| Name | Age | Sex | Injuries | Injured areas |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Johnson, Larry | Not recorded | Not recorded | Not recorded | Not recorded |
A caver was climbing a free 160 foot pit using a Mitchell (high and low Jumars with a Gossett box). One hundred feet up his lower Jumar sling came untied. He was suspended from his other Jumar, whose sling was badly worn! Fortunately he had a third Jumar which he rapidly applied. The sling re-tied, he continued up.
Note that when you tie up a vertical rig, you should wet the knots and apply stress to "set" the knot. A knot properly set should not come untied. Some knots do not set well, however, and some sling rope is too stiff to allow setting. In this case one can fasten the loose ends to prevent untying. As this caver (Johnson) points out: always wear chicken loops, always inspect your gear before using it, and a Mitchell isn't really complete unless the ascenders are safetied to a seat harness.
Caver ascender sling untied during climb; proper knot setting and gear inspection could prevent such incidents.