Wear that harness

[banded_mallard]

Lifeline w/prussic knot is all you need. No fall to the ground and no suspension trauma.

Asking because idk. How does a standard safety harness, lifeline and Prussic avoid suspension trama?

[Coastal Woodie]

How's that work with a 2 piece climber that you tote in and out each hunt?

You make a lifeline that’s roughly 3 feet long or whatever length you want. One end has a loop and the other end a knot that keeps the prussic knot from sliding off. Loop it around the tree and slide it up and down as you go.

[scatter shot]

that makes sense. thanks

[Glenn]

Asking because idk. How does a standard safety harness, lifeline and Prussic avoid suspension trama?

It has less to do with the tether/lifeline and harness and more with knowing your equipment and how to operate it.

With a rock climbing harness or saddle there’s no risk for suspension trauma. With regular harnesses you need to study up on how to relieve that pressure should you find yourself in that situation. A lineman’s rope or simply tossing a strap on step into the pocket of the harness will help in getting yourself down also.

[Bigtimber2]

Wear them if you want to; if you don’t, don’t. That said, for all the harness wearing folks out there who likely underestimate the decline in youthful cat-like reflexes and strength…spend the extra money and buy a live-wire device or something similar. If you truly do fall and the harness catches you, if you can’t pull yourself back into the stand, the harness can kill you, especially the ones with the 1” to 2” leg straps. Most are made with a strap and loop that, if you know how to deploy and use it and are physically able to do so, you can stand in it to relieve the leg strap pressure…but you are still going to be there a while. Few years ago, guy that was saved by his harness lost both legs (I think he ended up dying) from having those straps cut off his venous return from the straps down. Live wire devices will slowly lower you to the ground.

I like the Descender, I wear one while using a climber and life line on loc-ons.

I feel once, when I stepped off my step to saw a limb and removed my linemen's belt. The limb I was holding broke. Amazing the things you think in a short 12' fall.

[Otter 1200]

Had a crappy homemade climber break in 1980, going up the tree before daylight, about 10 ft up. No one ever wore a harness that I know of. Landed on my head/neck, woke up about two hours later. Big goose egg knot on my head and gun stuck in the ground straight up almost to the scope. Very lucky that day, walked out on my own. 16 year old body probably helped a lot. Think some of my current back, neck, shoulder issues are still from that fall. Wear the harness now every time I use a climber. Not always with a ladder unless it’s one of the tall ones (have a few in the 18-20’ range).
Anyway, think I was pretty lucky back then.

[Remy]

Hats off to all you fellas that take the time to do all that harness stuff. I’m entirely too lazy of a deer hunter to wear safety gear just to kill a deer. I ain’t using a stand that requires all that mess.

[WhitewaterDuck]

I’m comfy enough in my climber to not go thru moving a belt up the tree as I go. It could fail at the traction belts holding it on the tree, but I replace these every three years of use now…another reason I like LW stands…the mechanism isn’t going to fail, and the steel cables inside the traction belt are going to be in better shape than the belt itself, so if the belt isn’t showing wear or sun damage (fading/cracking), it’s good. I digress. Anyway, I have been clipping my harness with a ‘Beener” to the bottom platform away from the tree when I’m climbing. If the bottom does fail somehow, I’m still good, as I am surrounded by the upper piece. If the upper piece fails, it’s not going to be pleasant, but I know I’ll only fall 4-5 feet before the harness catches me, swings me upright, and slams me into the tree. I figure there is litttle chance of the platform not holding with all the weight on the outter part of the platform, but even if it does slip, it’ll be a slower feet first descent until it does catch…and it will due to angle I start off with. It’s a little more risky, but it’ll keep me from landing on my neck from 20’ up, and the small risk is worth the reward.

As to which stands folks fall from most…I’ve hung and hunted out of lock ons with plenty of steps, and I’ve hunted outta ladder stands occasionally; both scare the piss outta me getting in and out of them. The only worry I have in my climber is the brief time it takes to unhook from the climber and hook to the tree strap.