Being safe- a must see for all with pics

[The Night Stalker]

I have hunted for 34 yrs now out of a stand. I am lucky because I have only had one mishap while I was a teenager. It was with a climber baker treestand, you remember them. We have come a long way since then. Every year, I hear someone coming out of a tree with bad results. Last season, I decided that I would rig all my stands with safety lines. I have spent about 25 dollars per set up, but it is worth it. This year is my stepson's first year hunting traditional, he is 15.
I used about a 30 ft piece of climbing 7/16 kernmantle, two screw eyes, and a 5 ft piece of 5/16 kernmantle or bee-line for the prusik knot.
I tie the main line around the tree above the stand and thread it through a screw eye about where you would tie your safety strap. The reason I do this is to make the rope taunt and the prusik knot slides easily on the taunt rope. The proximal rope is tied off on a screw eye at the base of the tree.





As I get to the tree, I attach my hunter safety vest to the prusik knot and begin to climb.



second bee-line prusik


the prusiks are tied with double fisherman's knot

another set up

You can find all rope online from companies like Wesspur aborist catalog.

A 25 dollar insurance policy that everyone should invest in.

[elk ninja]

Very good setup.  Prussik knot is one every woodsman should know, and that's a great application for it.

[owlbait]

Very easy to do. I didn't know the rope was that easy to find. I need to check into it, I bought 2 of the Summit lifelines for $45 a piece. Great peace of mind though.

[CDR]

Great info!

[Eugene Slagle]

All of my hunt club stands has a life line similar to yours attached that I had purchased from Lowes & in my club it is a requirement that you are attached to the tree with a safety line & harness if you plan to be more than 2 feet off of the ground, no exceptions.

Safety should be #1 in everyones thoughts while in the woods & this is a great way to guarentee that safety while above ground level.

[caleb7mm]

awesome! Im home with a hurt shoulder and was rigging the same lines for all my stands today. This is exactly what I do and it works great. There is NO POSSIBLE way to fall if you use it!

[Shawn Leonard]

Sweet, I will have to do a few stand sites a year as I have 57 stand sites and that would cost me some big bucks to do all at once!! Great pics. and idea!! Thanks! Shawn

[BRONZ]

I just reviewed how to do this with 70 kids in Hunter's Education this weekend.  I always preceed the discussion with the 32 y/o patient I had who fell while climbing into a stand-- he's now a paraplegic.

70% of falls occur while climbing up/down or transitioning from steps to the platform, v.v.  Just tying off once you're on stand is not good enough people!  We all think "it" will never happend to us...until "it" does.

Hunt safe.  Manolito

[cacciatore]

Way to go.Safety before all.

[bicster]

I do the same thing to my stands on private property. I like the eye bolt idea. It is hard to tie the rope tight enough around the trunk. The only suggestion I have is to "dress" the prusik knot so the knot isn't where the carabiner will be sitting on top of the knot. The knot will be stronger if it is pulled from a single direction rather than on the bend. That is something I had beat into my head during my rock climbing days.

[Eugene Slagle]

Originally posted by bicster:
I do the same thing to my stands on private property. I like the eye bolt idea. It is hard to tie the rope tight enough around the trunk. The only suggestion I have is to "dress" the prusik knot so the knot isn't where the carabiner will be sitting on top of the knot. The knot will be stronger if it is pulled from a single direction rather than on the bend. That is something I had beat into my head during my rock climbing days.

Agreed but I didn't think of that myself, good call.
I have my knot in the looped area around the main line .

[lt-m-grow]

Nicely done.  I would take it  a step further and dump the tree steps for climbing sticks.

Slipping and then swinging into a tree step will leave a mark.

[Tim]

Nice Timmy.....a little different than the old days of wrapping our arms around the tree and pulling ourselves up with a Trailhawk stand strapped to our feet!        

[Mint]

Went on a hunt a few years ago and the outfitter had the HSS Life Lines. I went out and bought a few and so far none have been stolen. I won't go up a stand without them now. Also great tip with the eye bolt since it isa paid tieing off the rope at the bottom.

[Ward / Texas]

Great advice and great post.  Having a fall restraint on from the ground up is the only way to go.  Another idea to consider; while setting up the vertical climbing rope, attach a 2nd wrap-around rope to your body harness in case you have a limb en route to the stand level. This way you can clip the secondary rope above the limb before unclipping the primary.  You can do this sequence all the way while setting up the stand.  Of course on the way down, and next trip up the tree you can use the climbing rope.
Ward

[JAG]

Any life line and full body harness is wonderful!  Beware of purchasing your life line rope from the box stores.  You need to know that the life line is rated for a VERY HIGH tensile strength.  Meaning that the force that can be applied, as in a fall out of a stand, can be withstood by the line.  Most off the counter ropes are not rated for this.
Everyone should take the NBEF Treestand Safety Course, if at all possible.

[JEFF B]

you know the old saying better to be safe than sorry  

[ishiwannabe]

Up

[ishiwannabe]

[smokin joe]

Sherrill Tree is another great place for climbing rope.
Be safe out there guys.
Joe