Guy I met at a job site in Denver said his rope was fine - 3 weeks later it snapped on a removal

He was using this old 3-strand that was frayed bad near the splice, told him to retire it but he laughed it off. Last Tuesday that same rope let go while he was lowering a limb and the butt end whipped him right in the ribs. Has anyone else had a close call like that where the other guy just wouldn't listen?

3 comments

3 Comments

the_jason26d ago

Yeah, the part about the rope snapping while he was lowering a limb doesn't quite add up. 3-strand doesn't just snap clean from a bad splice under load, that fraying probably made it fail as he was tying or setting the rope, not mid-lower. Sounds like he got lucky it wasn't worse, but he definitely should have swapped it out way before that job.

ericschmidt26d ago

Did you ever have that moment where you look at a rope that's been left out in the sun for like three years and think "yeah, that'll hold me"? I totally have, and it's a MIRACLE I still have all my fingers. You're probably right about the timing, most guys I know who get hurt are rushing through the setup, not the actual cut. It's too easy to blame the equipment when our own safety checks are the REAL problem. But let's be honest, who here hasn't pushed a rope way past its prime because "it's just one more job"? I feel like I've learned that lesson the hard way about five times now.

the_miles19d ago

Man, you've been there too. I always keep a spare rope in the truck for when I get that gut feeling about one being too far gone. Next time, just cut the old one in half before you even leave the yard so you're not tempted to use it.