My power stretcher slipped mid-pull and I launched myself into a sliding glass door

Was doing a 12x14 bedroom in a condo downtown and the head popped off the track right as I leaned in, sent me flying across the room and smacked my face on the glass - anyone else had a tool betray them at the worst possible moment?

2 comments

2 Comments

paulperez2d ago

How's your face doing - did the glass hold up or did you go through it? I keep picturing the exact moment when you feel that pop and there's that split second where you know you're in trouble but can't do anything about it. Was it the actual head coming off the track or did one of those little locking pins shear off? Those cheap stamped metal pieces always look flimsy to me, had one bend on a commercial job and learned to check them every time before I start pulling tension.

tyler_white422d ago

Hang on man, I think you're blowing this up a little too much. Yeah it popped, yeah my face hit the glass, but we're talking about a piece of tempered glass that's built to stop a 250 pound man from falling three floors. It did its job, the glass held up fine, I got a little scratch and a headache. The locking pin sheared clean off, that's where the failure was, but it's not like the whole track system collapsed. I've seen guys take way worse hits from ladders tipping sideways and walk it off.