Hyperlite Saved my Arm!

[NautiqueJeff]

I was messing around at dusk last night, doing some surface 3's on my Murray. I went into one, and caught my heel edge, slamming the back of my head down into the water. No big deal. It happens to me quite often! The next thing that happened was pretty scary. A split second after hitting the water, it felt like my arm was completely ripped off! Somehow when I fell, I managed to get my arm completely through the handle, all the way up to my shoulder. When the rope tension returned, the pain was unbelievable. There was a loud CRACK, and I assumed my arm was broken. My wife brought the boat around, and I looked up at the tower, and there was a short piece of rope hanging from the tower. I looked down at my arm, and the handle was still up around my shoulder.

The rope had broken!

It turns out my arm didn't break after all. It was just torn up pretty severely. If that rope hadn't broken, my arm would have broken for sure.

I am SO THANKFUL that Hyperlite / Accurate lines are designed in the way that they are, allowing them to break in extreme circumstances like that.

I spent the night in the emergency room being checked out to be sure nothing was broken, but I am fine. I just need a couple of weeks for the muscles to heal, and I'll be back on the water.

Thanks to Hyperlite Wakeboards (makers of Accurate Lines) for saving my arm!

EDIT: Added a few pictures from a week or so after this happened. The swelling went crazy, and my whole arm was red. It is now about three weeks later and my arm is just now getting back to normal. I still have some soreness, but I will probably ride this week for the first time since this happened. Be careful out there!

[obd666]

ouch !!! i didn't realize they are designed to break under high tension, but i bet you're glad they do.

i've often had that fear of getting my arm caught on a digger. congrats on it not ending any worse than it did ...

[Laketexoma]

glad you were riding longer than just the main line!! Hope you heal soon..

[TX-Foilhead]

And everyone one says the foilers are crazy for ridng with a release. Glad things worked out not too bad for you, not sure I would trust 'the rope will break' as a safety device especially for someone lighter than you. It's amazing how quickly things can go sideways and you can't do a thing about it even if you see it coming.

[NautiqueJeff]

Very true. I am sure it is not a true safety feature, and I am a pretty solid dude (225 or so). I feel very fortunate that this ended like it did, and that's a good point about being glad I wasn't riding just the main line. I think I might make that a rule on my boat going forward! I was riding at 75', which is two sections out.

[TxJole]

I've seen the other end of that story and the guy can't lift over 25lbs with his left arm 4 years after the fact. You got lucky, re-knot that rope, and never trade it in. My brother rides with a 10 year old rope with 8 knots, says it pulled him 5th in Nationals and through a Vans tour and he won't ride without it, and trust me he won't.

[bsb4fsu]

Hey Jeff. Glad to hear you're ok. Accidents with handles can be very scary. I'm actually surprised they don't happen more often. Does anyone know how much force an average guy puts on a rope when cutting? It would be great if someone made a release just above that threshold. You would still get hurt pretty bad but it might save you from ripping your arm (or something else) off.

[surroundsound64]

Wow. That's crazy dude. I've seen those ropes take some pretty impressive stress. No doubt your arm is sore!

Heal quickly!

[NautiqueJeff]

I found out from Hyperlite that these ropes are designed to withstand 1,500 pounds of force. I think that's just about perfect.

[Miljack]

Wow, scary accident, glad to hear it wasn't too bad. I bet you're gonna be SORE in the next few days...

[NautiqueJeff]

Yeah, it is pretty sore. I can't stretch it out straight yet. Overall though I am happy to say that it doesn't hurt as much as I expected. I haven't needed to fill either pain med prescription yet. Hopefully I won't need to.

I am playing around with some new handle designs after this. It'll be interesting to see if anyone picks up my ideas.

[laurie8888]

Guys

This is the exact reason I have just purchased a ski handle guard from Fluid motion..............check it out......mine is for slalom

www. jagersport.com

[CradGen2]

Jeff what is the model of that rope? Glad you are alright. We barefoot with ropes that have steel cable running through it and those would never break.

Give your son back his muscle shirt.

Your luck on this one. The damage could have worse then a break.

[robertsmcfarland]

Jeff, you mess with the bull you get the horns, sorry, glad you will heal, you think you took 1500 pounds of pressure,or the rope broke premature due to use and wear?

[NigelC]

Ouch!! I am pleased you are OK Jeff. Wish you a speedy recovery and hope you are back on the water soon.

I have previously thought about the FM handle guard that Laurie is referring to but have had a lax attitude to buying one. Stories like this certainly make you rethink.