Rod1210

In the past I've been pretty lazy about wearing a saftey harness all the time while in stand. Partly due to it being a pain to get into and out of all the straps of the harness. Well I got married in the spring so I have to think about more than myself now. Last weekend I went to cabelas and purchased a HSS vest with the built in harness. Its nice and easy to get into and out off. HSS recommends a line man's belt for climbing up the tree, but that requires removing all the limbs which I don't want to do. I was wondering how everyone ties into the tree while climbing up to your stand? Some of the options are fall retractors, climbing ascenders, or using prussic knots. I would like to hear pros and cons of these different options. I hunt in michigan and am curious how the snow and ice will affect these different approaches. Thanks

killadoe

I wait till I get seated to tie off...

LX0wn3r

I made my own ascent system from supplies at the farm store each one cost about $12.00 per stand. 25-30 feet of heavy rope, not too heavy you need it to be flexible to work correct. The heavy rope hangs from above your stand. Get another length about 2-3 ft of light rope. Go online and look up the prussic knot using it to attach to the heavy rope. A metal ring is used to make tying off to the prussic knot quick. I tie the bottom of the rope off so there is not a great deal of slack when going up, it makes it easier to slide the prussic knot up as you go up your ladder. Make sure that you know the weight rating for all your supplies. I take no responsibility for the information contained in this response being safe, this is just what I do and I am confortable with my setup. You can also purchase a setup just like this from hunter safety systems.

Rod1210

LS0wn3r,
That is the setup I plan on using. The only thing I'm curious about is hunting in december when there's a foot of snow on the ground. I don't know how easy it will be to slide the prussic knot if the rope is covered in snow and ice.