Do you wear your tether?
- Thread starter ~Rowdy~
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Assaulter13
Active member
This is a timely thread for me. My sled came without a tether but I ordered one today after what I witnessed yesterday.
A group of us were in a mountain meadow when one of our party came off his sled after dropping down into a creek bed. The throttle stuck wide open and the sled took off at 9-0. It ripped across the meadow spending as much time in the air as it was on the ground until it finally came to another creek bank that launched it a good 20 feet in the air and 50 feet from the creek bank. The sled landed upside down, buried - except for the track still spinning 100 mph. We finally dug down and got the thing shutdown. It was some scary chit. Just digging down to get to the kill switch through hard pack was intimidating with the sled still running wide open. Yuck.
The rider was fine - the sled not so much, it was tweaked all over the place, gonna be some expensive repairs by the time all is said and done.
I won't ride without a tether again.
A group of us were in a mountain meadow when one of our party came off his sled after dropping down into a creek bed. The throttle stuck wide open and the sled took off at 9-0. It ripped across the meadow spending as much time in the air as it was on the ground until it finally came to another creek bank that launched it a good 20 feet in the air and 50 feet from the creek bank. The sled landed upside down, buried - except for the track still spinning 100 mph. We finally dug down and got the thing shutdown. It was some scary chit. Just digging down to get to the kill switch through hard pack was intimidating with the sled still running wide open. Yuck.
The rider was fine - the sled not so much, it was tweaked all over the place, gonna be some expensive repairs by the time all is said and done.
I won't ride without a tether again.
What do you attach the tether to?
I was on a friends sled, eyeing up a climb, and didn't watch where I was going. I fell into a creek hole and fell backwards and off to the side. My left foot activated his lefty throttle, and my head was right at the track. Luckily I had the tether and pulled it off. My head and arm almost got sucked into the track.
I was on a friends sled, eyeing up a climb, and didn't watch where I was going. I fell into a creek hole and fell backwards and off to the side. My left foot activated his lefty throttle, and my head was right at the track. Luckily I had the tether and pulled it off. My head and arm almost got sucked into the track.
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Bnorth
Active VIP Member
Be careful with the pingle I have heard of a situation where ice formed around the bottom and when the pin was pulled the cap didn't retract and the sled went for an expensive ride at WOT.
woody_tobius_jr
Active VIP Member
My buddy was going up a hill in Revy, and got bucked off going by a tree, he fell in the tree well, and the sled backed over the hole that he fell in stopping with the exhaust over top of the hole and was idling away. By the time we realized he was in trouble and got to him, he was fairly gassed (another reason not to ride alone). He was pretty much done for the rest of the day, his lungs and eyes were burning, and he had a wicked headache.
tstams
Active VIP Member
I never where my tether yes that is a terrible accident and shows why you should where it but allways have a fear of the tether coming out during a climb and the sled shutting off to me that is more likely to happen then what happened there
Glad to see he is ok!!!
Glad to see he is ok!!!
Your an idiot WEAR YOUR TETHER!!! Don't be an idiot, don't wear it on your wrist either! Attach it to your jacket or pants. I have never had mine accidentally pull free while climbing it is next to impossible, your chances of getting seriously hurt, killed or killing a good friend are higher then it killing your engine by mistake. Placement is key as yes it's a pin in the ass if it gets wrapped around your bars when your trying to ride. It needs to be as far away from your bars as possible and as close to your attach point as you can get it. As I stated above mine has saved my life several times.
- Thread starter
- #28
I have a D ring in my Snowpulse Protect Vest that I have a carabeaner and key ring attached to that I clip the tether to. I used to rock a lanyard that I attached the tether to that allowed more slack that I will be going back to for next season. I never got hung up on the bars with that set up
- Thread starter
- #29
I have to agree with E-Zmoke on that tstams, not calling you an idiot but more often than not the tether does good
I can attest to that. The day in eagles ur sled flipped upside down in the tree by you had the potential to hurt you should you not have had your tether on.
I myself have had numerous situations that could have gone real bad if I didn't have my tether on. I'm an advocate of wearing it.
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hard to say, so many other things can go wrong also that cant be prevented in a sport like this. Can your body not get to the track while it is spinning while the tether coil is still attached with it stretched and your arm length etc? It is an added precaution but not a fail safe piece of equipment. Anything is better than nothing
Another reason to not attach a tether to your arm. Your free arm can pull on the cord.
FernieHawk
Active VIP Member
I just sent an email to three riding buddies that don't wear tethers. I included the link to the video.
I just had a frozen (left hand) throttle runaway on Sunday...I tried to hit the kill switch, but it is a Cat with the stupid rocker switch setup and I wasn’t able to kill it. I bailed off the back so the tether would stop it; sled ended up in a tree well but it would have been a lot worse without the tether.
I just had a frozen (left hand) throttle runaway on Sunday...I tried to hit the kill switch, but it is a Cat with the stupid rocker switch setup and I wasn’t able to kill it. I bailed off the back so the tether would stop it; sled ended up in a tree well but it would have been a lot worse without the tether.
Started wearing my tether religiously this past year. At first it was to make sure the sled didn't run off WOT or stop it from running when it's flipped. There was a story earlier this year, I think, about someone getting their arm caught in the track.
I have a small carabiner on mine so it's easier to clip on and off the d-ring on my jacket with gloves. I don't even notice it when I'm riding. Every now and then I forget it's attached and walk away from the sled.
Tethers should be factory installed. Don't forget to test the tether once in a while. My wiring either came loose or I disconnected it when I did my top end rebuild.
I have a small carabiner on mine so it's easier to clip on and off the d-ring on my jacket with gloves. I don't even notice it when I'm riding. Every now and then I forget it's attached and walk away from the sled.
Tethers should be factory installed. Don't forget to test the tether once in a while. My wiring either came loose or I disconnected it when I did my top end rebuild.
Wilk INStheWEST
Active VIP Member
I do this ALL THE TIME!! Nothing like getting a spring loading smack in the back of the leg with the tether.
snopro
Active VIP Member
Someone just pulled Willy"s tether....
mountainbigbull
Active VIP Member
To all you non-tether wears: please have the go-pros running so we can watch the vids
Wilk INStheWEST
Active VIP Member
They should put tethers on bikes too.
Funny Motorcycle Crash / Dance - Two Bikes Get Tangled While Running... - YouTube
Funny Motorcycle Crash / Dance - Two Bikes Get Tangled While Running... - YouTube
- Thread starter
- #39
haha sorry that's kind of funny, but yes they should put tethers on bikes too.
snopro
Active VIP Member
Those two guys look like they wanted to continue racing pretty bad!
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