Stupid question so bare with me. Those who use a rock climber harness do you have one with a side loop to hook up your rope so its not in the way when you shoot. I see some harnesses only have the loop in front which I don't think would work. Please clarify for me . Thanks
Don't use them myself. But I believe you hook up in front only for even pressure. The sides are for linesman belts or chalk bag etc..... The videos I've watched on them, they seem to hang low enough they don't get in the way. I'm interested in them myself. I'm sure trial or somebody will chime in thats used them.
Thanks it just seems that the rope in the middle even if it does hang low would get in the way but the people who use them swear by them. Head Scratcher...
The "side loops" are to organize climbing gear and are not rated for body weight; even hooking a linesman's belt to them could cause them to tear. You can hook into the belay loop (front loop), although the preferred method is to tie into the leg loops and belt in the same fashion as the belay loop runs. Some harnesses have a full strength rear loop for rapelling; however, you will most likely flip upside down in a fall if attached in the rear. just my $.02 from 20+ years of climbing... my climbing harnesses are climbing harnesses, I wear a full body in my stand.
Thanks Trico. If I may, why do you prefer to wear a full harness on stand instead of a climbing harness with saddle. One that ties from the front. I'm assuming that the full body harness, refers to an HSS or Muddy type of harness. What's the Pro's and Con's of both in your opinion.
I've fallen a whole bunch in a climbing harness. If you look at the fall dynamics while rock climbing, falls are generally not a huge surprise and I'm not holding a bow. I'm facing into the rock, where my anchor point is, and the system has several ways to absorb some of the fall forces. If you fall out of your stand, it will most likely be a surprise and, your static anchor is behind you. Depending on how you set up your system with a rock harness, it will have minimal dynamic properties, (shock absorption). That's why a tree stand harness has folds sewn into the anchor point; they'll tear and absorb some of the force. If you go with a rock harness I'd add something like a Yates screamer as a shock absorber. I have a few so I throw one on my tree harness. Why the heck not!
I would be careful when using rock climbing belts. They are made for climbing not falling out of a stand. Seems to be the same but the weight distribution is different. If you fall out of a stand and have enough rope behind you it could lawn dart you head first into the tree. Could go through a lot of if scenarios but honestly there are many tree stand vest on the market with comparable prices to climbing harnesses. Just a thought.
Its not so about the price I wanted to see what the differences. It does seem like the majority like the full harness over rock harness.
