I did take a fall comming down from a stand that I built thatI was hanging. ButI didntfall from the stand. I had a spiked fold upscrew in treestep give out on me causing me to go down. As I was falling I reached for another step to grab on to and almost lost my ring finger when i grabbed on to it and one of the spikes wedged between my ring and finger. My wedding band possible saved my life. But since that day I no longer where my ring when hanging stands.

Has anybody fallen with a safety harness on? I'm curious as to how you would get down. I bought a new harness and it has a web cutter attached to the chest strap. I can just see myself being saved from a nasty fall...hanging by my harness...I grab the tree...get settled...cut the strap that just saved my life...and then fall. So I guess we just bear hug the tree and slide down after we cut the strap. Do we try to climb up and slide the tree strap down just in case we loose our grip it can save us from another fall? I looked at the Tree Safety website and they don't have anything about getting down. I would think that would be a good video to post there. Does anyone know of a video that shows how to get down?

Happy and Safe Hunting
Reid

IFEEL THE OTHER DAY TAKING A STAND DOWN FROM A OLD SPOT.I SHOULD HAVE TAKEN IT DOWN LAST YEAR BUT OPPS.IM OK BUT ITS THE RISK'S WE GO THRU TO DO WHAT WE DO.I DO USE A BELT WHEN IM UP BUT I CANT FIGURE HOW TO USE IT CLIMBING A PINE.

Yea, pine bark can be tricky. I remember climbing them with my homemade climber. I would jump up and down and wiggle back and forth to make sure the blade cut it deep and the teeth grabbed good. The trick (as I see it) is to have the tree belt tight enough to grap if you fall but loose enough so you can slide it up as you climb. I would suggest practicing to get the right tension. Stand at the base of a pine tree and connect the tree belt up as high as you can. Then drop....you will see if the belt grabs and you will also see what it will feel like to hang there. You might even set the base of your stand up or use a ladder so you can get a little higher. Just make sure you have somebody there to help you if you need it.

Happy and Safe Hunting
Reid

I hung treestands for years without using a safety belt. Not very smart. Finally, after being prodded by my hunting buddies to use a safety belt, I purchased a nylon web safety belt from Bass Pro. The 4th time I used it, I fell 20 feet. I had hung a stand at the top of a 20 ft. ladder and was trying to cut a small limb that was hitting me in the back of the head while standing on the stand. I had one foot on the top rung of the ladder and the other one on the stand platform. I hit the limb with my small axe and as I drew back to hit it again, I just kept going until the ground got in the way. The safety belt had broken on the back side of the tree as clean as if it had been cut with a razor. I was very fortunate. After laying there for 10 or 15 minutes I was able to get up and walk a mile to my truck and go the hospital in Flagstaff. The point of all this is that you should be very careful in your choice of safety belts. I now use a lineman's belt given to me by a retired telephone lineman. I am sure it will never break and I use it religiously. And yes, I did contact Bass Pro and tell them about my incident and suggest that they remove this particular belt from their sales. Their response was to ask me to send the belt to them so they could examine it. I still have it as well as a back that gets stiff and sore with the slightest provocation. But, I am still hunting and still using tree stands.

My other half fell out of a HM ladder stand years ago.. I wear a safety harness.

I would guesstimate that statistics show majority of victims were using homemade stands as opposed to commercial stands. The technology alone isn't a good comparison, however I am sure their are homemade stands out there built like fort knox.

Overall I think user error is the most common cause of hunters falling out of treestands. I make sure I use my belt going up, while in tree, and coming down. I feel terrible for you guys who are enduring injuries from falls. I did fall once climing up some steps of an old homemade tree stand set up. It should have been taken down long before that.

I hit the ground hard and quick. I was probably fifteen feet up. Shook me up pretty good. Obvioulsy I wasn't wearing my belt then. Since then I do.