeth in the aluminum of the platform and climber parts that contact the tree.Before summit's were invented.I now own two.The tree I climbed?Never knew the name,some kinda nut tree I think.You could pull 1 foot strips of bark off by hand.Climbed only oak ever since.

Edited October 20, 2019 by hunterbob1

[Rdfhunter]

4 hours ago, Greybeard said:

That made me cringe.  My son ripped his palm open from one end to the other when his foot slipped on a screw in step, and his hand got caught on a tab at the end of the step his hand was on that's suppose to keep your foot from sliding off.

Jesus that sounds awful... 

 

 

to add to the story ...

 

aftrr the fall I had to make my way back to the truck which included putting on waders and crossing a salt ditch .. I was able to drive my self to a local deli and they called the ambulance.. Stupid choices that I got really luck with but that’s what we do when we are young. 

[bucky]

17 hours ago, Greybeard said:

That made me cringe.  My son ripped his palm open from one end to the other when his foot slipped on a screw in step, and his hand got caught on a tab at the end of the step his hand was on that's suppose to keep your foot from sliding off.

I did the same thing but only got 8 stitches in my palm, I was climbing down in the dark and thought my next step was the ground but I had two to go,grabbed for the step but it got me

Edited October 21, 2019 by bucky

[Codaboy]

Somerset County, Be safe out there guys, inspect your equipment, take your time climbing, if you're wearing a harness try it out first and see how it reacts, be prepared to cut yourself down if things go wrong and if your not wearing one maybe you should:up:

I also had a buddy fall 26 feet 2 weeks ago . He s got a long recovery ahead of him. No safety system on. Sorry to hear about you friend.

Sent from my Moto G (5S) Plus using Tapatalk

[barrike]

In 2014 I had 2 incidents with 2 different Timbertall climbers.  I took  off work the 2nd week of November.  I was planning on all day sits every day.  On Monday, at 5am I was 20' up a tree.  I had just gotten all my gear situated, bow hung, lifeline attached etc.  When I sat down I noticed that the platform was too close to the climber making for an uncomfortable sit.  So I stood up, turned around, sat on the bar and proceeded to lower the platform a couple of inches.  Then I stood on the platform and gave it a little "bounce" to firmly lock it in place.  I heard and felt a little "tonk tonk".  I didn't know what it was, but I didn't like it.  I took a step forward, and the platform fell to the ground.  I caught myself on the climber and was able to pull myself up.  I was unhurt, but now WTF do I do?  I hunt alone.  I tried calling my wife, but she wasn't answering.  So I called the fire dept.  They came in with a ladder and got me down.   I was very embarrassed.  BTW The "tonk tonk" sound/feeling was the cable  that goes around the tree slipping out of the clamp that forms the loop at the end.

2 days later, same WMU, same time of day, different location, different Timbertall stand.  Again I was 20' up a tree.  For the life of me I just couldn't get the platform to sit level.  It would constantly cant from one side to the other.  I just couldn't get a good bite on the tree.  Then, suddenly the platform dropped out from under me.  Again I caught myself on the arms of the climber, and pulled myself up and sat on the crossbar.  The platform was tethered to the climber, so I was able to pull it up.  This time the pin that secures the cable to the stand pulled out.  I apparently kicked the cotter pin out on the way up, and while adjusting the stand the cable securing pin worked its way out.  For years I ALWAYS had a spare pin in my pack, but that year I eliminated a lot of non essential gear....and the spare pin didn't make the cut.  I had nothing that would work.  So again I called the fire dept.   Most of the guys were great, but 1 fat little guy was being a real a$$hole.  He may have even been the chief...IDK.  He was loud mouthed and pissed off about the whole incident.  He was very unprofessional and disrespectful.  He kept bitching that they were volunteers and didn't get paid for this.  (So why volunteer then?  free beer?) It got a little heated when I got on the ground.  I got in his face, but I knew that no matter what happened I would be the bad guy so I backed down.  The game warden showed up to write up a report.  He threatened to charge me for the vegetation that they had to cut down to get the ladder in, but I never did get a bill.  I've talked to him previously.  He's a good guy.  Very respectable.

I have switched to using hang on stands with a ladder stick and lifeline almost exclusively now.  I've mostly shied away from climbers since then, but I have practiced self extraction with a climber and am confident that I can get myself out of a tree should the need arise.  I am also fully tethered from the ground up when I do use any stand now. 

BTW I know the founder of Timbertall stands personally.  He's a good guy.  The following February at the Eastern Sports and Outdoor show in Harrisburg, I visited his booth.  He told me that he was forced out of the treestand business earlier that year due to the insurance company tripling his rates.  I wonder why.

 

[_X7]

18 hours ago, Lunatic said:

How did the lone wolf fail?

 A bolt failed in the hand climber. It was an original Lone Wolf stand. They since went to a heavier bolt