This is an experience that happened to Dean Reynolds and his father as they were working on their ranch located on Lake mountain.
Dad and I were working on the fence at the foot of the mountain below Hornet springs. We were at the foot of the high knoll just west of the dipping corral. We had run a plastic water line from Hornet Springs down to this point and installed a watering trough just north of the fence line and had fashioned a gate at this point. We had the fence mostly completed with cedar posts and combinatin wire. Now we needed to stretch a strand of barb wire on top. As the fence came down the straight side of the knoll to the bottom and then straightned out on the level as it reached the gate a hundred yards farther on. It made it rather difficult to know how tight to stretch the barb wire because if it was stretched too tight then, it would be impossible to pull it down far enough in the middle to staple it to the cedar post. On the other hand, if it wasn't stretched enough it would be too loose when it was pulled down in the middle. So, after we had the barbed wire in place and stretched to where we figured it ought to be, having tied the wire to the top of jeep, I said to dad. "I'll walk up to the low spot in the fence and check if we have the wire stretched tight enough or not. Now, if it is too tight, I will wave my hand toward me for you to back the jeep up a little. But if it is too loose I will wave my hand toward you so you can tighten it up a smidgen" He said "Ok." So with hammer and staples I walked up through the sagebrush to the low spot in the fence. When I took hold of the bard wire and pulled it down, I found it was quite a bit too tight. So looking toward my father down by the gate, I waved my arm and hand toward me indicating that the wire was too tight and for him to loosen it up a bit by backing up the jeep. Well, poor ole dad. He miss read my signal and getting in the jeep, he went forward instead of backwards thereby tightening the wire further instead of loosing it. I don't know how far he drove forward but, it must have been several feet because the barb wire was jerked up above my head and i could hear the ping as it snapped. I was too far away to see the wire where it broke at the jeep, but, I could hear it coming and could see the sagebrush it was ripping up and throwing in the air. I could see the coil of barb wire just before it reached me. I threw my head back to get out of the way and at the same time put my hands up in front of my face and was nearly jerked off my feet as the coil of barb wire swoosed past me. My hands felt cool and as I looked down at them. I could see that my hands were bare and without the gloves. Looking to my left, I could see gloves tangled in the bundle of barb wire where it had spent its momemtum and came to rest laying on top of a big sage brush.