The other day at work three of us were discussing the use of safety harnesses while hunting from tree stands. This thought hit me about using the safety harness while climbing up and down with a climber.
I always wear a harness once in the tree, but this does not cover the period of time climbing up or down. Once this year with the climber l left the saftey belt fastened to the tree while descending. However I forgot to work the strap down as I went and needed to climb back up and loosen it since it cinched tight to the tree.
Heres my thought. Some people probably already do this and I'm sure theres some scenarios that could still go wrong. Once both sections(seat and platform) of the climber are fastened to the tree, strap yourself to the seat portion until you reach your desired spot on the tree. Naturally the safety belt would need to be as short as possible and positioned in a manner not to choke you if you fall. This way if your platform breaks or you fall free of the tree hopefully the seat portion of the climber can withstand the jar and hold you suspended by the harness. If the seat portion of the climber is what breaks initially, the platform should still be under you.
The real test would be if the seat portion of the climber could take the jar of you falling to the end of your harness. I think ultimately doing this would be safer than not being harnessed to anything at all while climbing. The real plus would be that your attachment to the tree would climb as you did, no hassles.
Any thoughts
Dan