Home » Safety » Ten Misconceptions

Ten Misconceptions


Ten Misconceptions in Saddle Hunting Climbing Safety

This video was made in October 2023, a year after the “Ten Rules” video. It contains JRB’s assessment of the most common safety misconceptions. To be clear, the bold statements are the misconceptions (mistakes) that many climbers make:

  1. Assuming I am safe… don’t make that assumption.
  2. It’s not going to happen to me… better to ask if can.
  3. Trusting my instincts … instead of supplementing with education.
  4. A Lineman’s Belt will protect me … it won’t.
  5. A short Tether is ok … we need a Lifeline on low slack and a path to ground at all times.
  6. My weight is the important metric …. actually it’s your slack profile.
  7. Not climbing high enough to get hurt… yes we are.
  8. Falling is the only hazard …. consider suspension trauma, conditions, falling objects.
  9. It works, don’t need to evaluate what could go wrong … we do.
  10. Rope climbing is difficult … only if you’re using an inefficient technique.