So we hear lots of stuff on people that have fallen from a treestand without a harness on. Often the result can be disasterous. But, I was wondering what has happened, what was the final outcome of those people that have fallen with a harness on. My son said he deliberatly jumped from a very low elevation with his harness on and said it was a miserable experience and could barely get back into the tree. I would just like to get some input on this. thanks, charlie.

The tether needs to be as high as possible, or as short as possible to prevent a long fall. It is also a good idea to use some type of system that slows you down before it stops you. I use a prusik system, and have a sliding tether. I am attached from the time I leave the ground. Randy

Good question.

I had a Summit climber and, like Randy, was always tied off with a four point harness via a Prussic knot before I started climbing. I never fell, thank God. I kept the tether just long enough to sit down so if I did fall I would not fall far, would not pick up speed, and could get back into the stand. I did not want to end up hanging from a rope like a seasoned ham worrying about blood circulation. I had (have)a family to go home to. I tied off once in a standing position then raised my legs to experience a static hang. That was alright.

So, to answer the OP, I've never fallen, but I know there are circulation and suffocation issues if you hang from a harness for a long period of time. Without the harness, I think the issues are bigger. Please give safety some thought.

I would like to here from some who have actually fallen with one on also. And also what type of harness they were wearing? I always wear one once in my stand, and like Craig says, I always have a sharp knife where I can get to it quickly.

Even not falling far it will still be hard, especially in the groin area. And hopefully your not banged off of something, like the edge of a tree stand or steps. But not breaking a leg, back or worse is way better. My only experience has been with a OSHA style harness while working aloft on structures.

Search the BOWSITE archives. I know someone actually did a test on a couple style harnesses and I 'm fairly certain it was there.

You asked for fall stories...I'll try to keep this a short story. Here is my fall stories. Been hunting since the mid 70'sand using climbing tree stands since the early 80's. I have fallen 4 times. In the early days I used a rope looped around my waist and a loop around the tree. I feel twice while climbing with tree stand dangling from my foot and me dangling from the tree, I was able to get my hands on the tree stand and reattach to tree and safely get down. One stand was a homemade baker look-a-like and one was a home made plywood platform. In the mid 90s I was using a loggie bayou climber on a frozen tree. While about 10 to 12 feet up the tree the stand fell/slid down the tree. I was using a nylon safety belt one loop around the me and the other around the tree. As I was following the stand to the ground I could smell the nylon strap burning as I slide down the tree. About 3 foot from the ground the strap around the tree broke and I landed on the stand and on my feet. The strap slowed my fall and I had no injuries as I picked myself up off the ground. Final fall was while putting up a ladder stand. I was not strapped in while putting the stand up, I had the lower section of the ladder attached to the tree (as directed in instructions) While climbing to attach the top the stand fell off the tree and me on my back from about 8 to 10 foot up the ladder, Lucky I did not hit anything during my fall. Lucky so far accidents happen, always strap in.

Dave B

I use a rescue one or a wingman that lets me get down to the ground by myself.i hunt alone and can't depend on someone to let me down

One of the most inportant things with fall protection is PROPER FIT. Without proper fit and usage, the junk in youre pants could be just that....JUNK!! with SERIOUS injury, not to mention circutation and constriction issues. Pull up some videos of OSHA Personal Fall Arrest Sytems and proper usage. You will be glad you did if you ever fall.

Good call on the knife. I always have one on my belt and one in my pocket in case i drop one while im trying to cut myself loose. Cell phone in the pocket too. Had a good friend seriously injured from a fall . no saftey harness. Cell was in his truck. Had to crawl on his elbow for a couple hours to get to his cell and get help.

I would also like to mention that I use a climbing harness, and it allows for easier recovery.

Pat Lefemme actually did a series on this topic. Shows video of falling and how to recover. Keep one or two screw in steps in your other garment so if you do fall you can use them to help get back in the stand.

Tundra

Some common sense goes a long way. But one thing that get forgot is you can't hang there very long. Even with the fancy harnesses. Can't remember what they call it but it's along the lines of compartment syndrome mixed with rabdosis. Dont quote me but there is a study of what happens when your suspended. In 20 minutes your deayh clock is already ticking. So have a way to get back on the stand or relieve the weight. I know its a big deal to the er how long they were suspended.

HHS vest. Safety rope from ground up. Coming down and hand hold broke. Slammed back into the tree but was able to get back on ladder and to the ground. Bruised up for several days.

I think there was a thread from Barry Wensel recently where his treestand broke and he was glad he had a harness on. It kept him from falling too far.

As far as knives go, I do have a seatbelt cutter on my harness. I also keep the tether short and last year started using the life line.

It was a Barry Wensel thread on "Close call".

And don't forget to NOT keep your knife in your pants pocket as you will never be able to pull it out with a harness on. My harness comes with a strap loop that you put your foot in when your hanging so the straps don't hold all your weight.

X2 on the tree steps to get on your feet. I fell 16-18' from an old wood stand in the fork of a tree. The top board the tree had pulled the nails thru the board & down I went luckily nothing serious. I will say the only thing you have time to do is go poooomph. Can't breathe and wondering what's broke & it ain't no fun. I use a harness now

This is a great link.. http://www.bluugnome.com/cyn_how-to/gear/purcell-prusik/purcell-prusik- tether.aspx

Well from personal experience it scares the hell out of you. I want to say it was around 2002. Was hanging a stand and had a Seat-of-the-Pants safety harness. I had put up the steps and hung the stand. I ALWAYS made it a habit of having a safety belt/harness on before stepping into the stand and getting out of it. So I went back down, put on the harness on, climbed back up the tree, put the tie off rope around the tree hooked the harness to the Prusik knot. Put my right foot on the stand facing the tree and then my left foot. Then the stand dropped out from underneath of me, it dropped about 15ft to the ground. When it dropped I instinctively grabbed the tree and got my arms raked for about 2ft before the harness caught me, still have the scars on my forearms from that. Tell you what when that prusik knot grabs hold it don't let go. Swung myself over and got on the steps. After my buddy got over his heart attack watching the whole thing happen, he handed my stand, and I rehung it. When I got back on the stand I had to pry the knot apart to get it working again, if I couldn't I was going to have to cut the rope. There was no jar when the harness caught me and was comfortable to hang in, till I got my wits about me. I weighted about 270lbs at the time. Only thing I could figure happened was, I had put rubber coat on the chain to quiet it. When I thought I hooked the chain link on the S hook of the stand, it actually hooked on the edge of one of the links, and when I stepped into the stand it rolled off the S hook. WEAR A HARNESS you just never know. DANNY

After hearing experiences of hunters falls,some may reconsider the risk and stay grounded.

As a carpenter, I've been around the OSHA fall arrest harnesses. Never fallen myself thanks to 35 years of experience and a pretty well honed survival instinct, but I have witnessed couple of young guys go down. There was a lot of yelling, scratches and bruises, and no way to recover without help while dangling like a Christmas tree ornament. So yes, some way to get yourself down or cut loose quickly is imperative.

http://www.bowsite.com/bowsite/features/articles/treestandfall/

http://www.bowsite.com/bowsite/features/articles/harnesstest2009/index.cfm

http://www.bowsite.com/bowsite/features/articles/harnesstest/

I fell twice w belts on. Never a harness. As a hunter ed instructor we go over rescue training w harnesses. You can still expire or have def issues w a harness from blood pooling in your legs. You need to regain your stand as soon as possible. Best bet is keeping the attachment point high. Prussic knots mentioned can work great but I’m not seeing how climbing with them is feasible unless you use limited trees. I’m not saying not to, safer the better. A knife and phone easily accessible is recommended. In fact it’s knda mandatory. Time you’re hanging and need help you need to be able to get your phone as time is critical. Many vests have outside pockets. Great place for phone.

The seat belt cutter can be attached to the outside of the harness so you don't have to dig in pockets to get a knife.

Fortunately most of us do not jump off a stand or fall like off a "man lift" or the edge of a platform. We would be right alongside the tree.

Shawn, I like the rope step idea. Does that mean you are using a safety line with all stands?

My tether is so short, I'm not falling anywhere

I really like hunting pants that have cargo pockets. This is where I keep my phone and small folding knife. Should be able to access them if hanging from a harness. I have fallen twice while installing steps, but have never fallen out of a stand. Both times was only 8 or 10 ft and I was not hurt. I was young and stupid and not wearing a climbing belt.

MP

Yes, I have fallen with a safety harness on. It was a "seat of the pants" and was designed to break away in stages so one would not have a major jarring by coming to a sudden halt. No injuries and easy to reorient myself and get back into my stand. As with anything, to work properly it needs to be used correctly. Many individuals will have the strap that attaches to the tree way too loose. There needs to be enough length to allow you to draw and shoot your bow, but not so long that you would go much beyond your stand if you actually fell. Also, IMO, Harnesses are the only way to go. Safety belts alone can flip an individual and there can be deadly consequences with that scenario. I have two friends who still refuse to use any safety restraints at all. I am convince I will one day find them injured or dead. Even the next world record animal is not worth your life. Just saying. Stay Safe/Shoot Straight MTQUIVER

Mtquiver is correct. Don’t ever use belts. I used em as a kid. I shoulda stressed that. They can flip you. His whole post was great

so what happens if you take your sharp knife and cut yourself free? Where do you go from there?

Being rescued and self rescue from a fall with a harness on is like a ticking clock, it's rarely pleasant:

https://www.coloradoan.com/story/news/local/2017/06/22/pfa- regroups-after-firefighter-strangled-during-training/351763001/

http://slideplayer.com/slide/259346/

I have 'fallen' twice while wearing a safety harness. The first time I was doing commercial tree work wearing a tree climbers saddle. No ill effects whatsoever. I had a reasonable amount of slack in the lifeline at the time, but the main limb my rope was attached to had a bit of give to it, so there was no significant jolt or sudden stop. The second time I was hunting and wearing a rock climbers harness. I stepped onto a hang-on stand from a climbing step system I was using, when the nylon strap on the stand failed...the stand went straight to the ground with no hesitation. I had only a small amount of slack in my lifeline, and the only injury I sustained was to the tips of all my fingers from trying to sink them into the bark of the tree in that moment of terror. Since I had the step system in place I did not have a challenge descending the tree. As to the issue of descending once trapped up there, (assuming you aren't using a prussics knot and lifeline to the ground) you have to be able to somehow disconnect from the tree (have a knife readily available as in a chest pocket) and hug that tree for all your worth til your feet hit the ground! This worked well for me as a kid, but at 69 I'm not sure what the outcome would be. And depending on the bark on the tree you are in, you could ruin your clothes and lose some skin. But that beats the crap out of a broken back or neck. Thoughts of this scenario have me hunting closer to the ground and using portable ladder stands more often, and using hang-ons less often. And I don't rely on nylon straps that hold a hang-on to a tree. In my incident above it was actually the sewn threads that hold the strap together on the back of the stand that broke. It was an older stand and the threads had rotted over time, I suppose. Continuing to use this old stand was an excellent example of stupidity on my part. Any hang-on I use since then has a chain on it, and a back-up ratchet strap.

Babysaph, I guess you have to think a little bit and think about which strap you want to cut to turn yourself around so you can do whatever you need to do.

I don't have a single harness here that I haven't tested how I be hanging if I did fall. I test them on the swingset and also from attached to a tree. All testing done with feet able to reach the ground. I never tried jumping from anything. I did retire one harness that the tether attached on the side. I got too old to be able to pull myself back upright.

I had a bolt on a Lone Wolf break that left me hanging in a Seat of the Pants harness . Once over the shock I was able to get out of the harness and bear hug the tree to the ground . As stated above a sharp knife and a cell phone in an accessible pocket are a plus . After that I carried a rescue rope . Now I am a ground pounder .

Wouldn't the issue of struggling to get back to the ground mainly be for guys using climbers? If I fell off a ladder stand or from one of my strap on stands I'm not understanding the major issue of being able to get down or back. I'd still either have the steps or ladder right there to use.

Man, you guy are a one stop shop for not using tree stands to start with. Holy cow. Only problem I ever had was with a Baker, one time climbing a tree. I was hugging the tree so it wasn't much of a problem to get the stand back in place. Never had trouble with the TSS which is what I used mostly back then. I think complacency must come with all new stands that are equipped with harnesses. You have to know that anytime you are two stories up in a tree, something bad can happen. Sure as heck glad I don't use them anymore. And yes, guys are killed here in Pa. every single year from falls from stands. I'm much to slow to react nowadays to think about perching anymore. Be safe.

My Sabor climber came with the double single strap that you had to tie around yourself, hopefully in a way that it would not strangle your circulation and kill you. I did help me keep my balance, but if I would have fallen, it would have killed me. I fell backwards off my Nifty seat rotating with a walking buck, the ground came up fast and hurt. I should have had a safety harness on, that was only a couple feet, think what 20 feet would have felt like.

I don't climb trees to hunt, but I have 30 years experience wearing fall protection, I always wore it after a launch operating at 180 foot in a high ranger, we went through vigorous training.

Monkey ball is correct keep a knife handy, because there may not be anyone to get you down and you will die suspended for any lenth of time.

When we had a fall the emergency people would be there as fast as they could for that reason.

We had sewn straps that tore apart to slow down our decent. so that the sudden stop wouldn't damage internal organs.

We had to be suspended to know how it feels and it ain't fun.

Tie high as possible to restrict the actual fall and look up fall protection and read up on it, after you fall it is not the time to wonder what I should do.

Harnesses will save you, but they will also kill you. It doesn't take long either.

Wow...I'm just going to say I've never fell out of a treestand, but have taken 35+ foot whipper rock climbing, in a rc harness. Never been injured other than ego. As far as self help goes, I always carry 2 biner and 2 slings to make prusik or autoblocs with. If you practice it is easy to ascend a rope with a pair, or get yourself comfortable to climb down. All I can stress is whatever your system practice. It's just(more?) Important as knowing and being comfortable hanging your stand, or climbing with your stand.

About 30 years ago, when I was young and stupid, I was trying to put up a tree stand without using any kind of fall protection. I was standing on a limb about 12 ' off the ground, working hard to get the tree stand strap around the tree. The limb I was standing on suddenly broke. I grabbed a limb in front of me on the way down, but my hands slipped off and down I went, landing flat on my back. I layed there, stunned, with the wind knocked out of me. After a few minutes, I finally realized that I wasn't hurt and sat up. Then I started shaking uncontrollably when I saw that I had landed perfectly between two fallen trees less than 3' apart, each with many broken sharp limbs pointing straight up. I have never been in a tree stand since. And yes, I firmly believe in Divine intervention. Richard

After all the years on the job, both as a fire fighter, and a police officer on special units, I always had my cutting knife, on my front shoulder where I could get at it,,,,, I also have that for my harness system, when hunting,,, a knife is useless in a cargo pocket, if you can not reach it,,,, keep your spare there, but your go to knife, on the shoulder,,,,,,,,,,

This is an interesting topic to which I can relate. I started deer hunting around 1988, and I accumulated a variety of equipment some of which was homemade. As I progressed I bought equipment that I read about and saw in magazines. None of my close friends hunted, but I plodded on. I read about guys using climbing stands so I bought a summit (Cobra??) open front climber. I had purchased a Screaming Eagle Harness and was ready to go. After school one day I went to a farm I had permission to hunt (by myself) and began my adventure with a climbing stand. As I began my ascent and slowly inched up the tree, I was pleased how easy it all seemed. As darkness approached I began my preparations to descend. I hooked my bow to the haul line and leaned to the side and lowered my bow. I remember thinking as I fell head first out of the stand, that maybe I should have strapped the seat to the tree. My thoughts were suddenly interrupted by the tether stopping my fall. After climbing back on my stand I collected my wits and said a few words with my lord.

I attach my tether strap high enough that it starts to tighten up when I sit down. That way, I don't have far to drop. Also, the strap tightens up and stabilizes me if I need to lean out to shoot.

A few years ago I had a harrowing treestand experience myself. I shot a doe and one hour later decide to descend the tree and find her. I lowered my bow and gear and started my decent from eighteen feet with my climber. I always wear a harness and move it up and down the tree ahead of the hand climber. This season I bought a second-hand Loggy Bayou and had used it at least a dozen times before, both testing and hunting. On my second time breaking free the platform on my feet from its grip on the tree, the cable which runs around behind the tree, slipped out of its retainer clasp on the right side of the stand and dangled from the clasp on the left side only. Dang! Here I am with my weight on my elbows, the harness tether is slack from being lowered to the level of the hand climber and the stand it still dangling from my feet. Huston we have a problem!

A feature of the Loggy Bayou hand climber is a two-inch webbing strap which loops between the two side rails in front of you as you use it. I suppose you could sit in it or run it behind you as you use the hand climber. I did think of removing it because my Summit doesn't have one and I didn't see the need for it. Now I'm glad I didn't. I was able to lift myself up enough to get my right knee into the loop and rest my weight there. Whew! Now what? I then hoisted the bottom platform up with the tether attached between the two pieces and with my left foot still hooked under the toe bar. I then managed to get a hold of the loose end of the cable on the left side of the tree and pass it around behind the tree to the right, where I then struggled to get the end into the frame and re-fasten the retainer clasp over one of the lug nuts. I was then able to make a somewhat normal decent.

I would say, in hindsight, the whole episode took ten minutes. I'm looking at installing a webbing strap on my Summit hand climber in a similar fashion, for just in case.

In recounting this experience with some friends, one of them told how his Lone Wolf hand climber snapped a supporting button head bolt which retains the band going behind the tree, and he went over backwards off the platform, twisting his knee in the action. He was only six feet off the ground and figures that had this happened when he was near the top, he would have been killed.

You never know when it will be your turn.

Here's my newly installed kneel strap on my Summit.

Wild Bill, I just took such a strap off of a Summit 'Open Shot'? style stand I own, and after reading your adventure above I will put that strap back on before I use it again! Thanks for posting this incident.

Same as Clint. I adjust the tether so when I sit down it's tugging slightly on my harness. Won't fall past the platform.

Did a navy career flying in P-3's. Regularly did parachute drills and the big emphasis was always on getting the groin straps as tight as possible.

Shawn what are you hunting that walks on the powerline that you are ONLY 15 ft above?! You are "above" my level! You are crazy! In fact, I have a psychologist friend that would give you some "couch time"! And not for fear of heights either. You will probably never need it, but that would be real rescue operation to get you down from there.

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