ok guys thanks for the replies, makes me feel better im not the only one in the boat. If id had a harness with me i might would have risked it but i didnt and nobody told me to bring one.....ive been in this situation hunting with new people several times and it seems to be kind of a prevalent attitude that its "only a ladder stand" and its no big deal...but im usually the biggest guy there, i think if i was a little smaller then scampering up there might not scare me as much. Im going to look into some of these new harnesses and start throwing one in my pack.

oh i did see one cool thing on my youtube search, i think one of you alluded to it in your post, but its a 22' ladder stand by summit with a trap door feature, you climb right up thru the stand and raise the foot platform and climb thru, you are enclosed by the shooting bar and you spin around and sit down and put the foot platform down, very slick.