anyone ever fallen in a climber or know someone who has?
 

I baught a climber this year and after a few days I really got used to shimmyin right up a tree 16-20 feet or so.It has`nt slipped or anything yet,but I`m in minnesota and we don`t have any snow yet.Will the cold and snow season have any effect on this? I dont have a safety harness,should I get one and how do they anchor to a tree? Obviously I`m new around here and I apreciate any light you can shed on this

RE: anyone ever fallen in a climber or know someone who has?
 

Two words, GET ONE

RE: anyone ever fallen in a climber or know someone who has?
 

I have a home made climber that seems to work pretty good for rifle hunting. It doesn't seem to slip at all when it has pressure on it all the time keeping it gripped to the tree however one time i took my feet out of the straps to stretch my legs and there went my foot portion sliding 10 feet down the tree. Luckily I thought this would one day happen and had a rope tied on it so i spent the next few minutes wiggling my lower portion of the stand back up the tree. Would have been pretty embarassing if i would have had to call home for help in that situation lol. Need to work out a few kinks i guess for my next model. As for snow and the cold i have never had a problem with mine at all, mine will slip down occasionally while i am climbing but always seems to grab again in a few inches. When i am climbing i try to set the grip into a solid portion of the tree rather than on a knot or bump in the tree, that helps alot.

RE: anyone ever fallen in a climber or know someone who has?
 

A fall restraint is a must for tree stand hunting. I suggest a quality vest like the Hunter Safety System. No hastle with tangled straps in the dark and they are also very comfortable. During the winter months changes in temperature overnight can make the surface of the trees slick or even ice up on one side. Check out the tree surface on all sides before climbing, but buy a fall restraint before you make your next climb.

RE: anyone ever fallen in a climber or know someone who has?
 

My advice get a safety harness and use it. Then watch how Summit's work to connect you to the tree or Lone wolf's system is similar. Next get a connecting rope between the bottom platform and the upper seat part platform. The biggest or most common problem is the bottom falls off or down and the rope holds it with in reach. If it falls without your rope holding it leaves you hanging for help or trying shimmy down a tree the hard way, very unsafe.

In MHO the cold weather with ice on the trees I would recommend never getting into a treestand period. Other than that it will climb but be sure your gripping is solid before moving the platforms.

RE: anyone ever fallen in a climber or know someone who has?
 

First, don't go up a tree again without a safety harness. Second, don't go up a tree again before you learn how a harness works and how to use it CORRECTLY. Your life depends on it.

Third, I have never fallenfrom a climber. I have fallen 17 ft. from a ladder, and it hurt like hell. I had, a friend whom I share my lease with, fall from a tower about 1 week ago, about 12 ft. to the floor ( but he was standing so about18 fthead height ) and his hunting season is over. He had started going back to school ( in his 40's ) and now he can't go to class, right here close to the end of the semester. His doctor say surgery may be necessary. He landed on the left side of his head and shoulder. His leg landed on a stump in the thigh area. He has a severe hematoma and his whole leg has turned black and blue and the swelling is causing severe pressure within the leg, thus the need for surgery to releave the pressure.
He is just lucky he is not dead.

But this was the one time for an accident. He had never fallen before. He was in a very safe TOWER stand. I was in a ladder stand. YOU JUST NEVER KNOW, AND YOU CAN NEVER BE TOO SAFE.

Please heed the words above. Stands can and do fail, and people make mistakes.

God Bless

RE: anyone ever fallen in a climber or know someone who has?
 

If you do not mind eating your McDonald's through a straw and having someone change your diapers for the remainder of your"life"keep hunting without a safety harness.

Summit stands provides a harness with their stands.If you do not like theirs due to the amount of straps do as I have done and purchase one from Hunter Safety Systems. It was the best money that I have invested since I began hunting 11 years ago.

Never hunt from a climber from a tree that is wet or has ice / snow on it.

RE: anyone ever fallen in a climber or know someone who has?
 

My hunting partner and very good friend fell out of a climber. GET A SAFETY HARNESS AND WEAR IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

He was almost to wear he wanted the stand and one of his feet was coming out of the strap on the platform. He sat on the rail and reached down to adjust the strap and he woke up 40 minutes later on the ground.When he got his wits about him he stood up and his left leg collapsed when he put weight on it. He stood up again and the same thing happened. Now he was in sort of a panic. He is a physical therapist, so knows about anatomy and injury. He calmed himself down, moved his foot, ankle and knee. All that worked and there was no destabilizing injury to the leg that he could tell. He stood up again on the right legand slowly weighted his left leg. As he did this he could tell there was no support there and as he was weighting it he could feel the top of his femur moving around up behind his belly button. Long story short, he had no cell phone along. He had to crawl to his pickup, over half a mile. Then get in the pickup and drive back to town.
He has healed fine but took him over a year and he still has nightmares about it and still is not comfortable in a stand. That was 5 years ago. He must have hit the ground feet first. The hip is a ball and socket joint, the ball of his hip smashed through his pelvis and was up in his abdomen. The left side of his pelvis was completely shattered. He is lucky that he is even walking unasissted.
Not the typical guy you would think would fall. He has been hunting from tree stands for 20 years. Played college football and is a very athletic guy. He still works out and is in great shape, 6' 2" and 210 lbs.

RE: anyone ever fallen in a climber or know someone who has?
 

My only advice is "get a safety harness!" And get one of the full body harnesses or vests. The kind that just strap around your waist don't work as well, since, when you fall, all of the pressure from falling is put in one place (your waist), which is more traumatic to your body,and you can end up upside down without a way to right yourself. People have died this way because the blood rushed to their heads and they could never right themselves.

RE: anyone ever fallen in a climber or know someone who has?
 

I'm gonna tell ya a little story. Last year I bought my Summit Viper, and promptly shot 2 does one morning during our rifle season. In my excitement, I leaned around the tree to watch the deer, tipped the seat portion of the stand, and it fell on my feet. That threw me off balance, and only by the GRACE OF GOD did I not plummet 25 feet to the ground. From that day on.....I wear my harness, period.

Climbers are very safe, just don't tip them or rock them side to side. Once they lose bite, they fall in a quick fast hurry.

RE: anyone ever fallen in a climber or know someone who has?
 

mobowhuntr I put an extra strap around the seat to prevent that but i agree always wear a harness its to easy to slip and fall

RE: anyone ever fallen in a climber or know someone who has?
 

wow,sounds like I better start using a harness.I`m 33 and still in good shape and athletic so I trust myself to be able to do things I sometimes shouldnt do.The last thing I need is for that to cause an injury,if I did survive mywife would kill me.I went to the wallmart today,they clearance all the archery equipment this time of year,and they had one ameristep harness left and it was only 24.99,I have an ameristep ground blind and I know they make decentequipment but it didnt look very comfortable,in fact it looked like something that I would end up replacing with better gear in a month or so,I hate that.I like to have the best.Having said that which 2 or 3 names should I look for? -thanks again

RE: anyone ever fallen in a climber or know someone who has?
 

HSS - Hunter Safety System vest. They make a great vest that has the harness integrated within it. There are other good ones, but this would be a great place to start.

Look on the cabelas or bass pro shops web site. They have several for your viewing pleasure. You don't have to buy from them, but it is a nice place to go see what most manufacturers have to offer.

RE: anyone ever fallen in a climber or know someone who has?
 

Get a safety harnass my GOD!!! Jesus loves archers but he won't protect crazy ones!!!!!!!!!

RE: anyone ever fallen in a climber or know someone who has?
 

The harness is a must. Also, think about your technique when using the climber. It's easy to get in a hurry climbing or descending, especially if you're a bit late hitting the woods and want to get up the tree before daybreak. Each time you move one of the climbing sections, put your weight on it gradually until you're sure it's holding. If you put all your weight on it at once (as in: in a hurry) and it fails, you're hurt.

I've been using an API since 1996 or so and the only time I ever had a failure was when I was descending. I had to take a crap real bad and might have been in a bit of a hurry. The foot platform slipped, and I was hanging by my safety strap in the blink of an eye.

My API really bites a tree. I don't know if the new APIs use the same design, but mine has triangular teeth, which are also beveled.

Good luck and be careful.

RE: anyone ever fallen in a climber or know someone who has?
 

has anyone ever thaught of sharpening the teeth on the climber? When I put the pack straps on and start my trudge the teeth are are always digging into the back of my legs with every step,this is the only reason I didnt immediately do this,but I`m sure with a little ingenuity I could resolve this problem and get a better grip on the tree right?

RE: anyone ever fallen in a climber or know someone who has?
 

I didn't wear a harness for the first few years I hunted. I now have a wife and a little girl that I want to be able to play with and enjoy growing old with the wife. If I forget my harness I hunt from the ground that day. I fall asleep in the stand too much and wake-up trying to catch myself!

RE: anyone ever fallen in a climber or know someone who has?
 

I've had a brand new climber collapse(catasropic stand failure)and drop me upside down from about 12 feet as I was climbing. It was a Loggy Bayou that they pulled from the market almost before it hit it. I had bought mine at a big show before they hit the stores. It had composite arms that all exploded. They wouldn't make it right either, but that's a long story. Fortunately I had on a safety belt. Get a harness or you'll die or get hurt or something. I had another kick out in the rain on a slick tree before there were hand climbers, safety belts or anything. It was a fast hard slide that busted my arrows and took all the skin off my arms, chin and face. It hurt SOOOOOOOooooooooo bad. That was in the days of hugging the tree and pulling your Baker up behind you.

RE: anyone ever fallen in a climber or know someone who has?
 

Don't forget to use the safety system while climbing and descending the tree, not just when you get up.

RE: anyone ever fallen in a climber or know someone who has?
 

Yes, I slid down 20' long story.

Sounds like you bought a loggy. If that's the case, do get a safety system. I don't however use one while climbing. Only if it's wet. You learn how the tree stand reacts to certain what tree types. I haven't seen the need. I do strap in at lock in height.