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Here to receive some wisdom on a device I'm making that hopefully meets the intent of what I'm trying to do.

I'm building a self rescue system in the event of a tree landing. The first prototype will be built tonight, but I'll explain what I'm doing and add pics later.

In the best way to explain, imagine wearing a tail pocket on your crotch. Inside the tail pocket, there are two grommets. A climbing sling on a bite has each running end run through each grommet, and attached to your hip rings.

Inside the tail pocket, one end of a 30M, 4 mm rope is attached via locking carabiner. The rope is stacked like you stack your lines in any tail pocket. The free end has a stand alone carabiner attached to a loop (simply for stowage). The tail pocket mounts with the opening (mouth) facing up towards the sky.

If you end up in a tree, you unclip your carabiner from the stowage loop and use the rope as necessary for an anchor to a branch or tree trunk.

Some facts:
4mm rope with a kern mantle core survives about 4 kN, or 800 pounds static movement (or 200 lbs up to about 7 meters)

I chose the 4mm size for smaller pack volume while still providing enough rope to work with without becoming cumbersome.

Thoughts? Have others seen successful self rescue systems that are applicable in a variety of tree / cliff landings?

Few thoughts.

4mm cord is too thin to be of any use. You won't be able to hold it with any meaningful strength to slide down it, neither will you be able to abseil with it, or control the rope even running it through a friction device.

4mm cord strength is closer to 300kg than 400. Tie a knot on it and likely the strength goes down to <200kg. A little bounce on it can easily go over that.

No matter how you stow it, you are guaranteed 30m of 4mm cord will turn into an spaghetti nightmare before you can say "al dente".

You are better off carrying 2 240cm slings (or 2 loops of 6mm cord) with you and learning to downclimb the tree with choker slings, or carry 2mm cord and use it to haul up a rope that some well intentioned rescuers may bring when you end up in a tree.

Thanks for your thoughts man. I agree on all. I really like the choker sling idea, my concern is (and the 2mm pull line idea) is that sometimes you might end up too far from the trunk of the tree for those to work.

Not that I know from experience or anything

Maybe the 2mm idea works in the scenario I'm thinking of. Regardless, is there 'an emergency stash of equipment available in lauterbrunnen? I'm not afraid to start creating one. Something where if a jumper is stuck, you can at least use a haul line to create an anchor point until air glaciers arrives. Or hopefully, using the 'emergency stash' would limit the necessity to call upon air glacier/.

Not a stash as such, but many people have rope in the cars and locals keep rope at home. Ropes usually turn up within minutes when needed.

If you end up uninjured in a tree and you can't climb down safely just secure yourself to the tree, phone a friend for help/rope, sit tight, and wait for them to come.

Problem with having an emergency stash is that not everyone will know how to use it safely and it could turn a non-event to laugh about in the bar into a few nights in a hospital. But if you fancy getting some rope to have in the car and donate it to the SBA when you head back i'm sure it'll be apreciated and earn you some karma points.

P.S. Hi Kevin. It's Oscar here

Oscar my man -

So in this specific scenario, it's a culmination of Murphy's Law at its worst. Stuck in a tree, too far removed from the trunk itself, canopy hanging from a branch that will only hold your weight for so long.

What I'm trying to solve is the 'what can you do when you're all out of luck dynamic?'

I think just having a stash that is common knowledge to jumpers, where at least everyone knows where to go to have immediate access to some gear is better than nothing. If it's one standardized spot, at least hays better than the remote chance someone has it avaible.

I always just climb down the tree when I land in them

I need those 4M long arms then in the event a canopy gets stuck on the tip of a branch.

I've tested 2mm, 3mm, and 4mm cord, on my own body weight (~180 lbs) hanging and rappelling (over a safe padded surface). I tried: single strand and double strand, and using either a munter hitch, a super-munter, or just several wraps (4-6) around the spine of a locking carabiner.

I used Sterling cord sold by Eastern Mountain Sports. Sterling provided me the following breaking strength for their products:
2mm: 1 kn (225 lbs)
3mm: 2.1 kn (472 lbs)
4mm: 4.6 kn (1034 lbs)

Single strand 2mm broke reliably at the friction knot, when rappelling on a munter. single strand 2mm broke with deliberate bouncing/falling, when wrapped around the carabiner spine. Didn't get double-stranded 2mm cord to break. I don't remember 3mm cord breaking on me under any testing, I don't have any pictures of broken 3mm cord, I'm sure I would have taken them if it happened. 4mm single strand worked well, even with bouncing vigorously under a munter hitch. I did not try to load any direct falls onto the rope though. 4mm double strand felt bomber.

My own personal conclusions:

A) I would only consider rapping 2mm if I could double it up, and it was a dire emergency (I would be shitting my pants all the way down though). I'd use 3mm cord, if it meant the difference between getting down or spending the night injured in a tree and getting compartment syndrome. 4mm felt safe-ish.

B) I chose 4mm x 30m cord for my emergency stash kit. I would use a carabiner wrap for friction before I used a munter or super-munter. I would also double up the cord if possible, even if it meant doing multiple rappels (though if I was injured I might just do a single rap to get down with less fuss). I'd downclimb as far as I could first.

C) Reducing sharp bends in the rope is critical. This applies to the friction method, and also to how you attach it to the anchor point. Things you can do to make this less-unsafe:
-rap on both strands, looped over a large diameter branch with no sharp points nearby (rope could slip sideways so check the branch carefully).
-Place some clothing or other padding between the rope and the tree branch, both to reduce sharp points and to increase the diameter of the tree branch.
-If you need to do a single-strand rap, attach it to the tree with a double-clove hitch (google the picture if you don't know it) instead of a double-figure-8. Remember, virtually all knots weaken the system.

D) Keeping in mind that even if I don't intend to dynamically load the rope, it could happen accidentally from a slipping branch or a slipping foot. So prevent that at all costs.

E) Even after all this, it's still a last resort for if I can't wait for real rescue assistance with gear that's actually safety rated.

The cord is super cheap. Grab some lengths from your local gear store and test it yourself... then lets compare notes. Here are some pics.

I was also recommended 4mm cord with a munter hitch as a solution.
I have 30m of it and a carabiner in one of the leg strap pouches of my rig.
I should probably test it out somewhere before I have to do it for real I suppose.

Over the last 15 years I have landed in a tree twice
and probably helped rescue over a dozen people.

What I now carry in my truck is this:
- med kit
- one long rope
- few short ropes with loops at each end
- few carabiners
- packet of dental floss
- small hand saw
- large bow saw

The two worst rescues were:

The time I over-delayed, opened over tall trees,
failed to change the flight plan to an alternate LZ,
and made the mistake (due to fear) of hanging on
the control lines which made the Troll sink of course.

The tree had zero branches and was half dead with
me perched in the top. It was so creeky that I was
just about to say "Fuck It" and just leap out of the
tree with my canopy still stuck and just ride it down.

This TERRIBLE idea was considered just for a moment
based on some fun childhood times were three of us
in high school would climb up a thin 20 foot tree and
purposely swing till it broke and came down with it.

Then I used my eye balls to estimate the height and
realized it was too fucking high, even a perfect PLF
into a soft field from 50 feet is not ideal.

SO I climbed out of my harness and slid down the
tree, was painful as hell but I saw no other choice
other than calling the authorities for assistance,
which would have possibly burned the tower.

My buddy and I drove to Walmart, I grabbed a bit
of bandages, peroxide, took into the bathroom,
doctored my wounds, then bought bug spray and
a hand saw. "Cotton" and I returned and spent
over 3 hours cutting down the tree and then
cutting into pieces small enough for 2 men to
roll them into the woods and out of the field.

This was 2 nights before his first Bridge Day.


The other really tedious rescue involved a new
guy visiting and jumping his own gear off of
Wanda for the first. Thanks to improperly
setting his brakes, both toggles immediately
popped on opening and it was a PCA.

He landed in the top of a 55 foot pine tree
hanging from suspension lines about 6 to 8
feet away from the trunk. This particular guy
has a heart of gold, but since leaving the Corp
has not kept up with his PT, so using the tools
above my then newest disciple climbed up the
tree with me working his rope belay. After a
hour or so we got the guy and his gear down.


I have also witnessed a crew fail to recover a
brand new canopy with a single jump on it!!
Next day when they returned the canopy was
gone and the tree had been chainsawed down
plus there were orange cones around the site.
Also on a Thursday night before Bridge Day.

PS: dental floss or fishing line + a sinker are
ways of getting a rope to a person in a tree.

Safety Nate has a self rescue rope bag he built for jumps with a higher than normal tree landing risk. He finally got to use it last year too (he was pretty excited about it). I'll see if he can post some pics.

Hello!

This shit gets me super excited! I was in the same boat after seeing one of my friends get insanely fucked up trying to get out of a tree. (3 days in ICU).

15 years ago My High Angle Rescue trained Fire Fighter Buddy, Pyro, and I designed these rope bags. I can get into all the detail you want but her is the gist. 60 ft 8mm, 15 ft webbing, a daisy chain, 2 prusiks 3 biners.

Everything is pre tied and ready to go. I can self rescue or have a friend belay form the bottom, go up to retrieve canopy, and get all my gear back. safely! Cost $60 in materials.

It is a bag the clips on to your MLW and Velcros around your leg like Laura Crofts gun. Fast and easy, Arial approved!

The key is to train. There is a tried and true method to being rescued by a rope while wearing a parachute harness. We used to practice once a year 30 feet up in my tree. Know your knots, and how to connect to your harness. I tried using my chest strap and it ripped right off under my static weight btw.

My system can be used one handed as well. I got to use it last year and was out of the tree (40 feet up) with my gear in under 5 minutes. If it were 4 minutes, I wouldn't have had to appear in court!

Your system sounds cool and more lo-pro/light than mine. Which is cool.

Another super simple and effective thing I learned on BLINC was a thing of dental floss with a quarter taper to it. At least carry that with you. You can hold the floss, drop the box, and use the floss to hull a rescue rope up to you. The hardest part is getting to rope over a limb and too the shit head that parked it in the tree!

There are 3 three of my systems out there somewhere.

I second this whole post Green! Been there, done that. Having a saw, rope and a plan are fucking huge in BASE! My kit, which still gets made fun of, is a direct result of simple shit happening and not having some basic tools.

Good drugs are just as important and worth mentioning!

Sounds like the system you made was the direction I was going in. Something that clips to the front of your harness and fits under a tracking / wing suit.

That way if you end up stuck, away from the trunk - you at least have something.

Would love to see pics of what you put together

I have a tree rescue kit which consists of the following which is stored in a small bag and is ready to hook up to the sling supplied:
25M of 5mm kevlar rope
A descender already attached to rope
Slings to attach to tree
A safety knife

I'll try and post some pics later

Awesome stories and techniques. Great thread.

Since it has come up a few times: 4mm cord is not a "safe" cord. It may work, yes... until it doesn't. It is not rated or tested, and when you encounter a defect in the cord it will break and you will die or get fucked up. It's for emergencies when the risks of staying in the tree outweighs the risks of trusting your life to a marginal cord.

I like the idea of adding a sling to the kit. This might help me when the branch is no good, but the trunk is solid. I'm adding it to the kit.

You need to practice using your kit, or you will be surprised how easy it is to kill yourself doing this.

I guess I'll stop beating around the bush and illustrate my scenario, because I almost lost my ability (permanently) to walk a few weeks ago.

High nose. Tracking with a Sumo. Working on getting a better track so this jump I focused on moving my hands way back. My AoA steepened, shoulders rolled forward and I de arched. I was doing a decent track. Stupidly enough I decided to take it to the basement. When I reached to pull, I lost symmetry because I wasn't as used to flying with my arms that far back. I dropped a shoulder, puts me into about a 15 degree turn. I'm so low don't have time to do anything but pitch.

Of course, line twists to the fabric. Nose is facing 135 to the right, I take a ride into the trees. I bust through the first tree canopy layer only for my canopy to get stuck on said layer.

Bottom of my feet are 50' off the ground with two large rocks beneath me. The canopy snagged the end of the tree branch, so the trunk is too far for me reach. Any movement I do is exaggerating the weakening branch. Every 5 minutes or so, the branch weakens further, sinking about 6 inches each time. I'm fully aware this branch will not stay forever.

Fortunately, there was - literally - an arborist on the load. He went towards town, got some makeshift equipment, climbed the tree, set an anchor off the trunk and I tied the free end into my chest strap.

5 min later, while waiting for air glaciers, the branch broke. I took a pendulum swing, but luckily for the tree climbing kiwi, I was 100% fine. Long story short, got out of the tree fine but am still kicking myself for dozens of things. Namely - being dependent on someone else for my own rescue.

This jump among others (so many people I know who have gone in) is actually leading me to seriously consider giving up the sport this year, but that's a whole nother discussion. It's just starting to feel a lot more like Russian roulette. And the more I understand BASE, the less I understand.

Anyway - back to gear. Beneath me, about 10 feet was a stronger branch. If I had 'gear' (whatever the right solution is) I could have sent a line down, in front of the front side of that bigger branch. Friends on the ground could have taken that free end, wrapped around a tree trunk and clipped a carabiner to itself. Had I fallen, I was falling on the near side of the branch. I either A) would have stopped once I ran the full length of the line or B) the branch / rope would have been compromised but it at least would have slowed me down. Would have made it a 30' fall as opposed to 50'

Big difference. Anything at that point was better than nothing. So ya, I'm not the first, nor will be the last to go into trees, so if there is a practical solution that doesn't compromise flight performance etc,. We should get it out there as a community.

I'll post some pics next week. I'll weigh it too. Mine is heavy and a little bulky. I have climbed 1000 footers with it. Makes me fell better on those really woodsy jumps.

holy fucking balls, dude. that is terrifying. glad you are ok.

my 4mm cord would never have held a fall like that onto a lower branch. best case: maybe, delicately, it could have helped you lower yourself off the risers onto the lower branch, and then you could have re-rigged your rappel from that point.

I can only imagine using a fall-rated dynamic rope in the hypothetical you described, where your friends anchor an end near the ground for the branch to catch your fall. Some companies are making certified half-ropes down to about 7mm which would theoretically offer a safe catch. But who's going to jump with that every time. I liked others' suggestion of keeping a tree kit in the car too.

Interesting mention of the chest strap. What knot did you tie off with? What model rig did you have?

its always nice to have a kiwi on the load, too :)

Ya thanks man. Wasn't my best day. Ironically, it was also the last jump of the trip, was flying out of Zurich the next morning.

You're prob right with the 4mm in that scenario. Maybe the sling runner idea with 550 cord to be used as a haul line is the right way to go. In an ideal world, it would be really cool if there is a rescue kit that is universally known and accepted as the rescue kit. It's stashed somewhere universal like the Horner or Im Rohr in an bright orange tuff box. People just know that's the kit. It's got an itemized list of supplies in it, where to buy it and how much they cost. Whatever was used for a rescue, the jumper pays for and replaces.

In my scenario, I could have used a 10mm dynamic to tie into the bottom of a tree, hauled the free end, tied that into my chest strap while waiting for the professionals. The intent of the kit wouldn't be to start getting all Mcgyer, but at least start putting some redundancy into your rescue until help arrives.

Car kit is great for individual jumps out in the boonies. I just think it would be cool to see a universal kit in Lauterbrunnen and Brento. $350 would probably give you just about everything you need.

Oh - meant to answer your questions, I literally just did an overhand retrace (I've tied a figure 8 retrace 1000 times before but given the situation, my brain wasn't computing 100%). Overhand retrace over the chest strap worked like a charm.

My rig is an Apex DP. She's a tough piece of sewn together fabric.

Photos of tree self rescue kit with 5mm kevlar rope
I also have several 15M kits that are obviously lighter

I've never been to the Valley yet, maybe next season. So I don't know if this kit already exists, or has been discussed. But if locals thought it was a good idea, I would pitch in some cash to make that happen... what does the SBA think? Good idea or bad idea?

This is very important.

If you take a 10' fall on a static line, you're lucky if the branch breaks because otherwise your body will.

For rappelling I'd suggest a 5mm dynema-core/nylon-sheath cord. (Kevlar works too but is more severely compromised if you tie a knot in it)

I've got one of these: https://towmeup.com/products/tree-rescue-kit

This thread is a good reminder that I need to starting bringing it with on jumps over trees, or at least leaving it in the car where somebody could maybe get it to me.

I found a nice article on self rescue (with your rescue kit) here:

http://www.cascadeparaglidingclub.org/pages/treeres.php

I thought it was a good read!

I can fit the Blackhawk drop leg pouch (in it's normal position) under my PTS.

I jump round parachutes into the forest for work.
I've self-lowered out of two tree landings, witnessed about a dozen, and critiqued/supervised around 100 practice let downs.
Basically, The system we use is a birds nest (closed loop daisy chain) of 1" webbing in a leg bag (a cargo pocket could work) passed through 2 D-rings (they're sewn into a harness built into the pants), then tied off to the high riser. Throw the birds nest down, tie a backup knot, release your canopy with as little shock loading as possible (prepare to PLF if you burn out of the tree) undo the safety knot and rappel down. Bingo Bango.
I might post a video of a practice letdown later. I'd be stoked to make and test a BASE jumping variation of this system if anyone's interested. Maybe with 1/2" webbing.

I've examined the USAF's version of that system for bailout rigs. I forget how much webbing was provided, but it was way too bulky to be useful for routine BASE use, unfortunately. So I gave it back to life support, even though they were more than happy to let it "disappear" :)

Would be very interested to see pictures of your particular set up!

I'm certainly interested. Please do. Thanks

milkflyrockclimb if you are who I think you are, then I have to thank you because after what happened to you I always made sure that I opened high on that particular exit. It scared the life out of me to stand there and hear branches breaking while we waited for Air Glacier. I have never felt so helpless in my life! We had a couple of heroes with us on the load that day - without them who knows what would have happened.

If you do decide to design a system that would help out on a tree landing, then please count me in as one of your first customers! E

Interesting thread...

Tree landing is one of the big problem that we can experiment on a BASE jump. As Iam a climber, I've always had with me a rescue kit to go down from a tree. At the beginning I used my 2 "gargo pocket" of my rig (Zak) to carry all the time this kit. Now I made an other one that it is always inside the pocket of my wingsuit (easy to access).

I only land on time in a tree and with no injury. Lucky it was a small one, the thing that take me longer was to take back my canopy. But small or big, when you are in a tree, you could fall on ground if you try to climb down and injury yourself. So it is beter to secure first and use adequate equipment and knowing how to use it.

As I have always my climbing equipment in my car, in the past I've help 2 friends to go down, one from 20m high suspended in the air by a little branch but without no equipment to secure himself on the tree.

My reflexion is (I jump a lot solo): what can I do if a land in a tree alone in a forest with no friends around me?

For me the first think that each jumper must have with him is a Survival Blanket. Because this could help you to warm you if you are in a situation of bad weather in mountain, or oblige to spend night in the backyard, or to rescue somebody or yourself after an accident. Cheap and light, very efficiency to maintain body heat.

In my kit, I got (see photos): 1 rope (long 10m / 3mm, 65g), 1 light carabiner (Grivel Plume 37g), 1 Dyneema (long 120cm / 10mm) and 1 survival blanket. Less than 200g at all.

At this kit I can add to be more confortable: 1 other 10m rope, 1 other Dyneema , and 1 more carabiner. A manual chain saw could help to free the canopy too (photo).

When you are in a tree, first you must secure yourself, and a long sling like Dyneema with a carabiner can help you by using the tree to fix it. If you don't have a 3 rings or a key to free your risers or cut the soft links, you should take off your harness and a Dyneema around your chest or belly could help you to secure the process. 2 Dyneema could help to make a little harness... Then after you use you rope to go down by rappelling twin if you don't have enough rope to go down in one time. You can use too that rope to pull some equipment that friends or rescuers will give you from ground.

Of course when we are not a climber and unconfortable with this equipment and exercice, the best is to test this kind of rescue before on a safe place close from ground and with some people who know how to use it.

The best if you are not confortable is to wait for the rescue, but it will be better if you can secure yourself quickly on the tree.

Don't forget, there is a suspension risk, call "Harness Hang Syndrome", that could put you in "loss of consciousness" and kill you quickly if you spend too long time in suspension in a harness without moving.

Take care.

Jerome

I have seen an out of shape guy start to have
trouble with blood flow in under 45 minutes.