willtill

I am a little brusied up this morning as I type this. [:@]

I was hunting in deep woods last night with my TreeSuit from www.treesuit.com . When it got too dark, I lowered my bow with my haul line, and started down the tree. I was about 20' up.

The "new improved" climber (bottom portion) broke loose of it's connecting rope when I was still about 15' up the tree. The damn thing just skittered all of the way down the trunk of the tree. I was left hanging, in the dark, with no good way to climb down from the tree.

Let me tell you, it is impossible to take the weight off of the sling part of the climber, no matter how hard you try by readjusting and using the safety rope as the primary means of weight support.

I ended up slipping the safety rope off and the tree suit off of my body while embracing the tree trunk, and then began a very painful slide down the trunk of the tree, I think I ended up falling off of the tree at the last 8' or so; a semi-controlled fall that is.

I checked all of the equipment out thoroughly before I used it last night. The nylon braided lines that the TreeSuit uses to connect the climber to the double D-ring suit strap needs to be re-engineered. I don't think that I'll stop using the suit, but will definitely improve the rope between the two devices.

Good thing that it was a small diametered tree trunk, or I wouldn't be sitting here typing this. I'd still be in the damn tree yelling for help....

Kindest Regards,

-Will in Maryland

mrfritz44

Well atleast you're alright! I've taken a ride down a trunk with an old style climber so I think I know how your torso feels today.

Maybe some ordinary 3 strand polypropylene line is in order for securing that bottom portion. It's interesting you mention this because the new Summits use a skimpy plastic snap hook to secure the umbilical line between the two stands. That was the first thing I changed after getting the stand. The umbilical is now spliced onto the bottom portion and will be tied securely to the top before climbing.

Your story makes me thankful I did that.

thruthevitals

Are you talking about the new wedge climber. If so, how to you like it compared to one they were selling last season. I have the one they were selling last year, but i still use my climbing sticks and three rope on tree steps.

willtill

Affirmative. The new wedge climber has a larger foot platform than the old style. I also have the old style too.

The new wedge is slightly heavier. I kept hearing a slight "groan" or low "creak" when I would put my full weight upon it when standing up in the TreeSuit. I'm not sure if it was the metal against the tree bark, or the climber itself.

There are a couple of things that I will change with the new wedge climber. First of all, I will install a better umbilical cord. Second, I am going to replace the bolt/nut assembly that the umbilical cord ties to. There is like a metal eyelet formed to the top of the nut of bolt\nut assembly that connects the two pieces of steel stock together, on the backside of the tree. The umbilical cord is attached to this eyelet on top of the apex of the steel stock bars, where they are joined together with the nut/bolt assembly. I don't trust that nut/bolt connection with the attached eyelet. The eyelet seems to dig into the tree when the wedge climber is deployed, and I think that this is what caused the umbilical rope to fail; it simply became frayed between the eyelet itself and the tree bark.

I will be attaching the umbilical bord to the bottomside of the new nut/bolt assembly that I will "re-engineer".

Also, I am looking for some better fastners for the steel stock where it attaches to the bolts, which are embedded in each side of the wedge itself. Right now, TreeSuit is using plastic knobs with steel threads embedded in them. They don't look sturdy. I'd rather find some large, all steel wingnuts and washers to use instead. Or a regular high strength nut with a washer.

Kindest Regards,

-Will in Maryland

Ranger690

Dang! The same thing just happened to a guy on tidalfish!

Glad you are okay.

Dayton

willtill

Kindest Regards,

-Will in Maryland

HighDesertWolf

I soooooooooooo feel your pain, been there done that.

willtill

Well, I did send an email Sunday to Rich at TreeSuit.com , and he replied. He offered to send another set of V-bars and another rope, properly tied on (he alluded that quite possibly my rope may have been improperly attached). I just asked him to send me another umbilical rope since mine was lost in the woods.

They do warn about making sure that the climber is securely attached to the TreeSuit itself in the video that comes with it; I surely have proven what can happen if it's not.

Shoot, I may just attach TWO umbilical cords next time....

Kindest Regards,

-Will in Maryland

G2 Shooter

I'm glad you made it down without real injury. That is a scary feeling being stuck in a tree. Like mrfritz44, I replaced the cord connecting the platform to the seat of my Summit Python. A couple of weeks later, my boot slipped out of the elastic band and the platform fell away about 25' up. [&:] I was able to pull it back up and set it back up on the tree. I don't think the cheesy nylon cord that was just tied to the platform would have held. I think it is funny that more stand manufacturers don't put more thought into that piece.

Steve

BowHuntingFool

[:-][:-][:-][:-][:-] Glad to hear your OK! That thing looks nuts! Good Luck!