Can't Be Too Careful

[Sharon]

Welcome back Joe !!

X2
I see some can't wait to jump on you already. Don't let them get to you Joe; be who you are.

Since I've had 2 strokes I don't go out alone to the woods etc anymore. Fortunately my husband loves nature so is glad to go with me. I have a "help me, I've fallen " device I wear which covers my property. You can get a satellite - monitored type for going afar , but there has to be a cell signal available. I figure if I pass out in public someone will help - ??

[walkinandsittin]

A co-worker hung by his harness for 11 hours before he was found and ended up crippled for life. He lost one leg at the hip and the other from the knee down. He,too,was lucky to be alive,but,his quality of life was horrendous. He finally succumbed to complications after seven years in a wheel chair. I vowed then and there to never use a tree stand.
Oh,yeah,welcome back JoePa.

It's not the tree stand, it's the harness people are wearing. Take a look at rock climbers. They fall and self-rescue all the time with their climbing harnesses. For some reason hunters are using a harness that requires a buddy to escape from.

I hunt alone in a tree stand and use a climbing harness and keep a knife and a set of prusicks in my pockets in case I fall. There is no reason to be trapped in a harness.

[johny]

It's not the tree stand, it's the harness people are wearing. Take a look at rock climbers. They fall and self-rescue all the time with their climbing harnesses. For some reason hunters are using a harness that requires a buddy to escape from.

I hunt alone in a tree stand and use a climbing harness and keep a knife and a set of prusicks in my pockets in case I fall. There is no reason to be trapped in a harness.

Agree.
Have a knife easily reached--like close to chest-- in case of situation like this.
Cutting harness and falling, even if you break a leg, is better than the Oregon hunter experienced

The cardiac arrest from restoring blood flow to the legs means his legs were so deprive of Oxygen that they metabolised Anaerobic (no O2) for all that time. The end result is an extreme build up of organic acids. When they are flushed back into general blood circulation, the acid hit to the heart will stop it cold.
They were lucky to revive the heart.
Even if he lives, he will lose the legs.

[MikePal]

http://www.foxnews.com/great-outdoor...-two-days.html

Swear to God it looks like someone pretending to be Adam West...

Thanks Joe...furthers my hatred of them, this happens far more than you hear about.

[delmer]

Agree.
Have a knife easily reached--like close to chest-- in case of situation like this.
Cutting harness and falling, even if you break a leg, is better than the Oregon hunter experienced

The harness I have actually came with a razor blade stored in velcro pocket on one of the chest straps for just this purpose if needed.

[Ahuntr300]

I think that if you follow the directions exactly - and you must - there is no way you can hang upside down on a fall as the strap is anchored at the top of the back close to your neck.

Maybe the guy was using a home made strap or was not wearing it properly.

This said, one should ALWAYS be prepared what to do in case of a fall as hanging even upright for a long time is very bad.

I review my tree-stand and safety harness instructions at the beginning of every season to make sure I have not forgotten all the safety rules.

Even simple things, like buckling the straps the right way, can make the difference between life and death.

Be triple careful this season my friends!!

[Useless]

The harnesses that come with tree stands are garbage and I see how someone could be caught upside-down with one of those. I have a harness made by muddy outdoors that makes it unlikely to hang upside down. I also carry a knife in my pocket at all times when in a harness if I have to cut myself loose. I hope to never use it.

[johny]

The harnesses that come with tree stands are garbage and I see how someone could be caught upside-down with one of those. I have a harness made by muddy outdoors that makes it unlikely to hang upside down. I also carry a knife in my pocket at all times when in a harness if I have to cut myself loose. I hope to never use it.

Tree stand manufacturers must be terrified of the American Legal system and the massive/frivolous/sue-any-one-because-I-am-stupid mentality that exists there.
So I figure the stuff they sell: stand and safety harnesses must be pretty good.
I use ladder stands from BigGameTreeStands.com.
The stands are rock solid when braced to a tree. The engineering makes sense as to how they distribute/balance/reduce the weights and strains that obviously occur.
The safety harnesses make perfect ergonomic sense if you fell or the stand collapsed.
I have feared heights since I was a child but feel totally safe in these stands.

Now, ask me to sit in someones "home made" stand...even if the builder is a construction/housing contractor... no thanks!!