When I put the hammock up I’m usually pretty good about looking up to see if there are any limbs that look like they could come down and skewer me. For about a year now there’s been a large limb left over from one of our storms that’s been snagged in the tree near where I hang. A few weeks ago as I was trying out the Light Hiker it was very windy and I couldn’t help but wonder how safe I was. Fortunately nothing happened.

I haven’t been around the house much this weekend since I spent over 20 hours stripping the roof off a building and putting down everything but the shingles for a new roof. When I got home tonight I learned that another large limb (that I’d never noticed) had barely missed the tarp and hammock. Two positive things happened. First, I wasn’t in the hammock and didn’t get killed. Second, it fell near my tree hugger and the only casualty was the line to my tarp.

I learned a valuable lesson: look, then look again. I have no idea where this limb came from but had it fallen a few feet the other direction during the night while I was sleeping I’d be dead or severely injured. One interesting thing is that there was very little wind today so I’m not sure what caused it to fall.

Stay safe out there fellow hangers!