valuable lesson learned

[Pipsissewa]

... as a matter of fact ill be out this weekend on the AT in NY (sect 10 NB) for an overnight hang and maybe a dip in lake tiorati.. ...im feeling a bit better today and hoping the next couple days offers me enough to get out there this weekend....
AJ

'

Please, AJ, get an "all clear" from the doc before heading out on the AT!!! Glad to hear you're on the mend and still hangin!

[QChan]

Not the best way to learn a lesson. Glad you went to the hospital.


Shug, your hair is crazy.

[Shug]

Not the best way to learn a lesson. Glad you went to the hospital.


Shug, your hair is crazy.

I know....clown hair! Complete with bald spot.....
I wore it flat a few times and my daughter cried.
Shug of Electric Hair

[DemostiX]

I'm not sure what the lesson is, and I think that if the failure mode can be specified, then we're all better off, including the OP, who won't have to respond by using heavy, heavy equipment.

Lots of safeties are to keep a possible failure mode from occuring, not to cut in half the chances of that failure by doubling the requirement for the failure to occur. They're not back-ups. They're part of the system
Such as the gate on the biner, the safety on the gun, the slippery half hitch etc.
So, did a strap or part break here, or did parts of the strap / buckle misalign, and could the misalignment have been more likely because of rocking? (In which case the answer does not have to be : Don't rock!!)

Some parts are just incompatible, too, like a narrow strap in some wide buckles, where both are strong enough when with the right-sized mate, but unstable or weaker when used with one that is wrong-sized.

[aj angiuli]

'

Please, AJ, get an "all clear" from the doc before heading out on the AT!!! Glad to hear you're on the mend and still hangin!

I got the appointment set up for friday afternoon to make sure im all good...if not then ill be hanging in the back yard...feeling 95% better today though...

[aj angiuli]

I'm not sure what the lesson is, and I think that if the failure mode can be specified, then we're all better off, including the OP, who won't have to respond by using heavy, heavy equipment.

Lots of safeties are to keep a possible failure mode from occuring, not to cut in half the chances of that failure by doubling the requirement for the failure to occur. They're not back-ups. They're part of the system
Such as the gate on the biner, the safety on the gun, the slippery half hitch etc.
So, did a strap or part break here, or did parts of the strap / buckle misalign, and could the misalignment have been more likely because of rocking? (In which case the answer does not have to be : Don't rock!!)

Some parts are just incompatible, too, like a narrow strap in some wide buckles, where both are strong enough when with the right-sized mate, but unstable or weaker when used with one that is wrong-sized.

The strap didnt actually break. It was a weird happening and a most totally incorrect way of hanging but hindsight being 20/20....let me paint a picture cause it will be easier to explain that way.
I was using the non-ratcheting side of a set of ratchet traps. i passed the strap through the solid eye rather then cut the solid eye off and passing it through the loop sewn into the strap...figuring it was a test hang and that i was ordering actual tree straps. I thought the solid eye of the hook had a welded joint and maybe it did.
What actually happened as i look at the strap now is...that when i put load on the strap it opened up the solid eye and the strap slipped out the eye slipped off the strap maybe a better way of saying it. the picture below better explains what im talking about. there was no damage to the strap at any time. nor was it a buckle failure. it was a failure of good judgement and lack of experience that caused this and a very valuable lesson for me... I got the bill from the er today!!!!

thanks again everyone

[DemostiX]

TI thought the solid eye of the hook had a welded joint and maybe it did.
What actually happened as i look at the strap now is...that when i put load on the strap it opened up the solid eye and the strap slipped out the eye slipped off the strap maybe a better way of saying it. the picture below better explains what im talking about. there was no damage to the strap at any time. nor was it a buckle failure. it was a failure of good judgement and lack of experience that caused this and a very valuable lesson for me... I got the bill from the er today!!!!

thanks again everyone

I think you are too hard on yourself. I hope somebody else familiar with rigging or rescue equipment --like Opie / Chris -- will look at your description and photo. The strap kit may have been an inexpensive one, but you seem to have witnessed a weld failure, like you thought. Whether you were pulling a vehicle or holding up a hammock, the equipment came apart, and under stress well under rated capacity.

There are general paranoid implications. If the packager of these towing kits doesn't do QC on the simple hooks, should we trust the webbing we remove from the kits or the stitching of the sewn loops? I've been disappointed that a local "Harbor Freight" has been sold out of these tow strap kits; but maybe we should instead find safety-rated auto seatbelt webbing or an HF strap-maker instead.

Thanks for taking the time to go back to this and present it with pic and captions.

Maybe a liability attorney here will offer you an informal opinion in a PM of whether it MIGHT be worth your while to talk to someone about making a claim against the vendor or manufacturer for your medical costs.

[turtlelady]

Aj, Thanks for your explanations and pictures. I hope you get a "good to go" from the doc on Friday, and you make a full recovery.