Maine climber killed in accident

Guy I worked ALOT with, was still tied in twice over the years. First time was when we were having a falling out, and we weren't seeing eye to eye at the time. He was cutting 20' of spar, 10' from the ground. Had to make it fit.
I was a couple of trees away, as he had instructed 2 guys on the ground when to pull, and how much tension. I yelled over to him that it looked like he was still tied in.... he was.

2nd time I was in a tree right next to him. He was negative rigging a top. I looked over as he just finished the back cut and the top was just taking it's dive. Groundies were instructed to let it ride. I started yelling, "Hold it, hold it, hold it!!! Yelled over to him, ''You're still tied in!!!" He let some slack out and held on for the ride. We were so close to each other, he leaned over after and fist bumped me.

I always double check my big moves, always. I talk to myself, in my head, when i do anything that's not in the play book, like staying tied in while making a face cut an big ugly spar. I repeat to myself, "You're still tied in," until I untie.

I am always aware of imminent danger for all at the jobsite. I stress working safe. It may slow me down at times, being mother goose, but I just don't care about the speed when well being is at stake.
 
96coal449 said:
Guy I worked ALOT with, was still tied in twice over the years. First time was when we were having a falling out, and we weren't seeing eye to eye at the time. He was cutting 20' of spar, 10' from the ground. Had to make it fit.
I was a couple of trees away, as he had instructed 2 guys on the ground when to pull, and how much tension. I yelled over to him that it looked like he was still tied in.... he was.

2nd time I was in a tree right next to him. He was negative rigging a top. I looked over as he just finished the back cut and the top was just taking it's dive. Groundies were instructed to let it ride. I started yelling, "Hold it, hold it, hold it!!! Yelled over to him, ''You're still tied in!!!" He let some slack out and held on for the ride. We were so close to each other, he leaned over after and fist bumped me.

I always double check my big moves, always. I talk to myself, in my head, when i do anything that's not in the play book, like staying tied in while making a face cut an big ugly spar. I repeat to myself, "You're still tied in," until I untie.

I am always aware of imminent danger for all at the jobsite. I stress working safe. It may slow me down at times, being mother goose, but I just don't care about the speed when well being is at stake.
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You and I are alike. I am never in a hurry ever. Always making sure everything is right.
 
I think we are armchair quarterbacking here. What goes through your mind in less than a second in order to save your life does not give time to weigh your options. You go for the first thing that comes to mind, whether it was the best option or not is irrelevant in the end. It worked or it didn't. The, I should have done such and such is all water under the bridge at that point.
You can look at this video of Jacob's and say, I would have just cut my lanyard. But you are sitting at home in your easy chair, not being crushed to death by a heavy limb. His mind was saying, I have to get rid of this limb that is crushing me, and he goes for it even though he would have been freed a little quicker if he banged his bar against his lanyard.
Questioning why someone acts as they do when under extreme stress is pointless, except to inflate your own ego in saying what you would have done, which probably, in reality is not what you would have done in a fraction of a second to save yourself either, because you could take it all the way back and say he should have (untied his climb line from the top of the tree before he topped it), or fill it in with whatever you want.
 
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Shadowscape said:
I think we are armchair quarterbacking here. What goes through your mind in less than a second in order to save your life does not give time to weigh your options. You go for the first thing that comes to mind, whether it was the best option or not is irrelevant in the end. It worked or it didn't. The, I should have done such and such is all water under the bridge at that point.
You can look at this video of Jacob's and say, I would have just cut my lanyard. But you are sitting at home in your easy chair, not being crushed to death by a heavy limb. His mind was saying, I have to get rid of this limb that is crushing me, and he goes for it even though he would have been freed a little quicker if he banged his bar against his lanyard.
Questioning why someone acts as they do when under extreme stress is pointless, except to inflate your own ego in saying what you would have done, which probably, in reality is not what you would have done in a fraction of a second to save yourself either, because you could take it all the way back and say he should have (untied his climb line from the top of the tree before he topped it), or fill it in with whatever you want.
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Lordy, this man sounds so whiny. His voice ruins the content. The man in the video, was making a bad choice. Terrible work position and the chance of barber chair there was huge. Thankfully it ended in his favor. Quilty seems to have good intentions, but his vids can be a bit much. Shadow, I agree with you here but it also is an open discussion. Arbs got opinions, so they will be voiced. Hopefully no one will find themselves cutting a piece they are still tied into. If it is a big mofo piece of wood, doubt there would be anything one can do reflex wise. It is lights out. BTW is that weeping willow in the vid, if so geez......
 
islandarb said:
Lordy, this man sounds so whiny. His voice ruins the content. The man in the video, was making a bad choice. Terrible work position and the chance of barber chair there was huge. Thankfully it ended in his favor. Quilty seems to have good intentions, but his vids can be a bit much. Shadow, I agree with you here but it also is an open discussion. Arbs got opinions, so they will be voiced. Hopefully no one will find themselves cutting a piece they are still tied into. If it is a big mofo piece of wood, doubt there would be anything one can do reflex wise. It is lights out. BTW is that weeping willow in the vid, if so geez......
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Looks like weeping willow. Bad lower cut. Heavy limb. Lots done wrong.
I'm not saying we shouldn't talk about things having gone wrong, but statements like, "Why didn't he just...." are useless because he didn't have time assess the situation for the best possible outcome and pick the method that was best suited for the situation. The brain doesn't process information that fast in a, "I'm about to die in the next second if I don't do something" situation. That's why he didn't do whatever one thinks he should have done.
 
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southsoundtree said:
A rookie move in many ways.
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Totally agree Sean, he made that cut in the place barber chair was most likely to happen. Chain was dull, undercut barely into bark, lanyard right in the spot for barberchair to occur, circle of death. Species prone for barber chair. All that protos and ISA cert and doing this. Zig zag etc. Training is so important in this industry. Plain and simple. Mentor mentor.....
 
Shadowscape said:
Looks like weeping willow. Bad lower cut. Heavy limb. Lots done wrong.
I'm not saying we shouldn't talk about things having gone wrong, but statements like, "Why didn't he just...." are useless because he didn't have time access the situation for the best possible outcome and pick the method that was best suited for the situation. The brain doesn't process information that fast in a, "I'm about to die in the next second if I don't do something" situation. That's why he didn't do whatever one thinks he should have done.
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The brain also likes to analyze and theorize. That's why we ask "why didn't he just...." In MY brain his choice didn't make sense, so I was trying to find a logical answer for his actions. And maybe there wasn't a logical reason, but unless you ask the questions you'll never know the answers.

"You miss 100% of the shots you don't take"
-Wayne Gretzky
 
islandarb said:
Lordy, this man sounds so whiny. His voice ruins the content. The man in the video, was making a bad choice. Terrible work position and the chance of barber chair there was huge. Thankfully it ended in his favor. Quilty seems to have good intentions, but his vids can be a bit much. Shadow, I agree with you here but it also is an open discussion. Arbs got opinions, so they will be voiced. Hopefully no one will find themselves cutting a piece they are still tied into. If it is a big mofo piece of wood, doubt there would be anything one can do reflex wise. It is lights out. BTW is that weeping willow in the vid, if so geez......
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I do not like watching his videos at all.
 
Vicente said:
I do not like watching his videos at all.
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The one thing Jacob does that I like is he shows you when he screws up. Like the video of him cutting his own climb line.
You won't find that on August's site or Reg's site. They won't post their screw ups. Only the things that go perfectly well. Jacob is a goofball for sure, but he records reality, not Hollywood content.
 
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