Tree stand harness?

i set my tether up with very little slack in the system. when i'm seated i can feel it pulling up on the harness. that way if i were to fall it greatly limits the dynamic shock to the system and recovering back onto the treestand would be a simple as stepping back up.
 
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made the move this year to a rock climbing harness and i will never go back to a traditional body harness. the rock climbing harness gives you much more freedom of movement and is much more comfortable to wear. i highly recommend it! FYI i purchased one on ebay for like $25 and couldn't be happier!
 
Whatever you get if your treestand hunting make sure its deadly quiet. I hunt a lot of whitetails via treestands targeting heavily hunted mature bucks and on those calm days believe me if you are even questioning its quiet it might not make the cut imo. I thought the one I was using last year was quiet and my range finder just barely grazed my harness which cost me a chance at a nice P & Y buck last year as he heard it and turned straight away and walked off. I had used that vest for several seasons and taken several P & Y bucks wearing it without issue until then too and it was a very minimal noise that cost me that one too. This year I swithed to one of the newer HSS harness that seems to be much quieter when things gets brushed against it and I use a the tree rope attachment for climbing stands as well I think made by HSS too. Just find whats comfortable and quiet as you will be spending some tree time wearing it and decide how it fits your use. I hunt in a climber primarily and don't want much around my waist as it can come in contact with my stand so the rock climbing belts would not be ideal in that case.
 
Another Black Diamond Alpine Bod user. I attach to an HSS life line, climb in and stay attached the entire time.

I also keep the distance from the carabiner to the tree as short as possible so if I fall it will not be far. The lifeline is around the tree above my head.

Another thing to keep in mind is a harness like the alpine bod doesn't have a loop on the back rated for a fall. So you have to clip in the front.
 
Any harness will work. I didn't wear one this fall and took a tumble.

After a 1/2 mile crawl, trip to the emergency room, CT scan showing 5 broken bones in my ankle, surgery and 8 weeks of rehab I'm still not walking without crutches.

Take it from me, any harness is better than none.
 
with a climbing harness, what if you fall upside down while falling out of your stand? what then? are they designed for that? I am not saying they are not a good idea, but not exactly designed for the purpose of hunting...no? curious.

I use Muddy and Spider...
 
If you are concerned about taking a fall in a climbing harness you can look up some YouTube videos of rock climbing falls. Trust me when I say a climbing harness is designed to take way more violent falls than a treestand harness. It's not uncommon to fall upside down or 10 feet or more while leading.
 
I haven't made the switch to rock climbing one. I have a spider which is comfortable but bulky and friend has a muddy that he likes. I still like my SIMPLE hunterview one for it is basic and easy to put on and also stuff in fanny pack or affix to lonewolf sticks/stand.

Just like someone else said make sure you wear one.
 
i've come off of rocks with a rock climber.

you use that knot in the front? cant remember the name of the knot. but it is in front of me. anything is better than nothing.
 
Jeff Martin said:
with a climbing harness, what if you fall upside down while falling out of your stand? what then? are they designed for that? I am not saying they are not a good idea, but not exactly designed for the purpose of hunting...no? curious.

I use Muddy and Spider...
Click to expand...
I'm not sure how I would fall upside down. I only have about 4-6 inches of slack in my BD vario harness. Just enough for me to turn 180 degrees in either direction. If I slip and fall, I just step back on the stand. The most slack I'll have in there is when I'm going up using my climber and then I'm standing up and facing the tree anyway.

In any event, rock climbers have had far worse falls than any hunter has and they're not using full harnesses with the attachment point behind the neck.
 
Been using a rock climbing harness since before it was cool. Feel much more comfortable knowing I can self rescue. Easier to put on in the dark in the woods. Attachment in the front doesn't bother me one bit. I tie into my climber for ascent/descent and around the tree with a prussic knot once I get settled in.

And no, you can't fall and get stuck upside down that's a misconception that defies physics.
 
You all have convinced me to try a climbing harness. I looked at the Alpine BOD yesterday in the store but still had some questions. Is there a certain type or size carabiner or rope that you have found better suited to hunting (quiet)? The store had lots of selection between these but not very knowledgeable employees and they were really busy.


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Grumman said:
You all have convinced me to try a climbing harness. I looked at the Alpine BOD yesterday in the store but still had some questions. Is there a certain type or size carabiner or rope that you have found better suited to hunting (quiet)? The store had lots of selection between these but not very knowledgeable employees and they were really busy.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Click to expand...

Rope I use 11mm about a 7-8 foot piece around the tree with I think a 7mm dynamic prusik cord. Dynamic means the rope has some give. It's important to have a little give otherwise even a short fall could be a pretty jarring. There are other ways to build that into the system but mine I've tested and it's enough for me. Leave just enough slack rope to twist around and shoot behind you. Any climbing rated locking carabiner will do, there are good lightweight aluminum ones pretty cheap. Put some hockey tape on the carabiner to lessen noise.
 
if you search around on AT you'll find more than you would ever want to read about the subject. most guys there prefer the hss rope style treestrap and prussic but i like the treespider seat belt style strap mainly because of the size of it. for carabiners i use black diamond rocklocks. i connect my alpine bod harness to the strap with one of those and a daisy chain.
 
+1 on the rock climbing harness. Check out DIYSportsman on YouTube, he has a lot of useful info on harnesses. He also references another YouTube guy who was purposeful "falling" out of a stand to test it. And he was not a small man. If I remember right, he was even trying to flip himself upside down and couldn't.


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The HSS lifeline works great. It comes with a black coated carabiner and a rubber sleeve you slide over that. It has never made any noise.
The only trick is getting up the tree to hook up the lifeline. I prefer the HSS rope linemans strap for that, and I use it during the entire hanging process. But once I'm set up I use the lifeline.

Both HSS ropes come with the carabiner and Prussik knot pre-installed.

The lifeline is also very reflective which helps you find your tree in the dark.
 
I use the Black Diamond Vario harness, works great and much less restrictive for archery hunting...based on the "sit-down" structure of climbing harnesses, they are safer than the stand harness that strangles the "boys" in the event of a fall. No more tether out of neck hole, and not able to wear a hood.
 
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