vt failure causes bad fall

[gingertreeninja]

just a word of warning to all the guys switching over to using the vt set up. IT CAN FAIL. A young chap i worked with for years was on the phone last week asking me to do a few of his regular costomers as he was hurt,. on further investigation it seems he took a 25 ft fall onto his back and has broken his back in several places. thankfully he can still walk but is in a cast from ass to armpit and is not able to work for a long time.

It seems he could only get a line over a large lower branch on a storm damaged tree, he pulled himself up no problem then tried a branch roll but was ubstructed by some eppie so went to sit back onto his rope when his hitch didnt bite and he hit the deck. he was new to the vt and had recently got himself a tachyon rope but had used 13mm before that so i think that combination of new rope and hitch probably led to this fall.

i have used the vt for years and love it but it can be tempremental and would never put less than 3 wraps on ( i think this guy had only 2 wraps ) and practice low and slow till you get the hang of it.

climb safe guys

[MattJordan]

Jeez, bad news. Hope he recovers as fully as possible. Bit of a wake up call.

[Khriss]

Hmmm-have used VT fr quite a while now and love its ease of branch walking / wet weather performance -however I 'never ' trust its bitten -until I have looked at it / moved it up and then it gets -weight -on-rope, so sorry abt this guy -could have been a lot worse Kx

[Cary Gibson]

man, i use 4 wraps, and I'm not that heavy...I want it to lock -up when i say so.... too bad about that fellow, glad to hear he is still here though

[Grizzly]

Just goes to show you never know, sh1t happens. Although injured, at least he's still alive and thankfully, not too badly injured.

 

Hope it's a speedy recovery.

[MasterBlaster]

I'll stick with my dinosaur hitch.

[Mick Stockbridge]

Bad news but I would'nt call it a VT failure. More like climber failure, ie failed to dress the hitch before sitting back.

Trying to roll over a limb that you're anchored to and failing to do so then sitting back without checking the hitch is asking for trouble.

 

Let's not start putting people off the VT, used properly it's unbeatable.

[arbclimber]

Bad news but I would'nt call it a VT failure. More like climber failure, ie failed to dress the hitch before sitting back.

Trying to roll over a limb that you're anchored to and failing to do so then sitting back without checking the hitch is asking for trouble.

 

Let's not start putting people off the VT, used properly it's unbeatable.

 

 

Just what I was thinking, that could happen with many different hitches.

Especially if you sit back into the harness quickly, after taking all weight off of it and allowing the hitch to become loose.

[chris cnc]

it could be that whilst trying to roll over the branch, the hitch got caught between climber and branch and got messed up somehow.

 

at least the guys ok, could have been a lot worse

[Tommy_B]

Sorry to hear about your mate. Like others have said, Could've been a lot worse. A good thread to maybe stop some complaiciancy. Climb safe guys.