How would you recover from a fall with a safety harness

[d_e_smith]

lol man I know what you mean and if one of "the boys" is in the wrong place at wrong time not good at all! Iv seen guys in class get one caught in a fall and you can tell from the look on their face what just happened.

The boys were fine...the ankles and quads, not so much. Learned my lesson about putting a climber on a tree that was really too big for it. Thought about swinging over & hugging the tree & sliding down, but had this vision of me just bouncing off the tree, falling & breaking my neck.

[brushtrooper]

I bought a climbing harness from REI last year and will never go back to a full body harness. Much more comfortable and I personally feel safer since I typically hunt alone.. If you fall out of your tree, you shouldn't fall far if you have it set up properly.
If you watch some mountain climbing videos, you will see they take some crazy falls. There are some discussions on climbing harnesses vs hunting harness where actual mountain climbers chime in (I won't name the website here.)

Climbing harnesses are made for people that will definitely fall time and time again. Full body "hunting" harnesses are made just incase you fall.

Full body harness are made for a fall and the climbing harness for a free fall would hurt somebody. The initial shock of when you hit the end of the lanyard tethered at the waist would not be good. Check this video out. Would you rather be tethered at a d ring on the chest or on your back between the shoulders or at your waist line? I am not trying to be argumentative.
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BcpCr9QUGQQ"]Comparing shock absorbing fall protection - YouTube[/ame]

[JW]

Full body harness are made for a fall and the climbing harness for a free fall would hurt somebody. The initial shock of when you hit the end of the lanyard tethered at the waist would not be good. Check this video out. Would you rather be tethered at a d ring on the chest or on your back between the shoulders or at your waist line? I am not trying to be argumentative.
Comparing shock absorbing fall protection - YouTube

That is why they are outlawed in refineries. They hurt people.

[wlfhound27]

good thread, Ive never liked heights but I do like hunting from a tree stand or climber when I go to East Texas to hunt. I guess the best thing to do is buy the spider safety harness and let it lower u down. I just may get one now that Im worried about it

[JW]

good thread, Ive never liked heights but I do like hunting from a tree stand or climber when I go to East Texas to hunt. I guess the best thing to do is buy the spider safety harness and let it lower u down. I just may get one now that Im worried about it

I would still hv a step relief just in case.

[2050z]

Having survived a fall with my harness I can tell you that having a game plan kind of goes out the window at first. Calm down and recovery. I teach treestand safey and all the practice did make it a lot easier when it happened.

Now when it comes to climbing stands
I have my tether attached to the tree while I am going up or down. This will keep me safe and I always make sure my tether height will not allow me to fall below the top portion of my stand. You should be able to recovery by grabbing on to your stand.

I carry an extra linesman belt w/extra carabiners and two screw in steps.

[denimdeerslayer]

Back in the days of me flying in BUFFs, our parachute had a PLD, personal lowering device, built into the harness. It consisted of some nylon strap with a metal buckle that you could lower yourself out of a tree, repel, if you were unfortunate enough to get stuck in one. They were used a lot in Vietnam. We used them in training and they worked very well. The strap wasn't very wide either.

[huntinfool]

The tree spider live descent will lower you to the ground in the event of a fall.
I always tether my strap as high as possible on the tree. I have it with the tether taut while sitting. Just so there is no slack in the line. In the event that I fall, I should be close to my stand. I should be able to climb back in.

[mikeb1206]

Pocket knife

[Jby12]

[quote=brushtrooper;7462158]Full body harness are made for a fall and the climbing harness for a free fall would hurt somebody. The initial shock of when you hit the end of the lanyard tethered at the waist would not be good. Check this video out. Would you rather be tethered at a d ring on the chest or on your back between the shoulders or at your waist line? I am not trying to be argumentative.



Those harnesses are referring to construction workers were people are moving around and need long tethers to be mobile. My tether is 2' long. If I fall it is more like loading the harness rather than falling. Now if I had a 5-6' tether was expecting a 5-6' fall, that would be a different story.

With a 2' tether I can easily shoot any direction from the tree, in lieu of being restricted from shooting to my right because of the strap.

[Buff]

I had a ladder stand fall out from under me in Canada one time years ago.
I couldn't get back up the tree enough to unhook lanyard. I cut the lanyard and slid down the tree.
More like a controlled fall but it worked out

[slicktricker]

All good info I definitely carry at least a cell phone and gps but in my backpack I have tree steps and my knife. The question will be If I can reach the backpack.

[grizzman]

I have a Spider Livewire that I bought that I hope I never have to use. It lowers you to the ground. I told my wife if it doesn't, sue them.

[2050z]

The tree spider live descent will lower you to the ground in the event of a fall.
I always tether my strap as high as possible on the tree. I have it with the tether taut while sitting. Just so there is no slack in the line. In the event that I fall, I should be close to my stand. I should be able to climb back in.

You are setting it up correctly. You should never fall more than a few inches and should be able to recovery back into your stand. Too many hunters do not follow the instructions provided.

Tree spider team market this device as the only way to go. You fall so get yourself to the ground right away. What about the rails or steps next to your stand? how about not falling below your stand in the first place? Sorry carry on and please wear the harness when ascending and descending.

It saved my life.

[THETEXAN]

Well I can't help, out here where I hunt if you fall out of your tree stand, you stand up, reposition your bucket then sit back down. These West Texas sunflowers won't hold a climber.

HAHHAAHAHHAAHHAAAHAHHAHAHAHA ! That's funny !