avidhunter
New Member
Man Working on Tree Stand Falls to his Death
Maybe someone already posted this? Happened just three days ago...
I recently finished reading a book entitled Deep Survival by Laurence Gonzales. Excellent book, I highly recommend it. A couple excerpts that hit home:
"...a wildland firefighter writes of waiting too long to get out of a fire that was overtaking him. 'I'd perhaps been too well trained,' he says. 'I was a victim of a common fire service mindset: Can do!...a crew is ever anxious for the action and the novelty...Our instructor had drummed a phrase into our heads: When in doubt, don't'. He's talking about a theory called "risk homeostasis." The theory says that people accept a given level of risk. While it's different for each person, you tend to keep the risk you're willing to take at about the same level. If you perceive conditions as less risky, you'll take more risk. If conditions seem more risky, you'll take less risk. The theory has been demonstrated again and again. When antilock brakes were introduced, authorities expected the accident rate to go down, but it went up. People perceived that driving was safer with antilock brakes so they drove more aggressively. With the introduction of radar in commercial shipping, it was expected that ships would collide less frequently. The opposite proved to be true. Radar simply allowed the owners to require the captains to drive the ships harder. Technological advances intended to improve safety may have the opposite effect."
I often wonder what effect safety harnesses have had on the overall rate of tree stand related accidents. I'm willing to guess that the rate of serious injury has declined, but I'm curious as to whether the overall rate of injury has improved. Anyone have the answer??? Have safety harnesses had the opposite effect, with hunters taking on more risk in the tree stand because of a perceived lessening of risk?
Maybe someone already posted this? Happened just three days ago...
I recently finished reading a book entitled Deep Survival by Laurence Gonzales. Excellent book, I highly recommend it. A couple excerpts that hit home:
"...a wildland firefighter writes of waiting too long to get out of a fire that was overtaking him. 'I'd perhaps been too well trained,' he says. 'I was a victim of a common fire service mindset: Can do!...a crew is ever anxious for the action and the novelty...Our instructor had drummed a phrase into our heads: When in doubt, don't'. He's talking about a theory called "risk homeostasis." The theory says that people accept a given level of risk. While it's different for each person, you tend to keep the risk you're willing to take at about the same level. If you perceive conditions as less risky, you'll take more risk. If conditions seem more risky, you'll take less risk. The theory has been demonstrated again and again. When antilock brakes were introduced, authorities expected the accident rate to go down, but it went up. People perceived that driving was safer with antilock brakes so they drove more aggressively. With the introduction of radar in commercial shipping, it was expected that ships would collide less frequently. The opposite proved to be true. Radar simply allowed the owners to require the captains to drive the ships harder. Technological advances intended to improve safety may have the opposite effect."
I often wonder what effect safety harnesses have had on the overall rate of tree stand related accidents. I'm willing to guess that the rate of serious injury has declined, but I'm curious as to whether the overall rate of injury has improved. Anyone have the answer??? Have safety harnesses had the opposite effect, with hunters taking on more risk in the tree stand because of a perceived lessening of risk?