Treestand safety is paramount, with comfort and ease of use following a very close second.

Safety is not just how a person uses a stand, or how a person installs a stand, or what safety device(s) a person uses to secure the stand, or what safety device a person uses to insure against a fall that can result in a serious injury or death. Safety is also how safe the stand is regarding design, material used, construction, stability, etc.

Personally, I have never used a new treestand without first upgrading certain critical components e.g., bolt grades, installing double cables for platform, upgrading strength of hook that chain attaches to, installing high psi nylon straps to secure stand to tree, etc.

Considering it would be a monumental task for any one person or an officially recognized testing facility to field-test every model of every brand of treestand that is out there, and do so for each new brand and model, choosing the best and safest stand is not easily done.

I consider manufacturer claims to be too biased to be of any determinative value. Opinions and recommendations by one or just a few people who have used a particular stand are too subjective.

Therefore, how do you choose the right stand for the right price (higher cost does always factually represent higher quality).? Not easy! It takes time. Considering that serious injury or death can be the result of a hurried and/or bad choice, the time spent researching and asking questions is well worth the effort.

I personally know of a person who is partially disabled due to falling from a treestand. Just this past season, a bowhunter in my area died when he broke his neck in a fall. I was told that a platform cable failed and caused the platform to tilt, which resulted in dumping him from the stand before he was able to get into his safety harness.

Although information and user-opinions gathered from many people (users) and sources are still not exact, accumulated information is far better than what the manufacturer claims, or what one or just a few users have to say. Do yourself and those who love and need you, a huge favor. Take the time to choose the safest stand, and then use it safely.


Following are some evaluative links that can help begin your research.

http://www.women-outdoors.com/treestan.htm

http://pabucks.com/treestands/

http://www.bowhunting.net/evaluation/default.htm#top


Do yourself and those who love and need you, a huge favor. Take the time to choose the safest stand, and then use it safely.