# I made a horrible mistake.



## Ghillie (Jun 2, 2010)

I made a horrible mistake last Sunday morning. I split a white oak limb between me and my safety lanyard. Here are some pictures, I had to cut my layard to get myself out of it. I had a climbing line set high in the tree as a TIP, and the lanyard was around the limb I was working on.







From where my finger is to where the distel hitch rests in the picture is how far the hitch slid as the limb split and pulled me tight against it. After everything came to rest. I could not releave any tension and had to cut the lanyard.






This is a picture of my right D ring. It is deformed. The left one is gouged but not bent, it was the hip that had the distel on it.

I am usually very aware of the possibility of a split and do not expose myself to this sort of thing happening.

I attribute my mistake to a couple of things. I was just finshing up an 80 hour week between trees and the Fire Dept., I was tired and should have taken things a little slower. Things were not going at the pace I was expecting so I made the decision to go a little bigger on my drops to make room for the limbs I had to rig down.


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## hanniedog (Jun 2, 2010)

Glad you did not hurt more than your pride. As the old saying goes "we learn by our mistakes".


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## Ghillie (Jun 2, 2010)

hanniedog said:


> Glad you did not hurt more than your pride. As the old saying goes "we learn by our mistakes".



I am really glad I walked away from this one. I had read a thread last year where someone else had made a similar mistake and ruptured his intestines. This is one of the reasons I switched to a hitch instead of a mech. adjuster on my lanyard. From everything I have read, a hitch will slip between 1000 - 1500 lbs of force where the "Gibbs" style adjusters break at around 2000 lbs.

I do not know for sure if it made a difference, but the lanyard was glazed where it had slipped. I do not ever want to experience that again.


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## BuddhaKat (Jun 2, 2010)

Your pic's didn't show up.


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## Job Corps Tree (Jun 2, 2010)

*I made a horrible mistake*

Glad you are OK, it can happen to any of us.Mine was the Top of a Tree that split. Now days we have the Friction Savers with a Prusik on them. But back when it was just a Rope or Flipline around that Tree. Live and learn


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## ozzy42 (Jun 2, 2010)

Glad you're OK .
Replacing a bit of climbing gear is not a big deal.
Thank God for the T.I.T.S. system.


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## Ghillie (Jun 2, 2010)

ozzy42 said:


> Glad you're OK .
> Replacing a bit of climbing gear is not a big deal.
> Thank God for the T.I.T.S. system.



Thanks. You're right, replacing gear is a small thing to do compared to how it could have turned out. 

I am not familiar with the acronym T.I.T.S., care to elaborate?


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## pavement99 (Jun 2, 2010)

glad you are ok. freaky stuff.


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## Ghillie (Jun 2, 2010)

pavement99 said:


> glad you are ok. freaky stuff.



Thanks Luke.



TreeCo said:


> Glad to hear you're OK!
> 
> TITS=Tie in twice, stupid.
> 
> A similar thing happened to a friend of mine about ten years ago. He was stuck fast and not able to breath for a few seconds...and then the limb tore free freeing him.



Lol, I figured it was something like that. "Fortune favors the prepared mind". I have a multitool attached to the rear of my right leg loop. Really came in handy.

I've been processing this incident over and over in my head for the last couple of days. Reassesing my techniques and equipment.

Luke should be able to get me everything I need to replace the equipment That was damaged and everything will be up to my standards soon.


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## treesquirrel (Jun 2, 2010)

Ghillie said:


> I am not familiar with the acronym T.I.T.S., care to elaborate?



If I had to guess it means Tie In Twice Stupid, but I could be wrong.

And I'm glad you were tied in twice. Good that you did not get crushed. I actually had a similar problem once where I had my lanyard below a cut that went wrong. It peeled away rather than closing at my notch. It was a piece that was going to create some shock load so I had double wrapped and tied off tight to my lanyard. The double wrap was enough to stop the split but it still pulled me in a bit.


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## tree md (Jun 2, 2010)

Glad you're OK Ghillie. I had a large Hickory chunk peel on me about 18 years ago. It drug me down the spar before it broke off. Definitely a learning experience.

Just learn from it and move on.


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## oscar4883 (Jun 2, 2010)

Glad you are ok. I had a horribly ego bruising moment myself this weekend. I suppose as long as no one is injured and nothing is damaged, mistakes are one heck of a learning experience.


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## rmihalek (Jun 2, 2010)

What happened to the pictures?


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## Ghillie (Jun 2, 2010)

rmihalek said:


> What happened to the pictures?




Are they not coming up? I just added them to the bottom of the original post for those that cannot see them.


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## Tree Pig (Jun 2, 2010)

As everyone already said, real glad your okay. I think I am even more glad to see your back to working and recovery is going well.

God BLess.


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## Ghillie (Jun 2, 2010)

Stihl-O-Matic said:


> As everyone already said, real glad your okay. I think I am even more glad to see your back to working and recovery is going well.
> 
> God BLess.



Thanks to all. I have to say, I expected to be berated for such (in my mind) a stupid mistake. As I have said before, I have been taking stock of my techniques and gear since that morning.

Today I finally got to the point where I decided to post about it and let my peers have a go at me. I'm tired of beating myself up about it by myself.

As some of you know, my profession is firefighter. Some would say treework is just a hobby for me. I don't see it that way, a hobby, I am trying to build a reputation and a business that will be "full-time" when I am able to retire from the fire dept. I take my treework very seriously, and hope my work shows it.

I appreciate everybodies comments so far and I hope that someone can learn from my mistakes or at least bring safety to the forefront of their mind. We all need a reminder now and again.

Be safe!


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## treemandan (Jun 2, 2010)

You better get to a doctor dude. Make sure there ain't no blood in your urine or stool. I can't believe the D -ring bent but you didn't. Oh Boy, that is something. Check those inards out for real for real.


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## oldirty (Jun 2, 2010)

you the man, ghillie. glad you made it out of that situation. stay safe.


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## pdqdl (Jun 3, 2010)

You never told us how you managed to split the limb?

I am mighty curious how you could bend the d-ring and not be completely squooshed by your saddle!


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## Ghillie (Jun 3, 2010)

pdqdl said:


> You never told us how you managed to split the limb?
> 
> I am mighty curious how you could bend the d-ring and not be completely squooshed by your saddle!



As far as I can tell, I was trying to drop too much weight at once. The limb was about 18" in diameter and I had not gone out and dropped some of the smaller branches off of it. The "go big or go home" mentality bit me. It was also pretty close to another branch union below the cut. I am trying to get the picture of after the fact to post. My ground guy that day was videoing with his camera but when he saw things go badly, he slammed the phone shut and it did not save.

Maybe I should have cut quicker. I don't know for sure.

As far as the ring bending, the left side was slipping due to the distel hitch. I can only figure that the right side (terminal end rope snap) was pulling more due to the friction of the lanyard on bark.

Edit: I had undercut the limb about a third of the way, it split on my top cut which was directly over the undercut.


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## Blakesmaster (Jun 3, 2010)

Ghillie said:


> As far as I can tell, I was trying to drop too much weight at once. The limb was about 18" in diameter and I had not gone out and dropped some of the smaller branches off of it. The "go big or go home" mentality bit me. It was also pretty close to another branch union below the cut. I am trying to get the picture of after the fact to post. My ground guy that day was videoing with his camera but when he saw things go badly, he slammed the phone shut and it did not save.
> 
> Maybe I should have cut quicker. I don't know for sure.
> 
> ...



What saw were you cutting with? A lateral oak limb, 18" diameter will have some serious tip weight. It would be hard to chase that hinge fast enough to prevent splitting with a lot of saws. I normally score the sides pretty good on those big'uns to prevent splitting, I've seen guys use bore cuts too. Sometimes, calling for more saw, or even positioning yourself to hang on your TIP and taking the lanyard off completely can be good options when going big. Mainly, I'm glad to hear you're ok, man. And on a positive note, I bet you're at least a little happy to see your splice took some serious abuse like a champ. Stay safe out there, bro.


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## Ghillie (Jun 3, 2010)

Blakesmaster said:


> What saw were you cutting with? A lateral oak limb, 18" diameter will have some serious tip weight. It would be hard to chase that hinge fast enough to prevent splitting with a lot of saws. I normally score the sides pretty good on those big'uns to prevent splitting, I've seen guys use bore cuts too. Sometimes, calling for more saw, or even positioning yourself to hang on your TIP and taking the lanyard off completely can be good options when going big. Mainly, I'm glad to hear you're ok, man. And on a positive note, I bet you're at least a little happy to see your splice took some serious abuse like a champ. Stay safe out there, bro.



I was using the 372XPW Univent. All of those things are what went through my head after I was on the ground. All of those things that should have been going through my head when I was in the tree. Complacency kills.

And yes, I did want to test those splices, just not that way.


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## pdqdl (Jun 3, 2010)

I have been pinched by peeling limbs too, so I can sympathize. I never got caught as bad as you did, though. It only takes getting trapped _just once_ to change every cut you do for the rest of your life.

When you are doing a branch like that, the physics are not much different than when you are in a barber-chair situation. Unlike a free standing tree that barber chairs, in most cases (as you discovered), the limb will split and peel rather than sending the butt up in the air. It's still the same problem to avoid, though. Once it peels, you are at great risk of injury.

I presume that you were trying to do a "pop cut", and get the limb to fall mostly flat? I like to avoid the split and peel problem by undercutting MUCH deeper than 1/3rd. Seldom less than 50%. I _*always*_ undercut until the gap is about to close down on my saw. By using only a small undercut, you actually increase the risk of putting a huge heavy "split & peel" onto your lanyard. Obviously, no undercut is the ultimate risk of causing a peel.

On really big dangerous cuts, I sometimes continue cutting from the bottom by reaming the cut wider as the gap closes at the bottom, then I finish by lifting the bar through the top of the cut. "Reaming the cut" is described in Beranek's book _Fundamental's of Tree Work_. I have found that it is pretty easy to pinch the bar, but it is a great way to finish the cut on a heavy limb. There is also considerable risk of the heavy limb trying to take your chainsaw with it if the remaining wood shears off extra wood on the trunk side of the cut. Obviously, this technique doesn't get used too often, due to the difficulty and risk of damage to the saw.


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## treemandan (Jun 3, 2010)

Grab a couple crayons and draw a diagram.


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## tree md (Jun 3, 2010)

Here's something else to think about: I read an OSHA fatality report a few years back about a climber who was taking a large limb and it split all the way behind him and broke loose with him tied in to it. The climber had two tie in points, one high and he was lanyard in to the limb itself. When the limb split it took him with it, his climbing line snapped and he hit the deck.

On large lateral limbs I always want to be above them. I will step out on the limb, lean into my rope and make the cut as far out as I can reach then clean up the stub afterward. I never tie into large limbs like that. If there is another leader close by I will lanyard in to it but if not it is one of the few instances where I will make a cut with only one tie in. I figure the risk is greater to be tied in to the limb than making the cut with one tie in that is completely on the other side of my body from the cut I am making. I also make a deeper than usual undercut and like to use a saw with some ass to it. If you get above the limb and don't tie in to it there is no way it can get you.


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## tree md (Jun 3, 2010)

PDQL also brings up a good point about your saw wanting to hang in big wood. On anything big enough where I am dropping an 18" lateral I have usually already set a climbing line and lowering line in the tree. You can do so with a big shot but if you are planning to lower big wood it behooves you to climb to your lowering point and inspect it. I will usually clean out everything I need to to allow the limbs and chunks to swing freely. If you already have a lowering line set you can tie your large saw off to it to insure it doesn't hit the deck. I will often have my guys haul the large saw up to me on the lowering line and if I am just making one or two cuts to free fall a large limb I will have them hold the line to make sure the saw doesn't hit the deck. On anything 18" I am normally using at least a 361 and I surely don't want it hitting the ground. An old guy I worked for when I was young would not allow me to have the saw tied to me when I was working big wood. Of course this was a time when most climbers I knew were just using an old piece of big blue for a saw lanyard. I always used a dog leash or something light weight but he still didn't want me tied to the saw in big wood. I use a break away these days but I still don't want the saw jerked off of me and hit the deck. 

Another thing I have found is if you cut in front of the compression cut your saw is more likely to hang in the wood than if you cut behind the compression cut/undercut.


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## Nailsbeats (Jun 3, 2010)

Forgive me, but this is exactly why the tie in twice rule is BS. I simply refuse to when laying out the big stuff, but enough about me.

Glad you're alright Ghillie, and thanks for sharing the valuable experience.


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## tree md (Jun 3, 2010)

I think the tie in twice rule is a good one. It is how I was taught and I even took some grief over it when I went to work for other services. Back then most climbers that I saw working would only use a buck strap half the time when they made their cuts on the way up and when working the spar. It just makes good sense most of the time. However, you cannot apply the same rule to every situation. We have to be flexible enough to think for ourselves, assess risks and weigh which is greater, blindly following an industry standard or forgo that rule when the risk outweighs the benefit.

Really, I prefer not to drop huge limbs like that. I will lower big stuff and have it cut as I lower it but when you free fall big limbs like that it often slows the process down because you have to wait for the guys on the ground to cut up a large piece of wood that now has tension on it and will have to be rolled and whatnot. It's usually faster to just walk out on the limb and cut it in manageable pieces for the guys on the ground to handle. At least that has been my experience. Again, no two situations are alike and you have to use the old noggin to assess what is most efficient and safe.


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## Bermie (Jun 3, 2010)

Wow Ghillie, glad you are ok!!

I am amazed at the damage your harness took and you are ok!

I think everyone will sooner or later have an uh, oh moment, of varying seriousness and being able to survive and tell the story is part of owning up to what you did incorrectly, but also it helps others in ways you may never realize...it may well cause someone the very next day to pause just before that big cut and say, ####, I just read what happened to Ghillie, let me make double sure it doesn't happen to me...and your post has now served its purpose, to prevent another accident somewhere else!

Thank you for posting

BTW, that's why I like a knot for a wirecore lanyard adjuster too, there is something to cut should a situation similar to this happen...


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## VA-Sawyer (Jun 3, 2010)

> Thanks to all. I have to say, I expected to be berated for such (in my mind) a stupid mistake. As I have said before, I have been taking stock of my techniques and gear since that morning.
> 
> Today I finally got to the point where I decided to post about it and let my peers have a go at me. I'm tired of beating myself up about it by myself.



First, let me say, Glad to hear that you are OK. I think Dan had a good idea about swinging by the Doctor just to be sure.

I spent 25 years flying planes, sometimes in really rotten weather, and sometimes things would go downhill in a hurry. Once you got safely back on the ground and the knees stopped shaking the next step was usually to chew yourself out for allowing the situation to develop in the first place. If flying as a crew of 2 then it was even worse because it meant that both pilots had screwed up at the same time. Treework is a lot like flying, sometimes factors like time or money force their way into the decision making process when the only real issue should be safety. In a perfect world we would never be hurried, or pressured to try more than we were comfortable with, or even suffering from lack of sleep. However we work in a real world where we often get pressured to push limits and take shortcuts to make things go faster or to save money. 
Don't beat yourself up too much about the close call. You don't need to add worry into the decision process, it just makes things worse. Take this as a simple wakeup call to say that you might have gotten a little closer to the edge than you want to be. When your life is on the line, the best choice usually isn't the fast one or the cheap one. A lot of people like to say 'safety first' but very few are actually willing to live that way. 
Please don't take this as me coming down on you in any way. Anybody that puts their life on the line on a regular basis will have close calls. The trick is to stay far enough away from the edge that when we trip, ( and we will trip sooner or later ) we don't fall off the cliff. 
I'm very glad you posted about this so others can be reminded.
Rick


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## Saw Dust Smoken (Jun 14, 2010)

*split ends*

A simple way to keep splits and peeler to a minimum. Two pieces of rope. One tied on each side of cut. Timber hitch work well tied right. To keep the splitting end from opening up the running bowline and almost dumping the log out. Install the timber hitch first then the bowline on past. Ill send some pics if needed.


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## mic687 (Jun 14, 2010)

I was blocking down a large ash and the guy asked if I could lower a saw log length down. I did not really want to because it was going to be real heavy.
I went against my instincts and rigged it. I was nervous and checked and rechecked the rigging the one thing I missed was mt filp line over the lowering line above the block. I pushed that piece off and it jerked me so hard my head was buzzing from my teeth slaming together. I almost got pulled over the butt of the tree and was pinned to the tree right on my pubic bone. I could barley talk as I asked my ground guy to release the tention on the line he said the piece is on the ground and I said take the line off the ballard. Well he got it off and I was able to straighten up but man I could have died. I guess the lesson is don't do anything you are not sure of and it only takes one bone head mistake to end it all. I was ok just a little beat up and went on to finish the second tree but I always check that flip line three times


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## BlackenedTimber (Jun 14, 2010)

Glad your OK.

This is exactly why I have a big Gerber straight blade on my belt when I climb... people like to poke fun- "Hey, you gonna dress a deer while your up there?" - well, if fit hits the shan, and I need to cut a rope in a hurry, the Gerber will go right through it.

As far as the T.I.T.S. system, If I had been an adherent, I would not have fallen 35+ feet out of a birch when I was 18 and not have the sporadic back problems I have now. I had only the lanyard out, making a cut without an overhead TIP. One hook cut out (big dude in a birch with thin bark) and then the other hook immediately cut out. I was young and dumb and I'm lucky to be alive after that. However, there are definitely times now where I hang from my TIP alone when needed to make big cuts. The lanyard has it's place, but I am not convinced that it is safer to use 100% of the time.

My dad got bit my a split back in the day, up in a pine. Limbing out, with a big leader on the back side of the tree, he was in a hurry (had to drive 13 hours to northern Maine for a line construction project and stopped off quick to do a friend a favor) and after taking off the other limbs, the counter weight of that big leader split the spar, pulling pops into the spar, his lanyard keeping the leader and the other half of the spar from breaking off and falling. He had to cut the lanyard with the chainsaw (no TIP) and climb back to the ground, 1-handing the spar with the chainsaw in his off-hand. 

#### happens. Live and learn. Don't beat yourself up about it. We all benefit from these discussions, as it allows all of us to tighten up our game and make it home each night to see our families, drink a beer, and jack around with one another on AS.


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## tree md (Jun 14, 2010)

Glad your OK Mic. That could have been disastrous. I'm not one to admonish anyone for making a mistake. I have made my share and it can happen to anyone and at some point, anyone who is in this game for very long is going to make one.

It seems so dumb to make some of these mistakes like cutting yourself out of a tree or forgetting to untie yourself from a top or something like that but I have seen it happen. And the guys it often happens to are not rookies. If I'm not mistaken, Jeff Jepson decided to write the Tree Climber's Companion after he cut himself out of a tree. I saw the guy who first taught me how to do this stuff drop a large top without untying from it. He was in a hurry and just forgot. I was new and wasn't the one working the ropes so I could have done nothing to prevent it. It is situations like that where a good ropeman/groundman is worth their weight in gold. 

Anyway, the guy that I worked for survived. He told me he was in intense pain and was trying to get into his pocket and pull out a knife to cut the rope and get the top off of him. He said he finally realized that his saw was still running and used it to cut the line. The webbing on his saddle was ripped and the saddle had nearly been torn in two. He was black and blue with huge bruises from the ordeal but he lived to climb another day. I think about that often when I am in the tree and remember to always untie from the piece I am making a cut on.


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## outofmytree (Jun 20, 2010)

Really glad you broke a lanyard and not yourself Ghillie. 



tree md said:


> remember to always untie from the piece I am making a cut on.



Thats the key right there. Lifeline set high, lanyard around the trunk, take the lateral off. 

Fatigue kills a lot of people. We often talk about "last cut syndrome" over here. You know the cut I mean. Its the too large, back leaning, no rigging, it-will-fall-where-I-hope cut that we have all made at least once at the end of a long day.

Kudos to Ghillie for talking about his mistake. Hopefully it helps someone else avoid one.


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## outofmytree (Jun 20, 2010)

Nailsbeats said:


> Forgive me, but this is exactly why the tie in twice rule is BS. I simply refuse to when laying out the big stuff, but enough about me.
> 
> Glad you're alright Ghillie, and thanks for sharing the valuable experience.



I have read and reread this Nails. How does tying in only once make this mistake safer? Once Ghillie cut his lanyard/flipline/polestrap his lifeline was the only thing holding him up........


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## Blakesmaster (Jun 20, 2010)

outofmytree said:


> I have read and reread this Nails. How does tying in only once make this mistake safer? Once Ghillie cut his lanyard/flipline/polestrap his lifeline was the only thing holding him up........



Had he not been tied in to the limb he was cutting the split wouldn't have caused him or his gear any harm.


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## fishercat (Jun 20, 2010)

*glad you're ok.*

i got beat up once good.I t was the hawk job.if I had undone my lanyard,I would have been fine.I was just preoccupied and should have just gotten down.

we all make mistakes,if you don't admit to it,you're liar.

mistakes are how we learn.as long as they aren't fatal.

Be safe! that's to everyone!


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## ropensaddle (Jun 20, 2010)

Ghillie I had a similar incident way back when I was a young man and it is why I now either don't use lanyard or hook only to middle d's that will keep it from crushing you as it can only get tight to middle d's clipped together of course! It is also why I liked the old school buck straps.


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## outofmytree (Jun 21, 2010)

Blakesmaster said:


> Had he not been tied in to the limb he was cutting the split wouldn't have caused him or his gear any harm.



Ahhhh. Now I see.

Not a case for 1 TIP but rather a case for 2 GOOD TIP's.

A little trick i picked up from watching Graeme Mcmahons videos is to strap suspect timber. If you think there is a chance of it barberchairing when felling or splitting when limbing simply wrap a tie down strap around the stem below your cut and slip back through the ratchet. If the wood can split a half tonne strap then you were dead anyway!


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## ropensaddle (Jun 21, 2010)

outofmytree said:


> Ahhhh. Now I see.
> 
> Not a case for 1 TIP but rather a case for 2 GOOD TIP's.
> 
> A little trick i picked up from watching Graeme Mcmahons videos is to strap suspect timber. If you think there is a chance of it barberchairing when felling or splitting when limbing simply wrap a tie down strap around the stem below your cut and slip back through the ratchet. If the wood can split a half tonne strap then you were dead anyway!



I thought of that also but that requires more stuff to carry. If your saddle has d's in the middle a simple buck strap with snaps can be clipped into them clipping the two d's together. I have done this since the scare I had early in my career. I have had splits since, it can only pull on you til the d's reach the wood and then the strap takes the brunt of force instead of you! Its not perfect but I don't worry about a crushing event in the tree. I was almost crushed just like Ghillie the strap broke and I found a way for it to never happen again. I understand some of you don't use saddles with d's but the same method can be employed to your side d staying on just one or to your bridge. I have hooked my steelcore back to the same d it originates from as a quick safety its the same principal it will only pull to the end of that circle! Side d's should have a warning of crushing on them because you become the weak link in the circle if things go a bit wrong.


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## ropensaddle (Jun 21, 2010)

I have got in the practice of using both side d's only for stuff that has low risk of crushing.
I hope my explanation helps and is understandable I may take a picture to further explain as if it saves one brother from crushing it is worth explanation.


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## outofmytree (Jun 21, 2010)

Crystal clear for me Rope. 

It's good that we all share ideas on this sort of stuff. I cannot count the number of tips I have picked up from just this sort of discussion.


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## Ghillie (Jun 24, 2010)

This turned into a good discussion I believe. I hope it helps someone out.

A reminder to take stock of how tired you are and to think everything through.

I knew exactly why it happened as soon as it did, i just made the mistake of not realizing my second tie in was not in a good place. An oversight that I do not see happening EVER again.

Luke at TreeStuff sent me replacement D rings and I put them on tonight. The beauty of the harness I was wearing is it's modularity. I only destroyed about $100 worth of gear counting the captive eye biner. Oh, I guess add to that a rope snap and 15' of 16 strand and a handfull of icetail.

A SMALL price to pay considering what the outcome could have been.

Stay safe!

Fred


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## jimmynz (Jun 25, 2010)

never work on a sunday. bad #### happens.


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