A serious issue... has anyone read the bowhunting article that spoke of death from what's called "Suspension trauma"? I was not aware of such dangers with harnesses. I formerly would climb to the desired hunting height and then put on a waist type safety belt. Not a good practice. I got older and started using the waist belt when climbing, which was still not the best method. Since then, I only climb with my full harness attached to the tree. I know I'm safer now compared to my old methods, but didn't know death could result from a harness that just saved you from smashing into the ground. The harness may kill you right after it saves you.

Suspension trauma reactions, from what was printed, could save lives by knowing what not to do. The article reads that sitting idle while suspended leads to massive pooling of blood in the lower extremities and eventually death. It was first found when workers suspended by their harness to inspect difficult areas of job sites, were lowered into an area for a short period of time BUT not actively moving about. The workers soon were unconcious due to extreme lowering of blood pressure, unknown to the co-workers above. Unsupervised, the worker expired! An informative article to say the least. I have the actual issue somewhere and can look it up if anyone is interested. Something to think about.