We have all heard it a hundred times, wear your harness while hunting off the ground. Well, I am here to tell you, I have worn them since I started bowhunting from trees 22 years ago, and tonight I am glad I did.
I was sitting down about 14 feet off the ground, I went to stand up, heard a pop and found my self dangling from the tree in my SOP harness. I was lucky, I was hanging right near my climbing sticks and was able to get to them rather easily, but it scared the crap out of me. In checking the stand the cable on the right side of the stand snapped and the stand flipped out from under me.
Please wear your harnesses.......
David
Glad you weren't hurt. I hate hearing stories about people who fell from a stand because they weren't wearing a harness.
Close call...good that you are OK. I have more anxiety now with my son hunting . I Always remind him to use it correctly. Just showed him your post.
That is scary bud! Thank God you weren't hurt. SOP are great harnesses.
Thank you Dave for being smart!
There is enough grief in the world without losing you, too!
Killdeer :thumbsup:
I'm glad you weren't hurt.
The older I get, and the more of these stories I read, the happier I am with my Waldrop Pacseat!!
Glad you weren't hurt Dave!!!
Glad to hear you came out OK. They are a life saver for sure. Did any of your gear hit the ground?
Sure glad to know that you are an intelligent hunter! And so happy to hear that you are fine.
Listen up people - learn the easy way - it can happen to anyone, anytime you climb a tree. Follow David's excellent example!! :thumbsup:
I never get into a tree without a harness.Glad your ok.
Thank the Lord you are ok and thank you for the reminder to the tree stand hunters. Good for you for wearing it.
Glad you're alright after the mishap. I had the same thing happen to me a few years ago, but the left cable held the stand until I could get off. Scarey as heck. Your family also thanks you for showing your consideration toward them. So do the rest of us here. Let's all be safe out there.
Glad your Okay, that's the very reason I use Loc-On Spirit stands. No cables to break, never did trust stands with cables holding the platform.
Really glad things turned out for the best.
Glad you are OK! Tie in while off the ground for sure.
Bisch
David, glad you are smart and OK.
People often think others fall from clumsiness. Its not always the case as in with David's experience. tree stand mishaps can happen.
Glad your OK
Glad you're okay buddy!! So Dave.....tell us more about the actual fall, since hopefully we'll never have to go thru it. Did the break away tether work? Were you on a lifeline, or just a strap around the tree? Give us details.
Another saved from injury by his harness! :clapper: :pray: Mine save me from a nasty fall several years ago. I had just started down when a bolt broke on the seat climber and I fell out backward. My tether had very little slack and the harness caught me after only falling but about 18 inches. I was able to regain the main platform without any bodily harm.
Cool!
Glad to hear your okay! Glad you wear it...I will never hunt off the ground without mine!
Great friend of mine is a paraplegic from a treestand fall....trust me you want to be tied in at all times!
Going to get a line that allows you to hook in at the bottom of the tree and never be without it while climbing.
Josh
I love my harness. I feel safer when I'm wearing it.
I'm glad to hear your safe and thanks for sharing such an important story for ALL tree hunters.
.........Philip
Glad to hear all that !
My wife's friend's husband wasn't that fortunate, or should I say smart, but he was REAL LUCKY, he fell about 19' and is still alive to talk about it. He did have to be put back together some though, but still alive.
Holy Cow David!
I worry about that all the time. I think we put way too much faith in some of these stands. So glad you're alright.
And you thought your job was dangerous!
Take carry buddy. Tim
What brand and type of stand was it?
Glad to hear youre ok.
Whew, I am glad you are alright, thanks for the heads up.
Via con Dios
I'm thankful to hear your story- and that you were wise enough to do what you could for your own safety- AND that it worked!
My late father always used to say "Too soon old, too late smart!"
I'm glad you proved him wrong on this one, David!
David, I am glad you are ok my friend!! I am one who is admittedly stupid and do not wear mine very often. I have a good SOP and it will be sewed into one of my undergarments in the next few days. Things like this maje me think, which is good! Thankyou my friend for a reminder! This from someone who fell 22ft. one time!! I know, I know! You know the tree and the stand I am talking about. I was about to step into the stand, which by the way had a harness left in it all the time and a screw step broke at the threads, dislocated both my shoulders. I have to start wearing it, just stubborn and stupid I guess. I will start, I promise! Shawn
David,
Mighty glad you're OK. But if you weren't able to get to you climbing sticks, this self belaying system (GriGri2) would have eased you down your life line to the bottom of your tree. Simply attach it to you top loop of the SOP harness with a carabiner. You can't believe how easy & one handed the Petzl GriGri2 allows you to descend down your tree. I'll stop preaching but here is a link...Jeff
http://tradgang.com/noncgi/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=1;t=110494#000000
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v110/tippit/Tree%20Stand%20Safty%20Harness%20GriGri2/GriGri2SaftySystem001.jpg)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v110/tippit/Tree%20Stand%20Safty%20Harness%20GriGri2/GriGri2SaftySystem002.jpg)
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Jeff, how much do you figure to rig 56 stand sites with that set-up? Say cost per one and multiply or maybe a bit cheaper if I buy in quantity. Shawn
Please use it Shawn, no matter how safe/strong you or the stand are.
Greg, I use an SOP harness, and had the prussic knot on the tether about a foot or so above my head. I always put the prussic knot on the side of the stand that my climbing sticks are on, with the hope that if I ever do fall I will end up near the sticks. When I stood up I heard a pop, the stand flipped out to the left and down I went. The tether did break away, and I ended up right next to my sticks. I do have a scrape on my side from hitting the tree, but am otherwise fine. I have heard and read of suspension trauma, and though I wasn't hanging long at all, I certainly felt the pressure in my legs. I do wonder what would have happened if I had fell off of the left side away from my sticks, and ended up with the stand in between me and the sticks. It certainly would have been much more difficult to get to the sticks.
I can tell you I won't be found in a treet without a harness on.
Tim, like you I have often thought the same things. I mean, I hunted on Thanksgiving with a close friend, in one of his stands, that has been in the tree for five years. I was certainly thinking that morning. Maybe tonight was a wakeup call for me, and hopefully all that read this. (same make and model as the one I was in tonight).
David
Don't worry about preaching Jeff, that is an awesome idea.
Shawn......I do remember, and don't think I didn't think about it.
David
The GriGri2 costs $95 but most climbing stores like EMS, REI, etc will have a 20% off sale. The life line I use is 30 feet of 11mm static (non-stretch) climbing rope @ under a dollar a foot. The GriGri2 accepts 8.5 t0 11mm rope. That's all you need plus a locking biner.
My primary stand I leave a life line attached above the stand and I'll have and extra rope if I need to climb any other stand. But you can do all the stands you want with just one rope. It takes a few more minutes to climb and descend as you have to take slack out as you go up and keep giving slack on the way down.
Wow, close call. Good protection no doubt. My brother had a platform cable snap on him a few years ago.
Thanks for posting this...glad to hear it is just a scrape to speak of. :campfire:
David, so glad to know that you are OK. Thanks for posting and sharing this with us. It will encourage others to wear the harness. Yes, they are inconvient, but nothing compared to what can happen without one. I've started equipping my stands with long ropes and Prusic hitches and am carrying a suspension relief line. I like Tippit's descender rig.
Shawn, the harness mfg's recommend not wearing it underneath your outer layers. Something about needing to be able to get to it in a hanging situation. Having it sewn in would also mess with the versatility of what you wear in the stand and might have you not wearing it.
Sure would like to know as others have asked, " What brand stand ? " and how old were they ? Had they been left on the tree for years ?
We are hunting out of more hang on stands now but take them down at the end of each season. We also take down any screw in steps after two seasons. After using the woodpecker and bolt system may never use screw in steps again.
The stand was a Gorilla Silverback Lite, about five years old. There have been a couple of years that it spent the entire year in the woods, and a couple that it spent the off season in my shed. It was one of the most comfortable stands I own, in fact I own three other Gorilla stands, albeit newer models.
David
Glad to hear you are ok David , Thanks for the reminder :thumbsup: Drew
Glad you are OK....!!!!
After a buddy was inspecting his stand earlier this season, a Gorilla climber, he found 3 welds that were tearing! Not good!
Very Glad for your foresight and attention to safety. Of all the "atta boys" I've seen posted here, this deserves the biggest ATTA BOY!! Best regards, Todd
David, glad you are OK. I never go in my tree without my harness, but I really like Tippit's set up and think I will be taking my son's and my safety to the next level.
David,
Glad to hear you are OK and thank you for being one of the ones that use their harnesses instead of letting them hang in the garage. I need to show my son this post so maybe he will get the idea because he won't listen to me.
Tippit, if you learn to make a prussic knot you will save yourself a lot of money.
Regards,
Grouse
QuoteOriginally posted by Whip:
Sure glad to know that you are an intelligent hunter! And so happy to hear that you are fine.
Listen up people - learn the easy way - it can happen to anyone, anytime you climb a tree. Follow David's excellent example!! :thumbsup:
Glad you weren't hurt
Wow, Gorilla Silverback..... I have been wanting to buy one of those for my deep woods hunts due to the light weight. Doesn't mean they are more likely to break than others I guess, most are all made in China any how.
I'm glad for your happy ending David. I keep this story of an unhappy (sorta) ending to a fall around to keep me wearing my safety gear.
Why you should wear your harness! (http://www.hoosierhunting.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=1;t=004237;p=0)
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What a devastating story John. Every hunter that utilizes tree stands should read it. We all know someone that has fallen and the consequences should be pounded into our heads.
Glad you werent hurt. Why are stand companies using these cables to make hang on stands? I have heard numerous stories about the cables snapping. Why not just use some sort of metal strap? Like some of the old loc-ons?
Thank you for the alert. Most all think " it will not happen to me", my stand is good and I am safe. Everyone please be safe.
thank you for sharing, and more importantly, thank you for wearing your harness!!
Glad you are okay. I do not trust those cables. I replace mine with rope- quiet and can not fail.
:goldtooth:
Pays to be smart!
David
I applaud you wearing your safety equipment. Too many hunters get hurt by thinking that falling out of their treestand can't happen to them. IT DOES! In a blink of an eye you will have fallen 2-3 feet. Again, great heads up. This serves as a positive reminder for all of us who construct and hunt from treestands.
Andrew
But how to you get the line up the tree . Seems you cud only do it using a climbing stand
Appreciate the warning. Glad you're okay.
Glad to hear you were not hurt.
Glad you are ok my friend!
Glad all is well and we are not reading of a debilitating accident..
I do have a request for more info.. Did the cable it's self break? Or did it pull out of the ferrule..
Top or bottom.
Sorry for being nit picky but I really try to understand "Why" things fail and not that they just did.
I'll guess that the lower ferrule let loose, which I will say was probably for rust or corrosion???
Ken, the cable itself snapped clean right in the middle.
David
Just two weeks ago I had a friend fall from a older lock on type stand that failed. He did not have time to hook up his harness....he stepped on to the stand it failed and he fell. He broke a vertebrae and was not paralized but he has a tough painful road to recovery.
Grouse,
I actually carry Two Prusik loops in my pocket for an emergency. Have you tried descending 15 feet down your safety line with two prusiks. Prusiks are much easier to climb a rope than descend a rope. It is very hard work and if you don't have use of both arms nearly impossible. The GriGri takes One Finger above my head on the cam lever to allow a slow controlled descend. For under a hundred dollars, I'll take that option any time and hopefully I don't ever have to use it. I only posted my system as an option. My son (a mountain search & rescue ranger on Mt McKinley during the spring climbing season) set it up for me as an easy & safe option for an Old Man. Actually Ervin, I see we were born the same year...not saying you're an Old Man but certainly eligible for Medicare like me :)
Stupidly in the 70-80's as a younger man I only used a rope around my belly attached to a tree...never fell so I thought I was safe! What ever system you use, I suggest trying a self rescue before you actually need to...tippit
glad to hear your alright!
Wow buddy, so glad you're ok!
Thanks for the info Dave.. I'll have to think on that one.
Any chance the stand was sabotaged?? It happens around here some times
Why do rock climbers only wear half a harness? they just wear one around their butt. We wear one around our sholders
Glad you made it down ok,just shows you haw important it is to wear aharness.Larry
I'm just thankful that you are OK David.
Glad you're ok. Remember to replace the harness now that it's been in a fall.
safety first no harness no tree stand great post