safety harnesses
Wisconsin
I am looking for input on safety harnesses. I feel stupid for saying this but I have never used a safety harness. I fell while putting a stand up a few years ago and have never felt the same in a stand since. I have slowly been changing to ladder stands because I think they are safest. For my hang on stands I am now using ladder sticks as the reason I fell was a peg pulled out of the tree.
So one question I have is what is most comfortable? Can I wear the harness under a coat or do I have to wear it on the outside? There are quite a few manufacturers now so the choice is a little harder then even a couple years ago. Thanks
Any of the vests with seat belt snaps are great. Yes You can wear them under garments no problem. The key is having a static line on each stand and using a prussic slip knot while ascending and descending where most falls happen. Static lines can be bought from mt. climbers used on ebay. The squirrels take about 20 years to chew thru them. Good luck.
I just got a pair of spider pants. Absolutely awesome. I have 54 set ups rigged with rope and pursic knots. Works great. Tied in from ground up and down
I have one by HSS I believe. Not bad. Like Bullwinkle said, ropes with prusic hitch in each set up. From the time I leave the ground until I return to the ground I am attached to the rope. Climbing up in the stand and climbing down. I quit using screw i steps years ago for safety and legal reasons. I use tie on ladders but do not care for ladder stands for a few reasons. Some are shaky making them less safe and too much to haul in. The ladders I use are like the LW climbing sticks or Rivers Edge sticks.
Buy a $20 mountineering Caribeener from REI to put on the vest loop and hang your prussic rope from it. Very useful.At first this is all a pain but sure beats blowing on a straw to get down the hallway.
Try those Spider pants guys. Safety harness built into bibs. Wear under your coat. No bulky vest to bind you.
Have not hunted with them yet but they feel great on. Scent blocker fabric too
I have an HSS - camo one side and blase orange on the other. I don't care for it much - too much material.
i HATE the long tethers that the companies brag about now. I'm left handed and most of our stands are set up for righties so I want to "hang out" on the other side of the tree to draw and its impossible w/ these stupid things. The old style belt around your belly, belt around the tree connected by D-ring or short strap was the best for shooting but I don't want to be squeezed to death if I did fall. "Hanging out" on the strap while you shoot is very stable. Has anyone "shortened" a tether by stitching? Somehow combining the two styles would be the best.
My correction: I have a harness and not a vest.
I know Bullwinkle set ups are on pre hung stands on private land, and that is fine, but maybe Smoky can answer this, how do you set up a static line, when your mobile and on the go........
Seems to me like you have to make at least one trip up, just to set the line????????
Dbl lung - I read a story, about a guy last year from Sauk Co, who fell, from a ladder stand, that was set, as he climbed up.... The ratchet strap broke, so they too can be dangerous......
When I use my climber, I feel very safe, I am attached to the tree, the moment I leave the ground, by using my Seat Of the Pants, harness system......
I think the static line is a good safety feature for pre hung stands............
I hunt more and more on the ground, but there are days I like to be in a tree stand......
I hunt alone and big woods, so I really need to be careful, most of the places I go, they would not find me for awhile......
Dbl lung be careful, hope no one here ever falls
Correct Razorhehead. Pre hung stands and static lines. I no longer use climbers but when I did I had the harness attached to the tree as I climbed so still safe and in a way the same as static line on a pre hung stand. My stands are on public lands that allow them left up in season.
I am using natural material ground blinds more as I get older.
Smokey I have gone to the ground, but not because of my age, but its effectiveness, I should start on thread on the subject.... thanks for the response, that is what I thought, they are set up on pre hung stands.......
