Some times I just cut shit when I should rope it and I just imagine nothing bad is gonna happen. More then not, nothing really bad has happened. Maybe a hole in the asphalt, smashed mailbox, dent on the rain gutter, limbs ripped off nearby ornamentals, fence rail bent, you know nothing that can be fixed. Those lessons of fixing shit will make you think twice about, just cutting it. So, you'd better get better at just cutting it, to another level when I dialed in darting tops with big saws.
Ok worst one. Bout 10 years ago, big white birch felled. Holding wood snapped but the butt sat in the stump. My bro/mentor looked at me and we acknowledged the stump/butt deal. I went to limbing, legit second to last limb I started to under cut and I saw the tension being released I stopped as it snapped and the whole log dropped off the butt and rotated to send that last limb over right at my face. The three inch limb made contact just above my chin , just under the bottom lip, worse then a baseball bat to the face. Picked me up off the ground and slammed me down. I lost vision, could still hear the saw next to my head on the ground. I stood up and regained sight except it was crooked like 45 degrees. I ran at my truck to see the damage in the mirror, but I took a big ark and had to cock my head to compensate for the skewed view. No missing teeth, just a big ol split below the lip gushing. The emergency room doc of the day just happen to be an accomplished plastic surgeon. 20 total stitches. 10 on the outside, 5 in the split and 5 inside the mouth. The split never made it through. A bit higher and I'd have lost some teeth, a bit lower and I'd probably gotten a crushed wind pipe. Def stupid.