Man, a friend of mine has had some real bad luck with his climber the past couple years. He's a big traditional gear guy, he likes to hunt with a long bow and uses a climber. Last year his top piece broke off the tree and his foot wedged in the bottom piece, which broke his ankle. The stand company sent him a new top piece, so this year he was healed and back in the game. While he was climbing down a tree this weekend the bottom piece broke off the tree and his arm wedged in the top piece during the fall, which caused him to break his shoulder in 4 places. The only thing that saved his life was his safety harness. He was hanging off the tree in the harness with a broken shoulder and no bottom piece to stand on, so he slid the top piece down to his feet, stood on it while he lowered the harness line, hung from the harness, and lowered the top piece etc until he inched his way to the ground. They are talking a shoulder replacement now and he may be done with long bows all together, a true passion of his. It's a sad deal.

A good reminder to always wear a harness.

Be safe,

loder

AMEN!

I hope your friend will fully recover.

Ed

loder I hope your friend is OK.


Personally decided a few years back that I wanted nothing to do with climbers...no deer is worth that shidt. Might be time for him to consider a ground blind.

I just read on another site(Leatherwall)that a guys best friend was just killed from a fall from his stand. Sad deal. I think it was in Ohio.

I switched to ladder stands a few years ago. First, because they're safer and second because I hunt my own land and don't move them around much.

Always wear a harness.

I hear ya Bob. I have 6 of them and they are all collecting dust. Been more of a loc-on and lean-up guy the past few years. I may use my Summit at times, but the harness will be on for sure.

I switched to ladder stands3 years ago, and ground blinds, might limit me in some ways but alot safer! hope your buddie recovers fully!

At least tell us the maker of the climbing stand.

Hope your friend fully heels..

Lone Wolf, but it really doesn't matter IMO. A guy I worked with had an Ole Man cable snap on him. My cousin's dad fell from an API last year breaking his neck(Luckily he survived and recouped). The point to the story is be darn sure and wear a safety harness from the ground up with these things.

Out of my 6 climbers, the only one I really trust is the Summit, but I wont use it w/o the harness.

Have a good one,

loder

I love my summits.. but I wouldn't trust my life to one (or any stand for that matter). Harness connected to the tree, from the ground to the top and back again always.

Loder screw it....I'll stay on the ground where I still might fall but it's a shorter trip! It's more fun killing those deer at eye level anyway.....ya can stare them down before you shoot them LOL!!

Reading this thread is giving me the creeps!

The cost of the Hunter safety systems harness is a pittance to the benefits.

I absolutely hate Climbers, I use ladder and Millennium hang ons. I've just never felt like a climber is stable and secure, at least not after using the Millenniums.

I have fallen from a tree stand and had a harness on one time. However I have fallen asleep more times then I can count in my stands. No way I'm going up without a safety harness. I also hunt in a very remote area where nobody would find me, at least not the whole body. The wolves and bears would scatter my bits in 48 hours.

At my age i use nothing but Ladder Stands and i also use the Hunter Safety System. How much does your friend weight to break to stands in two years just climbing the tree?

That's what I was wondering too Bea, must be a BIG dude.

Gunner

JJ I agree....I think back to the horrible risks I took back before we knew better,tree stands were in their infancy and no one made safety harnesses at all....makes my skin crawl thinking about it..I don't know how I kept from being killed.

Might be that as a kid I was up and down trees constantly and never gave it a thought!

I still occasionly use a climber,Loggy Bayou,but the more of these stories I read; the more uncomfortable I get. When I do,I have a Tree Spider harness on when I leave the ground. I like the mobility,but am moving more and more toward ladders,bought 2 more yesterday at Dick's. They have some pretty good deals ,by the way.

I"m to the point these days I don't feel like I"m missing any opportunities while hunting out of a ground blind. I"ve shot my 2 largest bucks ever out of ground blinds....

Jeff ground blinds work good!

Ground Blinds are hard to shoot a long bow from

I went through the climber stand phase, and I still enjoy climbing a tree for fun now and then. But when it comes to bow hunting, I vastly prefer to be on the ground where I can be mobile, warmer, safer and have a more exciting experience as well.

PS. Your friend with the broken ankle and now shoulder, sure sounds like one tough hombre. My condolences to his situation and I hope he recovers well.

Not at all, 180 max.

Guys PLEASE use a safety harness or vest EVERYTIME you leave the ground! I don't like climbers and mainlly use ladder sticks and Millenium hang on stands (best stand I've ever been in bar none!) and I also use a lifline so I'm hooked up from the second my feet leave the ground til they are back on ground. It's cheap insurance.

Millenium hang ons are not just bullet proof, but difficult to stay awake in. The seat is perfect, and the integrity of the hang on system is flawless.

I have a bunch for my hunters, everyone wants the millennium to sit in over all the others. They all also want the Hunter Safety systems vests, not the clumsy straps and other designs we have used over the years. I have now switched everything to millennium and Hunter safety.

That is too bad however that is only one side to the story. I have been hunting out of climbers for years. I inspect and replace parts that need to be. I find it very hard to believe that two parts broke on his stand two years in a row from normal use. I am a summit guy but Lone Wolfs are great stands. They don't just break. Another thing everyone that uses a climber should always do is tie the top and bottom off to each other.

Yes the seat is perfect, it's the only stand that I would not have a problem sitting in allday long. THey are comfortable and secure enough that you can sleep in them - I've done it more than once!

Take a look at lifelines, they are a rope with a Prusic knot that you stay connected to the whole way up and down the ladder. THey are about $30 each to buy or about $20 to make yourself.

Prusic suck change it out with either a VT (Valdetoin) or Distal. Thank me later.

I've been pushing my luck the last couple of years, common sense knew better. I think I'll get a proper harness and start using it.

What are these that you are talking about? I Googled them and it didn't show anything that looks like would be useful for what we are talking about. If they are better than a Prusic I'm interested in learning about them.

This is just me. I'd never say anyone else should do what I do (disclaimer), but I use climbing ropes with a prussic knot all the time. I'm 275 pounds and use 3 loops. It holds for me and I can straighten it and slide down fine. I use professional climbing ropes though. I buy static rope and the special rope for the prussic knots by the foot from EMS. I think the sliding rope is treated to take more heat for sliding. I tie a loop with a fishermen's knot. I lash the ends to the lines, and give 3 loops around the main line. I'll play with a distal knot tomorrow though.

I practice before season every year hanging and getting back to stand or tree steps. Set my stand about 5 feet from ground step off stand and hang from harness. Gives you practice if you ever fall.

Read stories guys die every year because they cannot get out of harness or circulation cut off.

Always carry a knife too where you can access it easily

If all you want to do is go down a Prusic is ok.

A VT or Distal is a much easier knot to tend both up and down.

I live on a rope in big trees daily. I like the VT but would not hesitate to use a Distal. Prusic forget it they are not worth the time.

I am pretty sure all my ropes (tree and rock climbing) are professional. For both safety and rigging!

I'll play with those two knots and see if I like them better than the Prusic knot but I don't have any problem going up as long as I have the rope tied to the bottom of the ladder.

That is because you have not put a load on it.

Here is a link to a video of the VT knot.

VT

they spell it valdotain

Work with a general surgeon who did his residency in Minneapolis. I guess I don't have to tell you what they are referring to when they say, another "deer diver" just came into the ER.

I used to hunt quite passionately from tree stands and have certainly had "my moments". My Double Bull ground blind looks better every year.

That is a good video of it Bob. The Distal is just as good too, but I perfer the VT.

Reelman, Try hip thrusting or foot locking with a Prusic and let me know how well that works out for you!

I'm not sure what you mean by that. I know I've puller on the knot as hard as I could and jerked it as hard as I could and it didn't slip.

Right it isn't going to slip. Now after the load has been applied to the knot, remove load bearing and try moving the knot up the rope. It isn't easy. Like I said if you only want to desend it is an ok knot. If you want to be able to assend and desend it isn't a great knot.

If I were to fall out of my climber, I don't have to decend I can climb right back up to my stand either foot locking or hip thrusting. If I am climbing my climbing sticks and fall, I don't have to break the knot to assend the rope again. Very simple and easy to manage knot.

I am a nurse in N.E. Michigan and can tell you some great tales of woe. I do not leave the ground without a harness (not one from the 80s, GET THE NEW ONES the old ones will kill you also ........ slowly) since I started hanging stands in the 70s.

Knew this guy in Kansas that used to use those flimsy rubber coated screw in deals from Wally World to go up about 6 meters to his hanger without a harness. He also carried his arrows up the tree with broad heads. The rest of always expected to find him at the bottom of the tree with an arrow stuck through some needy part of his body.
My dad always said it's not he fall that kills you it is the sudden stop at the end.
Smart guy he was.

Deer diver! Eyes are watering. Mind if I use?