Rarely will I use any step, but the same thought has crossed my mind when using my climber. What if the pin failed in the middle of climbing the tree?

We all must inspect our gear during the off season.

ive had some the same tree for over 12 years. i leave them in all year w/o any problems. these are from DEER ME or something like that. they came in groups of 4, if i remember correctly. came w/ a cheezy bag to put them in. i buy the green ameristeps by the box of 50 now. i have them scattered over 10 counties in virginia.

Grizzly's.

I've never had that happen and knock on wood, hopelfully never will. It's a great reminder that these things sometimes do happen and in most instances the only way to be truly prepared is to harnessed up.

You're definately lucky. had you not caught yourself that would have been a nasty tumble.

I've used the same set of EZ steps -- the folding type -- for the last 20 years with no problems.

I had this happen to me this year - first time in 24 years of hunting. They were the thicker steps and had been in an old oak for many years. I believe it was the pressure the growing trunk exerted on the step that made it weak. Thankfully, it was the first step from the ground. It broke under my foot and I fell to the ground hitting my gut on another step on the way down. Luckily, it hit my right side between my last rib and my waste. Plus, I had many layers of clothes on which kept the impact minimal and only gave me a nasty baseball size bruise rather than gutting me or breaking a rib. Could have been way worse all the way around. Never dreamed that would happen. Now I'm concerned about all my other stands that have been in trees for 10+ years with screw in steps. I think I'm going to replace these steps with ladders.