... when I thought if one trunk broke off I would be split in two...
Adrpk, I thought you had climbed that sucker months ago... By the way, if you were only tied into one trunk, and it split off, you would still be in a heap of trouble. Probably preferable to being ripped in two, though.
... Took 5 and went back up to set a throw line at 70' ...Still trying to get to the top of that pine.
You love that throw line more than that tree! Leave your false crotch up there and you don't have to repeat all that work each time you climb. I just retreived one from my neighbor's big pine that I put up there two months ago. I had to climb up and get it (a good chance to try out my new SRT line). And no, it wasn't all ratty from three species of squirrels chewing on it--it was perfect.
As to the wind, a moderate wind is very nice. But a lot of the trees around here have weak wood and a strong squirrelly wind will send me to the ground. I remember being up about 85 ft with a friend in a 100-ft. hemlock. There was a neighboring hemlock of the same size about 20 feet away. The wind was strong and squirrelly that day, and we watched the top of the other tree come within 6 or 7 feet at times, or move out 30 or 35 feet away. That was a ride!