Yes, I have taken the firemans slide to the bottom before. Several factors were involved and I blame myself for it. I did a string of no-no's. I won't go into them here. What I will say is the stand performed as designed and crushed to absorb my weight. I still hunted that day with the stand. After that hunt the factory sent me a brand new replacement.

I don't like pines to climb because of the shedding properties of the bark and the mess. I realize down south it seems 9 out of 10 trees are pines so you can't always avoid them. I love populars because of their constant diameter up to 30'. The however are slick and become even slicker when wet. I guess my overall favorite would be hickory because of the consitent diameter and not to slick when wet.

The important thing to remember is to use your safety belt while in the tree. I know I should use it while climbing up but I feel it gets in the way and only use it as I feel it is needed (usually when wet). I always use it while sitting in the stand. You never know when you will loose you balance standing up, shooting,falling a sleep or taking a pee (right Benhuntin). Coming back down I do the intentional fireman's slide to the bottom.