Still being fairly new to rec climbing after just four years or so of semi-regular outings, I have had a number of limbs break under me on limb walks, from simply not knowing any better. Every time it happened, the limb cracked and quickly began to sag but did not actually drop me immediately. I was lucky each time that I did not have much slack in my line, so that pretty quickly the slack was taken up and had my whole weight on the line again as the limb sagged further after beginning to let go. On most of these occasions, the limb stopped breaking and dropping as soon as my weight was largely off it and I was able to quickly retrace my steps. But I did fall off sideways one time even though I had no slack in my line, and swung back pretty hard into the trunk. I did not have a high enough TIP above the limb and that made the swing worse. Since then, I try to always notice if there are any stubs in the vicinity of a possible swing-back. And I use a second line, long lanyard, or hook rope out at a favourable angle if possible, which can help maintain balance and progress, as well as stopping or controlling swing-back. I like AJ's thoughts on lanyarding to the limb itself if need be, and the other ideas of working out on a dodgy limb horizontally, and negatively loading the limb somehow. All good stuff. But raining like hell here right now so will hang out here on TreeBuzz and wait for a nicer day to get back at height!
