RE: Equipment Failure?
20 years ago, hunting alone behind my parents house, while I started descending my tree, I had a tree stand slip out from under my feet and fall all the way to the ground, as I hung precariously from my chest belt 18 feet in the air ...... my knife was in my back pack on the ground, as was my bow ... on the ground that is. I could not unhook myself .... the tree was too big around to shimmy up and get some slack ....... I didn't know what to do .....
I smoked at the time, and I pulled out my lighter and tried to burn the strap at the connection, but the wind kept blowing it out .... I started to feel faint ....... all of a sudden, the lighter stayed on for a few seconds ...... it was windy so it kept going out. As the belt started to melt, it caught fire, keeping the lighter lit .... it seemed like forever, but the strap let go, sending a half unconscious me to the forest floor .......
Other than a few bruises though, I was ok, as was my bow... upon further investigation, the stand was proven defective, and I got my money back.