Suicide by treestand

[reddogge]

Bowdoc's thread on suicide by quiver reminded me of my first treestand from the mid 60s, a Dan Quillian stand I ordered from him and I would imagine he built.  Three of us ordered them, used them, one of us fell out of a tree on when one gave way and broke his pelvis (not me).  We weren't too smart then, no safety equipment, no harnesses, just a rope to pull up bow and a prayer. Measured 17 3/4"x14 1/2", 257 sq. inches of sheer terror.

I was surprised to feel it was very solid when I took the pics. today but your perspective from 2' high and 15' high is very different.
 
 
 
 

[Blackhawk]

You could only get me up a tree about 2 feet with that contraption.    

...but very portable and lightweight I guess.    

There must not have been many lawyers in Georgia back then.  

[4406v]

How about the old "baker" climbing stands where you'd hug the tree???

[billy shipp]

I recall using to first Loc-On stands....The chain was hooked into the open end of an S hook....Twice I happened to look at the S hooks, and they were almost straightened out while being 16' up in a tree....Thank God for better engineering and for allowing us to grow wiser  as we get older....I still have 3 of those DEATH TRAPS.

Billy

[PAPALAPIN]

My first tree stand was all metal, but it mounted like the Quinlan.  It also had a folding seat built into it.  IT was not that comfortable for long sitting, but it was solid.

Wish I still had it.

I like ground hunting now.  WHne I do fall, I don't have that far before I hit ground.

Remember the ones that were two piece,  Foot platform and seat.  When you took pressure off the foot platform it would fall and ratchet all the way down to the ground like something out of a cartoon, and you would be perched 18' up on the seat with no way to get down.

Been there, done that.

[TimZeigler]

Between the open Kwikee quiver, and the baker treestand that I had, I've come to the conclusion that my dad didn't like me much; and there truly are gaurdian angels.

[TRAP]

I had  several Bakers.  My favorite was the Baker Mighty Mite.  The platform was about the same size as the platform on the stand in the photos.  

I did alot of hunting in that stand.  They should have been sold with a life insurance policy. I now hunt from the comfort of a Summitt and wonder WTH was I thinking?  

Those were the days, glad they are over and glad I lived to tell about them.

Trap

[reddogge]

I just want to clarify in no way I'm disrespecting the late Dan Quillian or his product.  I'm showing it as it was kind of state of the art back then and there wasn't much on the market.  It is very crude compared to what we use today though and we were in our 20s and thought we were bullet proof.

[TRAP]

No disrespect assumed here.  It's just archery/bowhunting history.  Cool stuff.

Trap

[d. ward]

Sorry guy's I can't join in this one.I do not climp tree's.bowdoc

[Earl E. Nov...mber]

Looks like an early Torges tree seat  
I use to make my own with a similar patent, but it locked to the tree, with spikes and over center clamping pressure. I can't imagine trying to sell that thing.

[Horney Toad]

I used a Baker for several years. Was sorta poor in them days and bought a used one off of my pal. One time It let loose on my way up the tree and I wore all of the skin off of my palms holding the tree on the way down. Ouch!

[Chris Surtees]

I was gonna say looks like a seat more than a stand.

Pretty scary stuff there.

I hate to say this but for once I am glad I was born when technology was a little more advanced in the particular area.

[vtmtnman]

 
   
   
    [/QB]

No way in anything holy would I ever take that thing 15 feet up a tree.    

I'd use it for a ground seat only.You guys are brave.

Now the open kwikee quiver....had that.Now that I think about it what was my old man thinking letting me run around the woods with an  uncovered quiver full of his old razorheads...  

[reddogge]

We weren't especially brave, just using what was available and very young and naive.

[R.V.T.B.]

I was fresh out of college in 1980 and scrimped all of my money together to buy me a state of the art Baker Mighty Might.  I hunted out of that thing, with no safety belt almost daily for two seasons. Then I got a little cash put away and splurged on the Baker Slim Jim, twice the size. I gave the Mighty Mite to my brother.  He hunted out of it one time and then hung it on a fence post where it stayed for at least 15 years.

I was up in a maple in a Baker one evening and had a nice bear come in behind me. I turned to face the tree and the stand fell out from under me. I had my bow in one hand and used my other forearm and the side of my face as a brake to slow down the descent. I had a nasty rug burn & bloody rash on the side of my face for months.

[hormoan]

For the life of me, fortunately. I cannot remember the name of first model Baker I had. It had a rope type ladder hung off the front of it. To climb all the way up to the height you could hang it.It was light weight al-u-minium. Thank god I was only 6'   :eek:   Safety belt???

[ChuckC]

Brent,  Bear had a platform treestand that had a rope ladder off the front.  I don't recall the Bakers having that.    Most people made their own when I started.  I only recall the Bear strap on (chain) and the Baker climber stands early on, least in central Illinois.  

The Bear was actually a pretty sturdy stand, but it used pointed metal prongs to stick into the tree at the top and bottom.  Can't use that on public land today.  Was rock solid though if you put it up right.  

It came with plastic tube pieces that you threaded the chain thru, and a collapsable pole.  You assembled the stand from the grounds, had it facing upwards and used the pole to lift it to the location you wanted, the tube pieces allowing the chain to roll up the tree.

Then you pulled down on the front using the ladder and set it into the tree.

This was before tree steps were out and WAY before safety belts or straps.  we started out using no safety equipment and later started using rope to make safety belts very similar in use to the safety BELTS of late.  Man am I glad none of us ever needed to rely on one of them due to a fall.
ChuckC

[ChuckC]

First tree steps I recall using were steps made by screwing the loose ends of a car seat belt to a block of 2x4, then clipping the belt together around the tree.  Carrying six of them was a feat.  You had to visit junk yards and strip seat belts from wrecked cars to make them.  We also made rope laddes and threw the single line over a limb somewhere up the tree and hoisted up the ladder, tying off the single line to the bottom of the tree or a nearby tree.
ChuckC

[ChuckC]

Reddog    Around central Illinois in the late 60's and early 70's, a common homemade stand very much resembled that little Quillian stand, a lot, except it was bigger.  It was common for someone to take a piece of 3/4" plywood and attach a chain to the back end, either side of a notch in the board.  Underneath, they took and shaped a piece of 3/8 or larger re-rod, as if you laid (and attached) the flat rod across the platform, maybe 2/3 the way forward, then bent the ends down to meet at a point below, which stuck into the tree to support you.  Smart guys actually had a piece of cable or rope tied from the stand platform to the end of the support so it couldn't slip and just go straight.

Wow,   those were the days.  Count your blessings, we have GREAT equipment available to us now.
ChuckC