Many of you may not remember the old Baker tree stands...I sure do . I took a few elevator rides with those things and thankfully was never hurt. I also took some spills from permanent stands when I was younger and was lucky also. Safety harnesses were not even available for sale when this all happened. Guy I work with fell 20' out of a treestand in a really rugged area had to be airlifted to the hospital and is lucky to be walking...He has enough steel rods in his back and lost feeling in parts of his leg. I guarantee that he won't ever make that mistake again. I would not under any condition ever hunt without a safety harness.