I just want to put a bug in everyones ear! We are going into another season. Dont forget about those loved ones at home or abroad that depend on us to be there! Its not worth it. We should all take our time and think about the situations we put ourselves in. Is it really worth not tying off to make it into the stand a couple minutes faster? Or traversing terrain you know might be dangerous? Whether ATV or on foot its easy to get hurt. I dont want to hear any more stories on this forum especially. I was going through some pics and found this one. I just mentioned this to a team mate. Luckily it was the last stick before the ground. My buddy was NOT tied off. He WAS the kinda guy that ties off when he gets in the stand not while climbing. Now he uses lifelines (finally). If you are one of the hard headed numb skulls that wont wear a harness or safety gear then please take your time and be careful. I know theres nothing anyone can say to change the minds of the hard headed. If anyone has any pics to share that will serve as a visual reminder feel free. I wish everyone good luck and a safe season.
Great post! Always use lifelines, use your lineman's rope when climbing, inspect your equipment and use your head! None of us are invincible.
When I was a young pup I never used any safety equipment. My wife naged and naged me about it. I kept telling her I would buy the stuff someday. Well one day we were in Gander mountain together and she asked again if I had ever bought a safety harness. Again I said no but I'll get one someday. She said well someday is today and she went and bought it for me right then. Funny part about it was the very first time I wore it, the stand broke while I was in it. Had I not been wearing that harness my wife bought for me, I probably would have fallen. I've heard guys say it, and I always said it too, "Don't worry, I'm always very careful." Well you can be as careful as you want but you can't do anything about equipment failing without warning. I have since started using a safety line as well. Thanks to the op for a very timely message. Sent from my SM-N950U using Tapatalk
Just bought 4 more lifelines for my hang ons at the prop that didn’t already have them. Good post and stay safe all!
I just thought of Selfbros. He took a nasty fall when trying to take a ladder stand down. He had to have his whole foot reconstructed from the fall. Hes from my neck of the woods Hope hes doing okay.
Don't forget @Tony just last year. As I recall, his straps failed on his ladder stand. If somebody doesn't have at least a cheap harness, please post up. I think I still have one from a prior stand purchase.
A friend of mine was lucky he didn't get seriously hurt or killed when this stand gave out on him. It wasn't too high off the ground and there was a bunch of buckthorn under him that helped break his fall. You just never know when it's going to happen! Being safe's got nothing to do with it.
Growing up, we didn’t have all the safety equipment that’s available now. So, I was used to doing without and am comfortable climbing. However, I have used a harness since I became aware of them. A few years ago, a relative of some close friends died in a fall from a tree stand. I always think about my family and how they would feel if I were to fall. No matter how comfortable I am, I climb and hunt safely. Black Eagle Arrows 60X Custom Strings Tooth of the Arrow Broadheads
The only time a stand has failed on me was when I was going through my pre season checks before taking them out. I hook them up about 3 foot off of the ground and stand on them. One stand broke while doing it. It was a huge surprise at that height I couldn’t imagine at 20’. Also I don’t think it’s wise to have your phone in a hip pocket in your pants. If you fall, those leg straps will make it almost impossible to get to it if your hanging. Always use your phone pocket on your jacket. Most all of them have it now.
This is honestly most of us on here. I remember climbing a tree with 2x4 steps nailed to it that were so rotten they were falling away as i climbed. Its amazing we all survived. The way i think about it now is i love to hunt, bottom line. Anything that could take that away from me, i will do anything to avoid. Thats why i follow the laws as well. These days there is plenty of knowledge and resources to be safe and learn about safety. Ill be damned if i get my privileges taken away for a moment of greed. And i sure dont want to be crippled or worse because i was too hasty or too lazy to take 30 seconds to put on a harness or use a lineman rope. I may sound strongly opinionated on this subject but working in an industrial environment i have seen some bad injuries. I wear a harness almost every day at work.
I deal with a lot of falls at work and have seen fatalities as low as from a 4 foot step ladder. The human body is soft and your head will split like a melon if you hit it right. Even if you don't die there's no deer worth being permanently disabled for. Be safe
I just bought a new harness this year if anyone needs a 2xl harness, which is still in great shape please let me know I will ship it to you at no cost.
Great post! Always good to be thinking about safety! How many of you replace your harness at the recommended intervals? I'll have to look tonight but I think my HSS vests are supposed to be replaced after 5 years of use. It's something I rarely think about. Out of the 3 I have, maybe 1 of them is still within the acceptable timeframe. Should just get rid of my old ones but I always like "back-ups"... Probably not worth the risk. I am not exactly sure when I got my first lifelines and I have no clue if those have lifespans. I don't tag them or anything to know which are order and which are newer. I have never got rid of one, I inspect before season and go with that for my tree attachments. Anyway, I am curious as to how many of you adhere to the recommended life spans of your safety gear... I'll probably be ordering a new harness tonight.
I dont go too far over if i do. All safety equipment should have a lifespan. Probably on a tag is manufactured date and somewhere in the literature it will state how long it's good for. These timespans are grossly overrated but for good cause
When I used them, I did adhere to the life expectancy. I'd cut them up into a few pieces and throw them into the trash so no one could find it in the trash and use it. I now hunt from a saddle, and that has 3 years of life left.
Any knowledge on if these were sticks that might have been part of their recalls? or did he do something to the sticks that might have been the root cause of this? I just bought a set of these sticks for my mobile set because of their better spacing from the tree. I have a lot of the LW sets and love them but the smaller pegs and being tight to the tree tend to fatigue the foot while hanging the stand on a mobile set up.... This post makes me think that foot fatigue might be worth it to continue using LW / Novix sticks for my mobile set up versus just for my pre hung stuff.
I will see if i can find out more info for you. This pic was actually from a few years back so i would think if they had a quality issue/recall that they would have it fixed by now. I have also not heard of this happening from anyone else. As far as the cause goes i dont think anything he would have done should cause a failure like that. That seems to be a bad cast or something. Hopefully it was the only case of it out there. Gotta love Made in China
Don't be an ignant; use safety equipment. There is just zero excuse for not using lifelines on pre-hung stands that I will accept. None.
