I make my living from a saddle, and so don't care to hunt from one. Safe? Absolutely. I've been upwards of 100' in a saddle, chainsaw in hand. I went up a large water oak about four years ago and didn't cone down until I had it completely limbed/topped to a stub. A bit over 7 hours in the saddle. (I've done it enough that when I hunt, I want to SIT!) I've worked with guys who used their work gear to hunt from. I don't care to use my work gear recreationally, and there's always the issue of scent from hours of sweat and exposure to saw gas/oil/fumes.

As a follow up to my initial post, what are you guys using as far as a climbing belt to hang the stands if you're hanging prior to the hunt? Full safety system or a climbing belt? Amazon has a number of climbing belts in the $30-$60 range that have side-Ds for the lineman belt to attach to. I thought of trying one of those. When hanging ahead of time, there's not much use in the fall restraint system, as you're only setting the stand. (You don't attach the overhead tie-in until actually mounting the stand).