quiksilver

Fellas,

I'm looking for input on a decent climbing system for hanging fixed-position stands. Something cheap but reliable.

Right now, I use my safety harness, and an old set of pole climbing spikes that attach to my boots. It's a pain b/c it constantly needs re-adjusted and unhooked/rehooked as I climb past limbs and as the trunk diameter changes.I think agood climbing belt with heavy duty carabiner clips might help me out.

Iused topre-drill (witha cordless drill)the holes and hand-crank the steps in. Last year, I bought an Ameristep tree step installer (pic below), and that's helped out a lot. It definitely saves a lot of time and keeps your hands from getting torn up on the knurled metal, but I'm still stuck dangling bymy treestandsafety belt, which sucks


I guess I just need a good climbing belt, and I don't know what to buy or where to get it.

I'm sure some of you guys whowork in the utility or logging business can give me some good advice on a decent climbing system that would make hanging stands a little easier.

There are so many hunting products on the market right now related to treestands/steps/camo/etc.. It just makes me wonder why a company like Ameristep or Summit hasn't come up with a good climbing belt system for hanging fixed position stands. Or maybe there is a product out there that I'm just not aware of...

Anyway, any help is appreciated.
Quik

Matt / PA

I guess I'm not quite understanding what you are looking for? Any harness system will incorporate using a lineman's style attachment so that you can work hands free.......unless you know something I don't a lineman's belt/rope will always need to be unhooked if you plan to climb beyond limbs.
What you can do to remain safe if that's the issue is to have 2 belts/ropes attached to the harness and attach the unused one above the limb while you are still attached below. Once the upper one is secured only then do you release the lower rope/belt.
There are safety systems that allow you to be hooked to the tree from ground to stand height but they are only fall restraint systems and not a hands free lineman's style.

I'm not aware of anything like you describe.

I use the harnesses that came with my Summit stands combined with the lineman's hook-up and safety rope with Prussic hitch.
Works great and I'm no squirrel.

quiksilver

Matt,

I just need a good, reliable, no-nonsense climbing belt.

When I'm hanging steps using only my safety harness, I'm stuck unhooking to go over a limb with no safety backup, and sometimes no steps yet installed to hold onto. At 20-25 feet, that makes me a little nervous.

Like you said, using both a standard fall-restraint harness AND a climbing belt, I can always be tethered to the tree by at least ONE of the two devices, even when disconnecting to go over a limb. Also, as you know, the fall-restraint harnesses aren't designed for climbing, so they're a little on the long side, and not very comfortable to hang from. In addition, the belts can be a pain to unhook/rehook, looping them through the buckles, etc. Some of the climbing belts use carabiner hooks, which would be a WHOLE lot easier to use.

The problem is, a lot of the climbing belts on ebay look like antiques, and some others look pretty complicated. I don't know about trusting my life to them. I'm just looking for a reasonable model that's safe and easy to use.

Matt / PA

The Summit ones are very easy to use.........the safety rope has a sliding "Prussic" hitch in it that you can attach a carabiner to. The harness has sewn in loops on each hip , so you take the rope and loop it through one of the harness hip loops and then around the tree connecting to the opposite hip using the hitch and carabiner. The hitch allows you to slide it around to set the distance from the tree to your preference but stays put under tension.

It's a simple reliable system that when used with 2 sets of ropes attached you can quickly and easily climb up and around anything while still connected to the tree.

You can see the stuff here:
http://www.summitstands.com/catalog.aspx?catid=TreestandHarnessesHarnessAccess ories

quiksilver

Thanks Matt. I never knew that the newSummit harnesses had the hip rings. I guess if you had one of those harnesses, you could just buy a lineman's climbing loop with clips on each end, and it would be just as good as a lineman's setup.

My Summit harness is pretty ancient, and it doesn't have those steel rings on the hips.

In all seriousness,hanging treestands is probably the most dangerous part of the process, and I don't know whether we, as a group, payenough attention to safety during this phase of the game. Iremember when I was a kid, buildinghomejob wooden stands 15-25 feet high, with no safety restraints at all, justhaving a guy on the ground with a handsaw cutting boards and starting lag bolts through the 2x6's, then hoisting them up into the crotch of the tree and driving them home.I guess when you're young, you feel invincible.

Browning_1

To hang all my stands I use the SOP (summit)Harness with the linemans strap and I carry 4 lonewolf step stix (approx. 20ft worth). This is way safer and easier than pole climbers. Each step stick weighs 2lbs and strap together very nicely for packing.

hardcorehunter

Yep, Summit system with the prussic hitch.HCH

quiksilver

I was thinking of something along these lines. It looks like the paddedlumbar support on a standard climbing belt is 5". I'm guessing that's enough to support your weight without it painfullydigging into your back.

with just a plain-jane climbing strap like this one:

This way, I can use the tool loops in the belt to carry steps/step installation equipment/pruners/saw without having to make so many trips up and down the tree.

Do any of you guys use anything like this? If you're a good climber, do you even need a secondary harness attached to the tree?

I'm a really good climber, but I just get nervous when I'm fumbling with trying to re-thread the safety belt buckleseverytime I need to get around a limb. With the carabining clips, it will be just a simple unclip, reclip job. You could even use two straps, taking one over the limb at a time, eh?

rybohunter

Yea quick the summit thing works good. I have an older SOP, and can use it as a lineman's rig as well. I supposed it you went to a rope store, you could get a 2nd rope system that would allow you to always be attached, via the fall rope or line man setup.

Justin

Someone posted this in the tech forum the other day under a similar thread. Not sure how well they work, but they look pretty nice.

http://www.treehopper-llc.com/