Fatality from a shoulder harness

kevin1 · 10-19-2005, 09:09 AM

Why not to buy a shoulder harness

This is an article about a guy who fell from his tree stand and suffocated because he was wearing the crappy shoulder harness that came with his stand . I have two of them and never use them since I bought a full body style . I bought the full body one because one of my climbers slipped last year and nearly hung me out to dry like this guy . Fortunately my feet were still in the climbing bar , so the stand only dropped the three feet that I had set the trunk strap for . If he had set his for three instead of five feet he might have been able to get back into his stand . Don't take chances , that buck isn't worth your life . Get a full body harness and use it every time you climb !

zekeskar · 10-19-2005, 02:35 PM

Do you think that this is the type of harness that only straps around the chest - or is the type that also loops around the hips, through the groin?

kevin1 · 10-20-2005, 04:29 AM

Quote:

ORIGINAL: zekeskar

Do you think that this is the type of harness that only straps around the chest - or is the type that also loops around the hips, through the groin? Â*

It wasn't a full body , the article says that it was the crappy shoulder style harness that comes with most tree stands .

skeeter 7MM · 10-21-2005, 01:11 AM

Quote:

Simonton was wearing a shoulder safety harness, which is fastened below the arms and around the chest and had about five feet of safety rope above him, Winchell said.

Quote was taken from the link kevin provided. It appears just the belt style which are beyond crap they are death traps!!!!! As this sad story points out.

I agree with kevin buy a line mans style or full body harness and wear it faithfully. A harness without leg holds isequally unsafe, the leg hold one will at least keep you up rightso should you happen to wrap your melon in the fall you at least will be alive when you come too. It also forces more pressure on your legs vs your upper body which maybe required to get you out of the woods (sort to speak).

Side note I noticed at wally world the Gorilla stands came with a lineman harness. Obviously some stand manufacturer's are coming to terms but the liabilty rests on the user so be sure to get the proper harness. A good test is hang from a tree limb with your feet off the ground and see if it puts pressure on your chest or wants to tip you upside down. The result should be a suspended straight up and down position against the tree trunk.

Excellent post Kevin...safety is the name of the game!!

wis_bow_huntr · 10-28-2005, 12:27 PM

I use the shoulder style safety harness and have never had any issues with mine, Mine all have the quick detactch linemans clip. Mineis manufactured by Ameristep. I was hanging astand earlier this month when I lost footing on my climbing sticks. LucklyI had my teather attached to the tree the legnth of my arms, thus keeping me from dropping more than a couple feet. I hung there for about 2-5 minutes, Icould have easily grabbed ahold of the tree stand, tree, or climbing sticks, but thought id hang around just briefly to see how longI could hang there before getting sore or uncorftable. I did begin to get sore from the straps pulling up into my armpits but it didnt cut off any circualtion. He may not have had the harness strapped tight enough across his chest thus in hand the straps under the armpits more than like were constantly pulling up cutting circualtion off to the main arteries that run through that part of the body. These have to be used properly in order for them to work properly if a fall should occour. It greatly sickens me that some people do not practice with their gear before going afield. This may or may not have been the case with gentleman that lost his life do to this style of harness. My heart and sould goes out to the family of this man. Theres nothing worse than losing a loved one bydoing something that he/she loves. Be careful out there and please practice with your gear and ALWAYS WEAR YOUR SAFETY HARNESS. Also these products go throught rigurous tests before they even hit the stores. They wouldnt even leave the factory if the companies supplying these harnesses saw that they will kill someone if used properly. Always practice at ground level so you know the restrictions of your harness. Instructions for practicing at ground levels are provided with all huntign gear, treestands, harnesses, etc.