Time to commit to Climber Safety. No fall, or close call, just the right thing to do. Pic Added. UPDATE FOR UPGRADE!

[Railroader]

I began my climber career with Baker types we made in shop class at school in about 1980 or so. Dad felt sorry for me hugging and hunching, and got me a store bought chinning bar.

I was in business.

Next up was the Warren/Sweat blade type-tree facing-crotch busting-stand up sit down death trap.

Moved on to Tom Cats 1 and 2, War Hulk, Tree Lounge, and Gunslinger.

Climbed a bajillion trees, and never had a safety system of any kind.

Other than Dad telling me in the beginning that this was extremely dangerous stuff, and if I screwed up and didn't pay attention, I would probably be dead.

Then he turned me loose with the home made Baker Type.

Then came the Summit Viper which has to be the best and safest climber ever. Been using them occasionally for years, but it so happens that this year, they are all I have used. Been up and down at least two dozen times already.

I'm getting old, and if I DID get hurt, it would take a long time to heal up...I got some folks who depend on me, so it's time to take some precaution, and commit to using it.

So, here's my plan. I am just putting it out there, as food for thought for those like me who have been climbing naked, and risking a fall.

I got me a rescue belt easily found for $20 on amazon. Back in the day, I rappelled off the Bunn Bldg in Waycross (seven stories) several times with one of these, just to show it was safe to do if necessary, during SWAT and SAR training. So I trust the belt just fine. It will be the belt that holds my hunting pants up, so it will always be there.

Got me a real carabiner, and a length of real static climbing rope. Looped at each end, it's about 6-7 feet long.

Slip a loop around the tree, clip the 'biner to the belt and rope, done.

Up and down with the climber, only a foot or two of slack. NO WAY to exit the climber in any case.

Safe, simple, one thing to keep up with, and the rope will make a nice deer drag.

Is this method approved by anyone? Nope, but it doesn't have to be. Will it provide a needed safety addition. Absolutely.

If you want a high tech, high dollar, hard to use, and remember all the adjustments and parts for, great. Just make sure you don't forget something and climb anyway, or it's all for naught.

I have come up with a system for ME, that I don't have to think about. I always wear a belt, and I always have some rope in my bag. Couple of small upgrades and a carabiner, and I have made my climbing safer, for me.

Whether you like my plan or not is fine with me, it's my plan and it'll work.

I'm just asking everyone to make their own plan and commit to using it.

Be safe, y'all.

 

[Railroader]

Here's a pic..

 

[Semi-Pro]

Ummm

 

[deadend]

Add a Prusik on that rope and you’ll like it a lot better. Switch to a rock climbing harness and you’ll like it better still.

 

[mizzippi jb]

If it'll keep you safe and you're comfortable about that..... Good by me! I still have a loggy bayou harness from 2005 that I still use. Never tested it.... I'm sure it's "expired", but I feel sure it'll keep me from disaster

 

[TEGSU]

Got one of these awhile back and luckily haven't needed it yet.. but it's there if I do. I ordered mine from Walmart.com with the descender only since I already had a harness. It's a one time use but something that's priceless should you actually need it. There are some other ones that can be used multiple times and I may go that route next year.

https://www.primaltreestands.com/primal-products/the-descender-device-and-full-body-harness-combo

 

[j_seph]

So once stand dumps you at 20 foot high. Is your plan to just hang out there by the belt of your pants? How will you get to the ground?

Not judging but I do not think one could hang like that very long. So then are you looking at a slow agonizing death vs. one sudden impact sort of death?

 

[TEGSU]

So once stand dumps you at 20 foot high. Is your plan to just hang out there by the belt of your pants? How will you get to the ground?

See above

 

[j_seph]

I did not see where he had that though

 

[TEGSU]

I did not see where he had that though

Ahh, I wasn't sure who you were responding to. Yes, I believe the OP didn't have a solution for that which is why I made the suggestion. Having a safety harness is great, but if you have no way to get down then you're still in deep trouble. Suspension trauma is a real thing and can kill you if you don't have a way to get down.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suspension_trauma

 

[Railroader]

I appreciate the concern guys. With my tree tether, and it's very short length, there isn't any way for me to get dumped out of the stand. No way to fall far enough to exit the climber. I can't be left hanging freely at 20 feet. I'll still have the climber in arms reach.

That's the whole point.

The chances of BOTH pieces of the climber failing are almost zero.

With my tether, the chance of me falling more than foot before being stopped is almost zero.

All I'm doing is covering a mistake on my part, long enough for it not to get outta control.

If total stand failure concerns you, then you prolly oughta stay on the ground.

Like I said in the beginning, I am sure that many folks will dislike or disagree with my set-up, and that's fine. I'm not suggesting anyone else do this.

But for me, a guy that at 52 has a waist ten inches smaller than his chest, can still do dips and pull ups, and catches and climbs moving rail cars a hundred times a day for a living, this plan gives the extra margin of safety I am looking for.

 

[BornToHuntAndFish]

Way to go encouraging climbing safety. Something is usually better than nothing. Hope everyone uses what works better for them.

 

[Silver Mallard]

Ive had several of my friends become seriously injured in past several years due to either not wearing a harness or incorrect usage. Please invest in a quality harness and descent system. Don't try to get back into a broken stand for God's sake!

 

[Deleted member 35556]

Everybody else, if you care about your safety, do NOT do this. Just purchase a quality harness. I got mine on Amazon, it’s a climbing harness that will safely arrest your fall. There are a pile of options out there. Just don’t follow this guys advice.

 

[Theturtle]

Friends stepdads climber came out from under him a few weeks into bow season.broken ankle spine and ribs doctors didn’t know if he would walk but he’s getting feeling back in his legs now

 

[Railroader]

Everybody else, if you care about your safety, do NOT do this. Just purchase a quality harness. I got mine on Amazon, it’s a climbing harness that will safely arrest your fall. There are a pile of options out there. Just don’t follow this guys advice.

Easy now...The ONLY thing I gave as advice was for folks to come up with a plan of their own, and use it.

In fact, I even specifically said a couple times that I did NOT suggest anyone else do this.

Just do SOMETHING, if you are currently doing nothing, was and remains, my only advice.

 

[Deleted member 35556]

Easy now...The ONLY thing I gave as advice was for folks to come up with a plan of their own, and use it.

In fact, I even specifically said a couple times that I did NOT suggest anyone else do this.

Just do SOMETHING, if you are currently doing nothing, was and remains, my only advice.

I just wanted to make it very clear to folks out there, nothing about what you were doing is even remotely safe, and to give them the safe options. We can't expect everybody to understand what is safe and what is not.

 

[Railroader]

I just wanted to make it very clear to folks out there, nothing about what you were doing is even remotely safe, and to give them the safe options. We can't expect everybody to understand what is safe and what is not.

With respect...

Safety is relative, there is no one size fits all. What seems dangerous to some folks, is every day old hat to others. I happen to be one of those folks that does dangerous crap for a living, for fun, and for the heck of it.

I'm the guy that always has to try out the emergency plan, so I know what to expect. Just for fun, I have several times kicked the bottom part of my climber loose just so I will HAVE TO know how to recover it. So if it happens "for real" so what? I know exactly how to fix it, no big deal.

I've played with my improvised arrest system, hung off of trees, upside down, I know how to right myself, and can stand, sit cross legged, or hug with my legs, and hang off the loop of the rope with one hand, and be RELAXED, even though it's pretty uncomfortable. This is the reason I KNOW my tether will serve me just fine. You add up all the odds of what would have to go wrong to leave me in a life threatening spot, and you wind up with odds around Zero...Good enough for me.

I don't imagine many folks here kick their climbers loose and play monkey boy in their restraint system just for fun, but they probably should.

If they have the physical and mental strength to do it.

Nothing like real experience to learn how things work.

I think that nearly everyone here is grown, and smart enough to decide things for themselves, such as risk evaluation.

And you are in absolutely no position to state what is safe for me, and what level of risk/danger I am comfortable living in and dealing with.

I think that we both are interested in getting people to look at and make their hunting a bit safer, and that's a good thing.

The fact remains that the fat guy who can't do a pull up or push up, and gets out of kilter in his Summit Viper is a heckuva bad spot, even if he's wearing the most professional and expensive system available.

Again, just do SOMETHING to improve YOUR OWN safety, and commit to using it. That's all.

I kinda wish I had never even started this one, but I will see it thru.

No disrespect, or Ill-will intended.

Admins...If you think this needs to disappear, it's fine by me. Didn't mean to cause a flap.

 

[Foster]

If a full body harness is so great for fall AND recovery why don't rock climbers use them?

 

[Railroader]

The question of "how to get down" if necessary kind of aggravated me and I knew there had to be a very simple way to prevent a fall, AND get to the ground safely...

I spent a little time reading about emergency rappelling and rigging for it in it's simplest form.

The only thing I had to add to my system was a longer rope that reaches the ground.

So, to recap...All you need to prevent a fall, AND get yourself safely to the ground is a rescue belt, carabiner, and a static rope.

I have spent the better part of the afternoon rappelling off of trees, starting, stopping, swinging, locking in, etc. A little skint up, got some sap here and there, but I am 100% confident that I know how to prevent a fall, and can not be left hanging...

If being suspended in a harness from between your shoulders seems asinine to you, then do a little research for yourself on:

Emergency rappelling.
Rigging a single carabiner for descent.
Temporary stopper knot.

Took me about a half hour of digging to figure it out.

That's all I am gonna say about this subject, lest I evoke the ire of the safety police...

Thanks to jseph for making me want to figure a way down.