I KNOW THIS QUESTION HAS PROBABLY BEEN ASKED SEVERAL TIMES BUT I COULD NOT FIND IT. I MAINLY BOWHUNT & GENERALLY USE A PORTABLE (API GRAND SLAM BOWHUNTER) WHICH WOULD BE THE SAFEST & LEAST RESTRICTIVE ON MOVEMENT.

Jamie,

I have an API safety harness that came with a climber I bought. It's a little restrictive, but you can adjust it so you're comfortable. Just don't cheat yourself and buy something you may regret later. It's your safety we're talking about here, so spare no expense.

Rob the rookie<img src=icon_smile_big.gif border=0 align=middle>

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I am with Bull1870
seat of the pants its not cheap but hey its a lot cheaper than a hospital bill

I use a 5 point harness and here is why... If you use a waist belt type harness... and fall out of the tree if you have it around your waist more the likely you are going to fall far enough down the tree that you are going to have a hard time getting back on the stand if it did not fall as well... Then you have about 1 minute before your circulation is cut off so bad that you pass out... then you are in a world of trouble.... Those type harness are very dangerous... another point to that is if you wear around your waist more then likely you will be hanging upside down cause you upper body is going to want to facing the ground and getting yourself turned around is not going to be that easy... and if you wore it around your chest, you will have a little more time to get back in the stand but you will still pass out within a few mintues... I recently took a treestand saftey class and learned this information...

Hope this helps and be safe and spend the extra pennies it might just save your life...

Just bought a new Seat O the Pants, won't climb the treestand without it!

What makes &quot;seat of the pants&quot; better then the other full body harnesses? I haven't seen 2 different brands side by side so I don't know the difference.

Ditto on the Seat of the pants harness. It'll cost you about $70.00 but well worth it.

The reason I think they are better is because of their design. They not only distribute the shock & body weight across your upper torso but also your legs. They also use what is called a high tether attachment system which means the attachment point is high on the harness which helps in not restricting your movement or interfereing with drawing your bow. Also the system they use for attaching yourself to the tree is fully adjustable so you can set how far you can lean out from the tree. One last thing is that they come with a fanny pack that the whole thing folds up into, just clip the belt around your waist and pull it out and put it on just like a jacket. If you've ever fumbled with one of the other ones in the dark, you'll know what I'm talking about.

Just bought a seat of the pants, and glad to see it is well liked.

My advice is make sure you get a full body harness. Makes sure the buckles are quality. Slid one time climbing a tree and the saftey belt caught me, but afterwards I saw the buckle was almost broken, if I would have had to hang there a few minutes it would have broke. With the full body harness make sure the tree strap comes off the harness higher up in the back and not at the waist, cause if you fall hanging upside down won't be fun, if the strap is higher, more of your body weight will be below the strap and you will stay vertical.

I got mine with my Summit stand. Full body harness....but supposedly the TRUE seat of the pants is a step up.
Either way, I suggest ONLY a full harness. You CAN find them for less than Seat of the pants, and LOTS safer than just a belt, or chest harness.