Never wore harness until they provided one with only stand I ever bought 4 yrs ago even fell a a deep couple times up there at 25 ft

Got to be carefull and take your time in a treestand.

The words we need to be thinking are SELF RECOVERY.

Because nine times out of ten we're on our own out there and the goal should be walking out under our own power.

Getting up safely and getting down safely and what to do for every oh crap in between.

Don't know about y'all but their ain't nothing sissy or wuss about being your own first responder.

Test your harness at ground level. If you hang there you will die from blood cut off in your legs. See if you can self recover. The harness directions tell you to put the small strap around your foot to relieve the pressure and call for help.

this got.me thinking about another thread last year or ther about about replacing the cabled on lock ons. complete with picture of interior that cut loose when the cables broke.

I have a few old lock ons and should probably start looking for where to order new ones and if they are all generally the same length of if I need to climb up and measure them for length. It was never something I thought about until I saw that post. figured it may be something good to bring back up here.

Just recently a 55 ish year old gentleman in our club, fell while setting up his tree stand.
3 cracked vertebrae, lucky he will make a full recovery.

There are inexpensive safety lines that can be purchased so you’re always tied in, including the ascent and descent of your stands. A man could make his own if he knew all the right knots to make it viable. These keep you positioned so you could return to your ladder for self-recovery.

When I’m not using my saddle, which I prefer, I’ve moved to a full body harness. It slips on easy and snug, I snap in to my trees with carabiners so it’s quick and quiet.

My dad took a fall a couple years back hanging a ladder. At 63 he somehow avoided a serious injury. Doesn’t get back into a treestand much anymore, and he’s the reason I got into bow hunting.

There aren’t any good excuses not to be safe in the woods.