Lucky guy...
A close call...
- Thread starter TheJollyLogger
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Lucky guy...
CatMan Fetters
ArboristSite Operative
**** happens Quick!
Help me understand what's going on here.
Why was his rope underneath the limb he was cutting to begin with? I'm (obviously) not a climber but even I could see the outcome before it happened.
Why was his rope underneath the limb he was cutting to begin with? I'm (obviously) not a climber but even I could see the outcome before it happened.
His lifeline was properly tied into a different part of the tree. His flip line was around the branch he was cutting. In my eyes, he made two mistakes that led to this outcome:
1. His under cut was way too shallow. I'm sure he was worried about pinching his saw, but he could have gone deeper to avoid the peel.
2. This is a case where I would have found a different secondary tie in point, or if none were available or feasible, made an exception to the T.I.T.S. rule ( Tie in twice, stupid).
This is a case where I would have made the cut with a single tie in.
A little more force and his pelvis would have broken and he would of suffered massive internal organ damage and he would have been dead hanging in a tree.
Another option in this situation is a shallow undercut, followed by 2 vertical cuts, leaving a 2-3" tab in the center, then down through the tab.
Had he not been able to get his chainsaw going he could have cut his tensioned lanyard with a hand saw.
Also he could have wrapped the limb he was cutting with a speedline, etc, in case the limb split like it did. His lanyard would be below this wrapping.
It's good to see videos of happenings like this.
Hopefully it builds 'foresight' and helps others to not have to learn the hard way.
I bet that guy learned a lesson.
Almost 30 years ago this very thing happened to a good friend. He was still on the bole and just top cut a fairly small limb which then ripped down the trunk pulling him hard against the trunk, pulled in and downwards with spikes jamming into the bole. He couldn't reach where he needed to cut and had a single lanyard tie in around the bole. Luckily the limb hung for a few seconds and then broke free. Lucky dude for sure.
Also he could have wrapped the limb he was cutting with a speedline, etc, in case the limb split like it did. His lanyard would be below this wrapping.
It's good to see videos of happenings like this.
Hopefully it builds 'foresight' and helps others to not have to learn the hard way.
I bet that guy learned a lesson.
Almost 30 years ago this very thing happened to a good friend. He was still on the bole and just top cut a fairly small limb which then ripped down the trunk pulling him hard against the trunk, pulled in and downwards with spikes jamming into the bole. He couldn't reach where he needed to cut and had a single lanyard tie in around the bole. Luckily the limb hung for a few seconds and then broke free. Lucky dude for sure.
It just happened to pop on my Facebook page and I thought it would be a good video to discuss and dissect as a cautionary tale, and thankfully it ended well...
I think I woulda ignored the T.I.T.S. for that cut, given where the lanyard was. Too much tension on the limb from the start. Looks like there may have been some other options for 2nd tie offs in other limbs.
There are much better workarounds than not using the lanyard.
- He should have run the lanyard through his D-ring and clipped it back to the other side of his saddle. In this fashion, should the limb split like that, he would only have been pinned as tightly as the loop of rope pulled his D-rings down the branch. When you set your lanyard this way, it takes the climber out of the loop that draws tight when the limb splits. The lanyard takes the full load, and the climber is still secured.
- He shoulda been working with a bit sharper saw, and he should have made a deeper undercut. I always make pretty hefty undercuts, as I like to avoid tumbling branches that go everywhere when the spring-pole off the ground by hitting the tips first.
English Al
"Let the winch do the work"
I can't recall a situation where I would have stropped on to the branch I was cutting below me, or indeed been sitting on the branch as well. Difficult to tell from the camera angle, but the climber would have been better placed standing on the branch close in to the trunk with his strop around the trunk and leaning out or crouching down from above to make the cut with his weight taken by his rope. The split-out would then have been alarming but harmless. We've all had close calls with split-outs but the main thing is not to be in a position where you might be struck or trapped by one happening. It's easy to be wise after the event, though...
English Al
"Let the winch do the work"
Another point, to carry on with this worthwhile discussion, arises from the first point made by pdqdl. I always had my two strops (tie-ins) attached to different parts of my harness; the principal one with the clogger (a rope shortening device - not sure what you would call it over there) hung on the r/h D-ring of the waist belt, which would then be passed around the chosen anchor point and attached to the l/h D-ring in the manner of a pole strop. The second strop I kept attached to the climbing rope D-rings, ie the suspension point of the harness and I usually left it hanging down when I was working. In a situation like this if I had had no other option for the second tie-in it would have been this strop I would have used, and therefore in the senario we see in the video, as pdqdl says, the weight of the branch would have been transferred directly onto the climbing rope rather than through the climber's body. He would still have been jerked about unpleasantly but with a much reduced risk of injury.
The point about the shallow undercut may possibly be explained; listening carefully to the sound track I think I can hear a sight tell-tale crack just before he stops cutting. If this was indeed the case then clearly the climber stopped because any more would have risked a saw-trap. However, I have to say that after more than 40 years of chainsaws, shotguns and two-stroke diesels my hearing is not what it once was!
The point about the shallow undercut may possibly be explained; listening carefully to the sound track I think I can hear a sight tell-tale crack just before he stops cutting. If this was indeed the case then clearly the climber stopped because any more would have risked a saw-trap. However, I have to say that after more than 40 years of chainsaws, shotguns and two-stroke diesels my hearing is not what it once was!
From this description... why not just use your lifeline as the second tie in?
English Al
"Let the winch do the work"
I suppose I could have done, but with the strop hanging there ready it was just the work of a moment to chuck it round a suitable anchor point and clip the end carabiner onto the D-ring. We each have our own variations on any particular technique and I suppose if we feel that the way we do it is safe, convenient and quick we stick with it. A climber needs to have confidence in his equipment and technique.
P.S. I hope you are fully recovered from your awful accident. There but for the grace of God go any of us.
P.S. I hope you are fully recovered from your awful accident. There but for the grace of God go any of us.
