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Server Time:
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 poetictightfist
Location: Warwick RI
 |  |  | Re: Biggest mistake?
<Reply # 80 on 9/19/2010 11:21 PM >
|  | | | Posted by TheVicariousVadder
I cut my thumb with a bread knife while making dinner tonight. That was pretty dumb.
http://i214.photob...ve_Silver/ouch.jpg
I've made lot's of mistakes in my life. The biggest is not taking enough chances. I've never taken a risk I later regretted.
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I see your bread knife and raise you a knocking a steak knife off the counter and having it impale your foot
[last edit 9/19/2010 11:22 PM by poetictightfist - edited 1 times]
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EVmAN
      
Location: Mississauga, ON
Gender: Male
and I-- I took the path less traveled by, And that has made all the difference.
| | Re: Biggest mistake?
<Reply # 81 on 9/21/2010 2:21 PM >
| | | | Getting my flashlight caught on a fence and turning around to grab it as I hop the fence, thereby twisting my ankle. It hurt for a week 
The sign said "Anybody caught trespassin will be shot on sight"
So I jumped on the fence and I yelled at the house,
"Hey! What gives you the right?" http://www.flickr.com/photos/evman/ |
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~Nin
Location: Austin, Texas
Gender: Male
Time is all funny.
| | Re: Biggest mistake?
<Reply # 82 on 9/23/2010 8:27 PM >
| | | | Bringing a sticky fingered friend to a location that still had everything in it. He's a little bit eccentric, and a certain chair took his fancy. He came back in his truck a few days later and took the chair.
Lesson learned: Your supervision doesn't extend beyond your own vision.
[last edit 9/23/2010 8:29 PM by ~Nin - edited 1 times]
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Therrin
 
This member has been banned. See the banlist for more information.
Location: North of Chicago, IL
Gender: Male
*Therrin puts on the penguin-suit
| | | Re: Biggest mistake?
<Reply # 83 on 9/23/2010 9:12 PM >
| | | | Biggest mistake huh? Untill recently my mistakes only belonged in the "harmless" catagory.
Then....I hiked up to Panamint.
It was the upper adit of the Wyoming mine. We had brought a 150' rope, and my 200' rope. I set 3 anchors on 2 pieces of ore cart rails, and began the descent down a mostly-vertical shaft. Say about 75 to 80 degree incline.
I had threaded the rope into my descender, and had started down. The mine air was very damp. The old timber support system and ladders were rotted. The air was cold. I was tired already. We didn't bring the walkie talkies.
I rappelled down to the end of the 150' rope, tied a figure-8-on-a-bight on the end and clipped it to my harness, had about 4 feet of slack in the line, and was standing on a horizontal support beam that the 150 year old ladder system was attatched to. I hollered up for the next guy to bring down my 200' line, as I was staring down further with my 300lm HP10 headlamp, and still could not see the bottom.
Instead of sitting on the edge of the vertical shaft and clipping in, I think he was standing up when he went to thread his descender. As he pulled up line to get enough slack to thread his piece, he ended up jerking against my harness, having pulled all the slack out of the line... I was trying to shout up the shaft but he couldn't hear me. I think that he thought it was caught on something and was just pulling on it... jerking against my harness.
That's when I made the mistake.
I unclipped myself from the rope.... and it was pulled up about 4 or 5 feet above my head. I stood there on the beam, hand around the ladder system...and waited.
He eventually came rappelling down the 150' rope, with my 200' rope in its bag. He got to the ladder support beam above me and stopped to pull the 200' rope from the bag, but it was all tangled.
That's when I felt the ladder system start to break loose. The combined weight of me on my support beam, and him on the support beam above me was too much for that 150 year old rotted wood. I felt the ladder start to break, I grabbed at the rungs to support myself and they busted off one after another, rotted chunks of wood, the nails rusted and broken loose, and the pieces plummetted off into the darkness. The beam I was standing on slipped an inch. I started to get scared.
I yelled "throw me the rope!!!!" I heard "just a minute, I'm untangling it"
I yelled back "THROW ME THE FUCKING ROPE, RIGHT FUCKING NOW!! JUST THROW ME A PIECE OF THE GODDAMN ROPE MAN!!!" The tension had become apparent in my voice.
A piece of rope dropped down to me, I wrapped it around my right wrist, and a second later the support beam I was standing on, and the 20ft section of old ladder system all broke loose and plummeted past me into the depths below. I could hear it crashing as it gained speed on the way down and impacted far down below me.... over 100ft down, as I was left hanging by my wrist. Hanging over an inky black void, with my heart pounding.
It took several minutes for us to arrange a solution. I had him clip his ascender to the line, tie a bight and clip to his ascender, tie another bight and drop it to me. I clipped that to my harness with my free hand. I was finally "safe" for the moment. Come to find out later, when hanging by my wrist, the only thing that was holding the rope on the other end was a piece of cheap 1" nylon webbing with a plastic quick disconnect buckle snapping it together.
It took another 10 or 15 mins for us to untangle the line, and then arrange for it to be tied end to end to the original 150' segment. When all was figured out I re-threaded my descender to the 200' line and finished rappelling down to the very bottom of the shaft. He came down after me, and at the bottom there was a pile of broken and busted ladders and beams; all mushy and rotted and bashed to pieces. The vertical shaft ended in a 10ft horizontal segment, and there was nothing of any value or interest to see. He ascended first.
On my way back up, I was using sections of the ladder system to assist in sliding my ascenders back up the line. Around 3/4 of the way up, another several rungs broke under my feet and another 20ft section of ladder and support beams came loose. This time, since I was connected to the rope, I just pushed off the wall and let the whole mass slide past me. It ripped out the fabric on the inside thighs of my pants, then went hurtling down over 200ft into the darkness, also crashing into the bottom.
5 minutes later I was back to the top and crawled out of the vertical back into the horizontal drift system. Happy, tired, and glad to be alive.
In over 16 years of climbing and ropework; this is by far the scariest and most dangerous situation I've ever found myself in. One single mistake on my part, one harmless misjudgement, which could have let to a fatal catastrophe.
Be carefull out there!!
Give a person a match and they'll be warm for a minute, but light them on fire and they'll be warm for the rest of their life. =) |
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NotBatman
Location: MSP
Gender: Male
Secret Cult Member
| | Re: Biggest mistake?
<Reply # 84 on 9/23/2010 9:25 PM >
| | | | Holy fuck-a-moley!
I'm a "Leave only footprints, take only pornography" kind of guy, myself. |
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badgerbadger
Location: Rhode Island
Gender: Male
Hey look, a ______! I wanna climb it!
| |  | Re: Biggest mistake?
<Reply # 85 on 9/24/2010 1:05 AM >
| | | | Therrin, that has to be the craziest story I've EVER heard. I'm glad you're OK man, took some skill and quick thinking to get out of that one! Good job.
My near falling story is no where near as amazing. Bouldering, slipped on lose rock, static hanging about 20' off the ground. The usual.
[23:30:28] <Trap> Protip: Soylent Green is people
[23:30:39] <badgerbadger> Best. Protip. Ever. |
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Spike
Location: New Zealand
Gender: Male
Rapid Canvas Therapy
| | Re: Biggest mistake?
<Reply # 86 on 9/24/2010 2:41 AM >
| | | | Holy shit that story had my hands sweating like hell!
nosus decipio |
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Therrin
This member has been banned. See the banlist for more information.
Location: North of Chicago, IL
Gender: Male
*Therrin puts on the penguin-suit
| | | Re: Biggest mistake?
<Reply # 87 on 9/24/2010 3:09 AM >
| | | | Well I'm glad I just scared the shit out of all the noobz =D
And to the rest of the people, who are ever-so-gleefull to point out that Therrin made a mistake... yes. Yes I did. Alas, I'm human. Damn!
Everyone needs to pay extra-close attention to what they're doing while on-rope. When making judgment decisions, always err on the side of extreme caution, as opposed to immediate comfort. Just a single mistake can be fatal. Mistakes are easier to make when you're already tired.
Give a person a match and they'll be warm for a minute, but light them on fire and they'll be warm for the rest of their life. =) |
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bermbanger
Location: central nj
Gender: Male
message me if you wanna explore
| | | Re: Biggest mistake?
<Reply # 88 on 9/24/2010 11:12 PM >
| | | | me and my boy running threw a swap to get away from cops and dogs and having about 20 ticks on me big mistake
omg |
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JD
Location: Indianapolis, IN
Gender: Male
| | Re: Biggest mistake?
<Reply # 89 on 9/25/2010 2:03 AM >
| | | | I haven't had any major mishaps, and least not yet. I tend to be pretty careful mainly because I often explore on my own nowadays, so any mistake is all on my head.
And about your story Therrin, holy SHIT. I literally got sweaty palms just reading your story, you're one lucky guy to be alive. And yes, one simple mistake is often all it takes for all hell to break loose. Heck, some of the biggest man-made disasters to date started with the smallest thing, it really doesn't take much.
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hedkace
Location: MA
Gender: Male
| | Re: Biggest mistake?
<Reply # 90 on 9/26/2010 4:33 PM >
| | | | I got on this kick of going exploring alone while pretty ripped, (drunk).
Maybe it was the simple fact that I was still awake at 2...3...4 in the morning made it always seem like a good idea at the time.
All the times doing that cost me 3 broken bones in my foot, (2nd, 3rd, 4th metatarsal) a new Nikon digital camera with full memory card of who the fuk remembers what), a new $160 dollar Streamlight C4 Stinger LED flashlight. An impounded vehicle which cost me $140 dollars to get out of impound.
A taxi ride home, and some pride hurt.
I consider myself EXTREMELY lucky.
Also thankful to the security who caught me that one night I was really loopy.
Hey fellas, (and one chick who was really angry), if you're on here, all kidding aside, thank you.
Thankfully I learn from my mistakes, and that phase is long gone.
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DanielC
Location: Places I shouldn't be ;) MA
Gender: Male
| | Re: Biggest mistake?
<Reply # 91 on 9/26/2010 11:40 PM >
| | | | Going places with inexperienced people/people who cave when being pressured by police. That shit annoys me to no end.
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jinx13
Location: Peninsula, San Francisco Bay Area
Gender: Male
| | Re: Biggest mistake?
<Reply # 92 on 9/29/2010 7:23 PM >
| | | | My biggest mistake was not taking a closer look.
I had scouted an area out two nights before I actually went in and I found an excellent access point.
When I went back for the actual exploring I didn't see my access. I kicked myself and then decided to hop the fence and brave the gap in the barbed wire. Ultimately it was worth it. I loved the place and will go back after a good rain. I hopped back out through the same gap and as I tumbled onto the pavement I saw the access point I found two nights before.
The access was a hole in a chain link fence, but there was another segment of fence about six feet behind it. When I got there the two fences sort of blended together and I didn't see the opening.
So I jumped over a fence and risked a serious case of tetanus for no reason. I felt like an idiot.
Gravity, it's not just a good idea, it's the law. |
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Spike
Location: New Zealand
Gender: Male
Rapid Canvas Therapy
| | Re: Biggest mistake?
<Reply # 93 on 9/29/2010 7:30 PM >
| | | | Posted by Therrin
Well I'm glad I just scared the shit out of all the noobz =D
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Ooooh!! I almost resent that.... 
nosus decipio |
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jinx13
Location: Peninsula, San Francisco Bay Area
Gender: Male
| | Re: Biggest mistake?
<Reply # 94 on 9/29/2010 11:05 PM >
| | | | Oh, I wanted to delete the above one, but rules about deleting posts etc.
Anyway. I remembered something better.
This is probably my biggest mistake because of how elementary it is and how easily it could have been avoided.
As those of you in the Bay know, it's has been hotter than Satan's tit here. This does somewhat complicate UrbEx-ing a bit as all the smells are amplified and covering up becomes somewhat cumbersome.
There was a place on Treasure Island that I wanted to shoot from that was at the other end of a mildly wooded area but I wanted to wait until it was a little darker before heading out. I walked around Treasure Island taking some pictures waiting for the sun to go down and I left my hoodie and shemagh in the car because it was too hot. Long story short, I spent too much time walking around and started doing a light jog onto Yerba Buena Island to get to the overlook that I wanted to reach.
So I passed my car on the way there and I told myself that if I ran back to the car to get my sweater and shemagh I would miss the sunset and totally waste that day so I ran right past and started making my way through.
BIG MISTAKE!
Oh my god, that was stupid. It would have taken me maybe three minutes to run to get my stuff, but I didn't. I got scraped in more places than I care to remember just getting to the lookout. Then when I finished and it was dark it only got worse. Every time I brushed against something I thought it was some kind of bug and I swatted it which only got my other arm tangled in other things. I got scraped on my face. Thankfully I kept my gloves with my kit so my hands were fine.
The next morning my arms were itchy and swollen. My left eye had swelled up and I could barely see out of it. By the end of the first day the swelling was mostly gone and by the next day it was back to normal. I'm guessing it probably wasn't insect bites, more likely just some oils secreted by the plants in the area, I'm guessing eucalyptus but I could be wrong.
Simple moral, cover up. If it's too hot, just pack a sweater and a scarf. It'll be sweaty and gross but at least you'll be able to see out of both eyes in the morning.
Gravity, it's not just a good idea, it's the law. |
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MindHacker
Location: Suburbs of DC
Gender: Male
If you spot a terrorist arrow, pin it to the wall with your shoulder.
| | Re: Biggest mistake?
<Reply # 95 on 9/30/2010 3:09 AM >
| | | | | Posted by jinx13pack a sweater and a scarf. |
For the record,you can do better. BDU's are pricker-resistant and not nearly as hot.
"That's just my opinion. I would, however, advocate for explosive breaching, since speed and looking cool are both concerns in my job."-Wilkinshire |
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\/adder
 
Location: DunkarooLand
Gender: Male
I'm the worst of the best but I'm in this race.
| |  | Re: Biggest mistake?
<Reply # 96 on 9/30/2010 3:38 AM >
| | | | Posted by MindHacker
For the record,you can do better. BDU's are pricker-resistant and not nearly as hot.
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Carharts.
I don't own any but my dad wore them and walked through these monster thornbushes that punched holes in my ripstop bdu's one time whilst stream fishing:
this is pretty fucking close to what we encountered
"No risk, no reward, no fun."
"Go all the way or walk away"
escensi omnis... |
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jinx13
Location: Peninsula, San Francisco Bay Area
Gender: Male
| | Re: Biggest mistake?
<Reply # 97 on 9/30/2010 5:24 AM >
| | | | Posted by MindHacker
For the record,you can do better. BDU's are pricker-resistant and not nearly as hot.
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I've been thinking about buying a BDU top. I'm still fleshing out my adventure kit so there's a good chance I'll be adding it. I'm going to be in Berkeley tomorrow and there's a surplus store I like there so I'll try one on and see how I like it.
Thanks for the heads up.
Gravity, it's not just a good idea, it's the law. |
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marsrover
Gender: Male
Exploring is for hipsters!
| | Re: Biggest mistake?
<Reply # 98 on 9/30/2010 1:55 PM >
| | | | Going into a wooded area to explore. Found out later that the guy that lives there WILL shoot on site. No questions or warnings. The next one is when I go back to said location and attempt to find a small dot I saw on google earth. Wish me not shot.
So i'm just pokeing around, are you gona do anything about it. |
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Eelco
Location: Eindhoven, The Netherlands
Gender: Male
“Beautiful, beautiful. Magnificent desolation.”
| | | Re: Biggest mistake?
<Reply # 99 on 10/4/2010 1:51 PM >
| | | | Some enjoyable stories guys!
For me I would say that forgetting ONE shoe at Viktoria Stift (german mansion) is pretty bad!
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