Dislike of Heights: My Story
Massachusetts
Contributors to this thread:
Hey I thought I would share my tale of a fear of heights over the years and this might benefit others who share my issue. It is not a crazy fear but I do not like heights,..
So back in the day we used screw in Pegs to get up the trees and I had never used sticks or a climbing line with a Pruitt knot,.. till today. My fear of heights has grown even worse over 30 years.
This weekend John and I headed out and mounted up some Summit climbing sticks to my stand erasing the pegs ,.. which I learned in the bow hunters safety course are illegal without own land permission,.. (damn it)
It was night and day to have this massive stairway to heaven attached to the tree along with a rope to the top and a slip pruitt know going up with me... the sticks are rock solid.
Was I still nervous,. sure ,.. but I knew I was safe and my brain could override my fear no problem,..
If others of you have issues with heights you just need the right equipment...
PS in the future,.. I shit you not,.. a lithium Ion climbing system will walk you right up the freaking tree. Sorta like a old person stair case lift,.. John mentioned that while laughing at me as the sticks were hung,..
I'm right there with you BB, it does seem to get worse, I even avoid driving over bridges now. Definitely with you on the equipment too, the lifeline and harness especially, made all the difference for me.
My lesson learned is buy the right equipment,.. this will override the fear. Least that is what I found today,. felt very good walking up the summit steps and knowing I had a Pruitt line there,..
Just sharing with others who may have my slightly embarrassing aversion to heights .... ya can beat it,..
My problem is I don't fear heights, probably from my early days going aloft in the merchant marines. Like an idiot, my first few years hunting were without any safety belt at all. Young and dumb, thinking you're bullet proof. Luckily, we wise up with age (hopefully). I'm very careful these days and would encourage all to do the same. Live long, hunt long.
"Prusik" knot ( Prusik hitch knot ) (Triple sliding hitch) etc.
I love heights but hate falling from them . Worse still is the sudden stop.
I was told once to "trust your equipment" , I thought, what choice do you have ? That or stay on the ground.
Belt and suspenders theory : Have 2 ways to keep up your pants. Since that looks silly I use a belt and if needed my hands .
I don't use a safety line when climbing sticks but I never let go , even at the top when I am crossing over , one foot is on the stand and one on the sticks , both hands grip the sticks , then one arm is behind the sticks and the other is working a clip . When I am clipped on I hold onto the sticks and don't let go until I am settled on the stand with both feet and my free hand has a grip on the tree loop. Always have at least 3 points of contact. 4 is better 5 is even better. but hard to shoot that way.
Do what keeps you safe and comfortable .
BC, I did the same... for years I regularly climbed to 30 feet without any safety gear. My buddies convinced me to wear a harness about 10 years ago. Now, I'd be afraid to climb 5 feet without it.
I hate heights as well so I bought the Treewalker stand with a railing that you can leave on or take off. Once I get to where I want to go up the tree I twist the knob off on one side and push the railing open to hunt. If my anxiety gets the best of me I just keep the railing on. The stand is also the most rock solid stand I've had with big spikes to dig into any tree. For years I have always chosen a Hemlock to put my hang on stands in due to the comfort of branches around me. I get freaked out if I'm in a tree with nothing around me to grab so Hemlocks are great. The downside is that I've settled for not so perfect spots as the hemlock is not always where you want it to be.
I hear you. I was bow hunting in the Berkshires by myself back around 1990s. A tornado was coming through so I decided to head home, then remembered that I had left the ladderstand still in the woods. I headed out to retrieve it. After I had released the upper strap, a big wind gust came through and shifted the tree. The stand was off balance and tipped over. Luckily I didn't get entangled in the stand and landed safely. Now I hunt from a ground blind.
I'll admit it, I hate heights too. That's one of the reasons I love using a tree saddle. I am in my tree stand from the ground up. Anytime I want I can sit and relax on the way up or down. Climbing a ladder stand, even though relatively quick makes me nervous, and they always seem to make noise. The fact that I carry almost nothing into the woods and I can climb virtually any tree hunting fresh sign is a nice benefit too.
Have to agree - the life line and harness sure helps.
MR, I always wondered, with the saddle, do you still use a safety line or harness of some sort, or is the "stand" the harness?
Yup, the stand is the harness. And there is no way to fall out of it, upside down, sideways, you're always right there at the tree. Feel so safe I fall asleep in it, a lot! A couple of times I have sat in my buddies ladder stands, and I still wear the saddle as my harness. Right now I'm waiting on that new Kestrel from New Tribe, it sounds like the perfect tree saddle; tiny, light, comfortable and strong!
MRW is was just looking at that. Only thing that makes me a little nervous is that it's not like a full-body harness (nothing over the shoulders), assuming I was looking at the right thing. A general question I have--which has probably been answered on here before--is what are the common options for climbing? Sticks? Something else?
Belchertown Bowman's Link
Jeb,.. I never heard of that either,.. I was looking at this video and was suprised at the climbing options,.. all did seem like they could be loud though?
Link
Jeb , (With sticks )once set up , (use a lineman's belt loop around the tree ) You should drop a safety line from the top (above the top T bar ) While climbing the sticks one slides a Prusik Knot along with the assent . ( See videos ) You will be safe up and down the tree and in addition to your tether line above while sitting in stand .
I have been saying I’m going to get into wearing a harness for 5 years now....and don’t...top picks for simple comfortable fall restraints?
Turtle, definitely start wearing a harness. There are several decent harnesses out there. I'm switching over to a rock climbing harness this year. Haven't hunted with it yet but from trying it on it seems super comfortable. Another benefit is the tree rope is around waist height so there is no interference with your draw arm. Not that my old vest style harness interfered much, but I was often thinking about it.
Turtle , Get anything that will keep you from a long fall. A Small price to pay for the big price to pay. No need to be fancy . We posted at the same time Bruce , I like that idea . I have had the same issue. So I tend to keep the loop lower than it should be. That's not a great solution but better than the long fall , I'm sure.
I lay my harness out on the floor and step into the leg loops then arms. If money is not an issue then the vest style looks easy and comfortable but the simple ones are not uncomfortable . Just a little difficult at first when trying to keep it untangled while getting in it. Just do it.
Belchertown Bowman's Link
Hello,..
Scardy cat BB here,.. I did a lot of research and came up with this one. I really liked the pockets,.. it has more than even I thought,.. 2x zippers high up on each side of the breast and 4 pouch like pockets at the waist,.. although unavailable now maybe you can find it elsewhere?
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004RQE2F2/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o08_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
That's quite a vest BB, and with a 49 year warranty I wouldn't need another until I'm 106 years old. And by then I might be limited to a ground blind anyway :-) With a shipping weight of 5.9 lbs I wonder what the harness weight is? Probably not light. I just picked up a Black Diamond Solution rock climbing harness. Super comfortable, only 11 oz, $69.95 from Amazon.
Bruce - would you mind posting some pic's of the harness? I think Jrdeerslyr uses one too (rock climbing)... I've heard of guys doing it... but never tried. I'm a major fan of the "sense" of security I get out of a full harness, but, I have noticed that a shot to my right may require me to adjust the purssic knot down a bit so I have room to draw. Which has lead me to wonder about the rock climbing harness... Not "there" yet.
Makes me curious about the set up?
Fun fact, 80% of falls from over 10' are fatal. Yes, just 10'. Wear a harness!!
With regard to securing your stand and whatnot, give ratchet straps a try. I secure the sections of my stick ladders with 500lb ratchet straps, and use two 1000lb ratchet straps to secure the stand. Nothing moves, and that really helps with the feeling of security.
Really though, get a harness, hang your security lanyard/rope high above you so if you DO fall out of the stand the fall is only a foot or two at most.
BruceP's Link
Will, here's a link for the one that I bought. If I get a chance over the weekend I'll try to get a few pics of different draw positions while attached to the tree.
I haven't actually tried it for hunting yet but the concept really makes sense to me. The tree rope is at waist height and comes around the draw-arm side of your body to attach to the front of the harness at waist height. So in theory the rope length from tree to harness is pretty short. I like that. If you're a righty then the longest rope length you need is enough to rotate your body for a shot to the left. For a shot to the right the slack drops out of it. And perhaps one of the best things is the rope is never higher than waist level so there is no interference when drawing. It's sort of like the Ronco guy used to say on TV "just set it and forget it"...
i "used to" do a lot of climbing.... the problem w/a rock harness,is the tie in point is right in front, not up high in back. even when climbing its always in your face.just my perspective.
See, I like the RC harness for exactly that reason - it's always right there in front of me while climbing into and out of the stand.
I usually hold onto the rope tree strap and lean back, using my harness to take all of my weight and kind of swing out, using my legs against the tree, to get in and out (almost a rappelling-like position). I used to never use a harness prior to getting a rock climbing harness because it was always hanging around my head, it was behind me so I couldn't use it for leverage, and it drove me crazy.
Now, I can use it effectively to get in and out of the stand, it doesn't bother me even a little bit while sitting, standing, drawing or shooting.
And, to really freak out people uncomfortable at heights, I can use it to "hang" off the edge of my platform and shoot behind the tree. I keep the rope tight, put my feet on the edge of the platform while facing the tree, and lean out to the side. very easy to get a good shot at a deer behind the tree, in much the same way the tree saddle guys do.
BruceP's Link
Here's a pretty good video of a guy demonstrating it. He also tries to simulate some fall and recovery situations as best he can. It's a little difficult to do that since in a real fall situation you don't know it's coming whereas he does know when he's gonna "fall" in the simulated case. Still, a pretty good video overall.
If your RC harness has a load rated rear loop you can use the front loop while climbing and getting into the stand and then tie into the rear loop once in the stand. This makes the rope length so short that a fall is almost completely eliminated. Although you wouldn't be able to use it as a temporary saddle the way Lateriser does. Unfortunately my harness does not have a load rated rear loop.
I personally wouldn't want a rear attachment point. If you fall, getting back into your stand, or down the tree, by yourself is exponentially harder without the rope in front of you.
You can tighten down plenty if hooked into the front - the rope just sits under your armpit. There's a little slack if you stand up, but that's there if you're hooked in back too.
LR, where do you have the rope on the tree, about waist height when standing?
With the rear connection I was thinking if it was short enough to actually prevent a fall in the 1st place then you never have to worry about getting back into the stand. But I openly admit I haven't tried it so I don't really know for sure.
Edit: Actually, the more I think about this I agree, a rear connection probably has a lot more negatives than positives.
No, tree strap is always anchored above my head, or at least level with my head while standing.
Sorry Jeb, I didn't see your question. Yes, sticks like the lone wolf for the most part, if you want to be mobile. If you like having tree's already setup either screw-ins or even ladder sticks work too. It's more comfortable and safer than a tree stand. And it's quiet. Unless you're prone to snoring, I always take naps in mine. Instead of carrying a stand on your back, you wear it in. I did put suspenders on mine, because I'm fat and old and I like looking like a redneck.
DONT EVER BE CONFUSED WITH "GEAR LOOPS"!!! ON THE HARNESS BODY, THEY ARE JUST THAT, GEAR ONLY. NOT RATED FOR FALL. JUST SAYING.(R.C.HARNESS)
just an add-on to the r.c. harness. if you fell attached to the rear of the seat i believe you would fall upside down! increasing bad things happening. remember, it has no chest support. ive seen it happen when improperly used. be carefull up there!!! and as to the post of falling only 10'. its real!!! it goes by body weight and there is a formula that magnifies your fall/weight ratio exponentially. "just dont fall".