It was back in 1983 .... about 300 yards from my house. I hunted all morning by myself, when it was time to come down, I locked my feet on the wooden platform, hugged the tree as there were no climbing aids then, or at least I couldn,t afford one, lifted my legs to loose the stand and the whole stinking thing fell right down to the ground.

I had a single saftey belt that was loose and there I was .... hanging 15' in a tree [X(]... my knife was in my backpack, already on the ground ... the tension was to tight to loose the strap .... all I had was a lighter, since at the time I smoked[:-]....but it was windy .... I started feeling faint as the lighter finally started melting the strap .... once that strap started to burn, the strap started to jerk .... I was just about out when it snapped and I fell all the way down.

I think because my body was os limp at that point, all I received was a sore body for a week.

Not that I recommend smoking, but it saved my life and the saftey belt almost killed me ... kinda weird huh? Since then I quit smoking, but always keep a lighter in my pocket.[X(]