I had absolutely nothing to complain about. A sunny day with the temp in the mid 50's and no wind. I had just spent several hours going through spring maintenance on our school's ropes course which meant climbing to clear out some hangers, spreading mulch, repairing platforms. I also took time to see if I could nail a 60 foot crotch in an oak tree with a basket toss of my throwline. I got it on my 5th throw. So life is good. I was just packing up my car when I glanced at a nearby ash tree that I'd passes by hundreds of times without giving it a moment's thought. This time, though, I was viewing it from an angle that showed a possible opening to a crotch at about 45 feet that I hadn't seen before. Okay, I was tired; I'd had a full and satisfying day with good climbs; I should save it for another day....but what the hell, I'd just nailed a personal best, I can take an extra half-hour.

Well, the 14 oz. bag sailed cleanly through the opening and draped over some thin branches of a nearby tree. No problem. I'd used Ron's technique before of doubling up the throwbags with a small carabiner and attaching a second throwline to work the throwline back and forth to isolate the target limb. It was working well when I pulled both bags back over the crotch. That was when the tree gnome cross-loaded the keychain carabiner and neatly deposited the second throwbag (a 16 oz.) out of sight in the crotch. Okay, I can tell when fate is tapping me on the shoulder and saying, "Let's not be greedy, it'll still be there tomorrow."

I start to pull down the throwline and decide to flake it right into it's bag. There just happened to be a convenient stump right here next to the tree that I can rest the bag on without bending over. So while I was mindlessly flaking the line with my head down, did I bother to notice that the stump was directly under the crotch that was hiding a 16 oz. throwbag? Or that the throwline had snagged a twig and was pulling it up towards that crotch? Or that the twig gave the throwbag all the nudge it needed to dislodge itself? Or that by the time it sailed 3 inches past my head and thumped at my feet it was traveling just over 36 mph? Okay, so it's not an awakening with a capital A or anything to make the 11 o'clock news, but it was a small reminder to take nothing for granted, especially when climbing alone.

Good report, glad it all worked out. Which reminds me... plenty of climbers don't like to wear helmets. I have no problem with that, if a climber has enough hours and/or years in trees under their saddle they have the right do do what they please as long as they're not endangering anyone else. I put a helmet on my head pretty much when I arrive at a tree, at least as soon as a throw bag comes out. Just my habit and choice, I don't demand that any other experienced climber do the same. I'm not starting a why or why not wear a helmet fight, unless you feel like fighting I'll humor you Ok, with that disclaimer out of the way...

Last week I took a new climber to a woods white pine. He'd never climbed a tree on rope before. Before I started throwing I put on my helmet, the new climber looked at me and said, "Should I put a helmet on?", I said "Not a bad idea". I used a slingshot to get the bag over a good limb, worked the throwbag to get a decent climb path and set the rope. Then I climbed up installed a second setting. Next I did a Yo-Yo demo, to prepare him to climb. As we stood there a chunk of deadwood fell silently from the tree and landed a couple feet from my friend. There was no crack or warning of any kind, just a silent drop and smack on the ground. It wasn't big enough to kill you but a direct hit on a bare head would've been painful. On a helmet probably just a headache. Was an awesome lesson. Freak event for sure, any other time I've heard a crack from above or heard deadwood as it hits other branches on the way down. Or usually someone's working a throwbag or rope so you're on alert that something could fall.

So that's all. Hey Dave, so yer throwing a 14oz bag? I'm impressed I don't throw anything bigger than a 10 majority of the time, sometimes a 12. Anyhow, more power to you!
-AJ

Moss - Don't be too impressed. My 10 oz. is tangled up a shag-barked hickory (what was I thinking? Probably about something far removed from what I was doing) and my 12 oz. is lying in the muck at the bottom of a pond thanks to an energetic black lab who took it for a one way swim. Yep, there are lessons to be learned everyday.

Too cool! Ya I think a 20oz is about right for a shagbark. Dogs definitely like throwbags, especially when they're moving.
-AJ

For the really snaggy trees like shagbarks and bur oaks, I suspect anything less than an anvil would get hung up sometimes.