Very scary moment today, no tether!

[06redrevx]

We were riding in Seely Lake, Mt. Today. Both of us are well experienced mountain riders.
I was coming down a hill ,and saw my riding buddy below me as he cranked his sled over on its side. Snow conditions were set spring snow, his sled hooked up a little too well and the next thing you know his sled was upside down, throttle pinned wfo and he was on his back on top of the spinning track. His foot was caught in the foot stirrup. I saw him in full desperation throw himself backwards free of the machine.
When I got to him his Klim jacket looked like a bomb went off inside it, as well as his Motorfist bibs.
The jacket and bibs were just shredded, as we're his base layers.
I checked his back and it was bloody and actually had rubber marks on it from the track.
He had rash on his arms, back, leg, and rear end, as well as black and blue bruising.

He was a very sore rider, and will surely feel it much more tomorrow, but luckily he rode away from it.
I think about how bad this could have turned out.
No tether, and won't ride without one from now on!
If this post saves one accident from occurring then it will be well worth it.
Wish I had pics because words don't do justice to the story.
Install and use your tethers!!!!

 

[880summitxrs]

Glad to hear it turned out ok, well not totally ok (Jacket,Bibs,Rash,etc...) I'm going to assume he was riding Poo or Cat? I have heard of several accidents like this with some better and some worse. What I don't understand is why these manufactures don't have tether's right from the factory???

 

[jonasumb]

I still don't understand why Polaris doesn't come stock with one. I rock a tether I think it was around 75 dollars, imo totally worth every penny best mod I have

Sent from my SM-T217S using Tapatalk

 

[06redrevx]

Glad to hear it turned out ok, well not totally ok (Jacket,Bibs,Rash,etc...) I'm going to assume he was riding Poo or Cat? I have heard of several accidents like this with some better and some worse. What I don't understand is why these manufactures don't have tether's right from the factory???

Yes, sled is a Polaris Pro, why they won't put one on from the factory is rediculous. What could it cost them, $3 ?
Lesson learned! Could have been catastrophic
Sure chewed through $1200 in clothing in a hurry!

 

[rmscustom]

If you want a tether put one on its cheap and simple. If you don't want one it won't matter if the manufacturer put one on cause you won't wear it anyways.

Take responsibility for your actions. If you chose to ride without a tether and something bad happens don't start crying cause it didn't come with one.

 

[M8Chris]

This is exactly why I always wear my tether! People think they come off easy or are worried about snagging a tree, I promise it won't come off unless you fall they work awesome!

 

[907to406]

No offense and I'm glad you're pal was ok and wasn't seriously injured but how many more times does this have to happen before people catch on? So far this is the third time I've heard of this happening in the last couple years via snowest and I'm sure its happened plenty more times that haven't been documented. Just baffles me that people ride without tethers. I've owned all different brand sleds with the exception of a Yamaha and installed tethers on all of them that didn't come factory with one. I've even got riding buddies that have tethers on their sled and they just clip it to the brake or throttle line...blows my mind. Get a tether and wear it.

 

[Vern]

After all the horror stories on here like this, last fall I installed one on my m7 just to be safe and because I've ended up in some "situations" where either my riding buddies couldn't find me or couldn't get to me which got me thinkin what if I got pinned or something **** coulda got bad. It took a little getting used to but wasn't bad, just remembering to unhook it before walkin away from the sled is probably the hardest to get used to. My riding buddies gave me crap for installing one after so many years of riding without one, then last month I bought a new cat, no tether, and on the second ride I was shooting up this hill hit a drift mid way, sled left the ground and came back down on its side with my leg underneath it and me on the down hill side. I could feel the track spinning against my boot, I was able to reach up and hit the kill switch before riggling my way out from under it. I know this is no where near as bad as the stories like above, but it could have been worse and I've had many other situations in the past lookin back now that could have been much worse. Told my buddies that's why I put the tether on my old sled and that is why by the time next season comes around the new one will also have one. $30-40 for a tether that may never be needed is alot cheaper than what could happen that one time you do need one and its not there.

 

[bobback]

Guy in our group the other day had his throttle stuck wide open, totaled his sled. He was on a doo, obviously didn't have his tether attached.

Yep, time to add a tether.

 

[slyrydr]

happened to my wife this year...crossing a ridge, she hit a blow hole that dumped her off with the sled track on top...she was on an xm and the tether probably saved her...i look back for her every minute or two and turned around when i didn't see her, but a lot of bad things could have happened in a couple of minutes...need that girl...would have felt like $hit if something happened to her that i didn't take care of......

 

[Drewd]

Second thing my wife said to me (after "I'm ok) after flipping her sled on a climb this past Sunday was: "I'm so glad you installed a tether, it worked perfectly".

Many thanks to the couple who stopped and helped us flip the sled upright twice as the darn thing flipped over on me too when I tried to ride it out of the tree well on the slope.

Tether's are cheap, someone's life or limbs aren't.

 

[Insaneboltrounder/sjohns]

Does anybody make a real good one... i bought cats but its such a pos

 

[sledheadd]

Does anybody make a real good one... i bought cats but its such a pos

I used a pingle tether on my last 3 sleds without any problems. Some have said that they seen them freeze up but it hasn't happened to me yet.

 

[AndrettiDog]

Just don't go with the Pro Amor tether. I can't get the machine to shut off consistently.

 

[rmscustom]

Just don't go with the Pro Amor tether. I can't get the machine to shut off consistently.

Same problem with Pro design last year.

Put 3 Pro Armors on this year and had Problems with one. Found we had zip tied the wires to close to the switch and haven't had a problem since. Shouldn't be that fussy though.

 

[tdbaugha]

Just don't go with the Pro Amor tether. I can't get the machine to shut off consistently.

I've had multiple problems with my Pro Armor / Pro Design tethers. So I decided to tear one apart. Turns out they're super easy take apart and then you simply sand off all the corrosion and they work like new again.

It's a maintenance item now.

 

[plumnuts]

Take responsibility for your actions. If you chose to ride without a tether and something bad happens don't start crying cause it didn't come with one.

unless your throttle is pinned, you fall off, and the sled then runs down the trail and kills someone. People who ride without one (and the companies of Polaris and Cat should have them included...and probably someday someone will... bring legal action against them for the lack of basic safety equipment) are part of the problem... it is like all safety gear, helmet, check; beacon, check; poles, check; shovel, check; wearing a tether...CHECK!

 

[Teth-Air]

We manufacture and sell the Cordless Teth-Air. I hear these stories on a continual basis from customers. On our poll last year, only 20% responded that they always wear their tether. Good on those guys. Our product is for those guys who really hate the tether but realize the benefits. Please wear a corded tether or go wireless. Either way it could save a life or your sled. I have had guys tell me that they don't need a tether because they have insurance. At best a claim is going to take long enough for you to miss a big chunk of the season.


For those of you who don't believe the Cordless Teth-Air would have saved this guy, you can cover the transmitter at very close range to shut off the sled or in a run away condition the sled will shut off at 10-15 ft. In every instance of being on the track side of the sled, my Cordless Teth-Air has also shut the sled down as the chassis blocks the signal to the antenna on the sled. The high frequency radio signal acts very much like light and can be blocked. This is why we wear the transmitter on our fore-arm on the throttle side, right next to the receiving antenna.

Chris

 

[Drewd]

White brother's sells a tether that is identical and cheaper than a Pro Armor tether. I got mine for same price on Ebay 14.95 plus 6 bucks shipping.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/White-Broth...ors_ATV_Parts_Accessories&hash=item58ada76145


Have installed 4 Pro Armor tethers this year (2 old sleds we just sold and 2 new sleds we purchased this year) and never had an issue with them.

 

[Matte Murder]

I 'm kind of a tether Nazi. Heard and seen enough to know its best to wear one every time. I have made it super easy to use though. I rig up a super easy to reach and see spot to hook it to me and use 2 big plastic carabiners so its just snick/snick and I'm hooked up and just as easy to get un-hooked too. I also carry a spare DESS key for the Ski Doos and have them all programmed to use one key and a spare tether for the Cat in case I lose one while riding.