Climber Falls - Not wife/kids safe!

I've told of it somewhere before, but a guy who was at College with me in '05 fell two weeks after finishing the course. He finished, he did not pass, could not reach the competency standard for climbing and operations with a chainsaw.
He unclipped one system, threw it up and over for the next set of climbing...but did not re-attach before undoing his lanyard... undid it, leaned back and fell...40' down, shattered ankles head injuries...never found out what happened long term.
I always put weight into the re-attached system before unclipping the other one.
I've heard of close calls with the top rope when coming down dismantling a trunk...that one is seared into my brain, gives me the heebies reading that someone actually did it! A guy on AS posted of a close call with that oh, about three years ago, never forgot it.
 
About 5 years ago, I had made the cut while still still tied into the stem I was rigging. I was lucky in that it was not a tremendous load and I did not get hurt. It jarred the hell out of me though and I will never forget it. It was all due to complacency.
 
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"Check the system you are going to, before leaving the system you are on"

Thats what I drill into the heads of anyone I take into an at-height environment, regardless of the activity.
 
And then there's forgetting to pull your climbline out when you cut the top out.

I did that mistake in a maple, start to finish, not with the top though. It was the last log cut before felling the spar, a piece like 7 feet by 20".
I saw the problem when the log was tilting. Not enough time to do something, except shouting a loud "shit".
My climbing line was hopefully tied loose, just passed over a residual crotch from a co-leader. So, when the log flipped, the rope came alone out of the crotch, living me scared but safe.

And I remember perfectly when I saw this caution in the Fundamentals, I thought in myself "That's not possible, how can one forget where his line is tied? ".
Actually, it's easy enough with the appropriate conditions.
My shame.
 
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