With all the talk of wearing a safety harness, I got to thinking about this while sitting in my climber this morning in the cold.

I have a Summit Seat-of-the-pants full body harness and ALWAYS hook up when off the ground - you'd have to be a fool not to. My harness has a break away strap which is supposed to cushion the shock in a fall and I always position the safety rope around the backside of the tree and keep it short so I'd be clear of the stand and wouldn't fall far. I've read where you can't hang for very long in the harness before you have serious problems.

So my question is: has anyone on here ever fallen? What happened and how did it go? And most importantly, how did you get down after the fall?

I've read a lot about the need to wear a harness but not anything about what to do in case of a fall. I sometimes hunt by myself so this is an important issue for me.

Let's take the discussion one step forward.....

I have never fallen but did lose the bottom half of my climber this year. Thank goodness it was tethered to the top. Anyway, I always tie in prior to climbing and wear a waist pack. It contains the relief strap, cell phone, whistle (loud police one) and three screw in steps for possible self rescue.

I always tie off above my tree stand fairly high. I dont want to have to climb up if I would fall. This way I would be level or close to my bottom platform. Last summer I put my harness on an stepped on a block an stepped off to see what it would feel like. I wasnt 2 feet off the ground i wouldnt want to hang like that to lone.

I posted this before...some good tips on this video

you are wearing your full body harness and you fall, now what??

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P5keThc6h6o

+1 as high as I can reach up.

I fell on the opener of gun season in 2005. I was wearing a Summit S.O.P. harness and was hunting out of my Summit Cobra climber (open face design). It was 100% my fault. I was on too skinny of a tree that had slick bark. I did some sort of twist lean thing to shoot a doe. At the shot I was off balance enough that my bottom platform shifted and before I knew what happened, I was hanging some 20' above the ground.

Honestly, from there it is an adrenaline blur. I remember bear hugging the tree and reaching up with one hand and pulling down on my platform to get it to the point that I could get my left arm completely on it to use as leverage to pull myself up. I don't know how I did it but somehow I ended up back on the lower platform. After gathering my composure, I ran my climber to the ground, sat down at the base of the tree. I am man enough to admit that I was an emotional mess as the gravity of what could have happened came to a realization.

Overall I survived with simply some scrapes to one of my hands from swinging into the tree and a bunch of sore muscles. I didn't let myself hang long enough for the loss of blood flow to my legs be a problem. I retired that S.O.P. harness for a new one. My new S.O.P. has straps that tuck away that you can string under your feet to relieve the pressure on your legs and improve blood circulation should you need to hang for a long time waiting on help.

The guys are right, tie that safety rope as high as possible so your fall is a short as possible. Also, don't just rely on your harness and rope while in the stand. The most dangerous part is the climb and the transfer to the stand and back. Use a life line set up so that you are connected 100% of the time. I just had a buddy that fell the other day about 20' when he got near the top of his climbing sticks and the top climbing stick strap broke. Somehow he survived with no major injuries ... very lucky. A life line would have prevented such a fall.

I admit I have fallen. I was climbing on my Lone Wolf climber wearig my Gorilla safety harness about 3-4 feet off the ground getting ready to climb up the tree. It was a wet day and before I was strapped to the tree my foot slipped and boom I was flat on my back. I am 6'5 and although it was only falling from a platform 3-4 feet up it was enough to knock the wind out of me and wake me up to the potential for injury from a fall.
I am married with little kids at home and can not afford to be injured or not come home. With the news of the Adams County man and story's of guys falling every year I am choosing to improve my safety.
I am really interested in the Tree Spider Outfitter/Recon SpiderWeb system (Overalls/pants with a built in safety harness) and Livewire. The Livewire does not leave you hanging but will lower you to the ground when falling.
The system is similar to what Indoor Rock Climbing places use for people who want to climb without a partner called TruBlue Auto Belay. I wish those systems were cheaper because then you would be clipped in going up and you could just walk off your platform if you wanted to get down.
The best harness system is the one you will wear everytime out and use from the ground up and back down.
I would suggest checking out the Livewire system.

Thanks 76 for the video - that was good info. I don't currently carry the relief straps nor screw in steps but I'm going to look into attaching a pouch to my SOP to carry them. Anyone do this?

I don't want to offend anyone, but hang on stands with very small seats and platforms and no rails seem to be very dangerous. You have to have climbing sticks or screw in steps to get up. These seems suseptible to failure. And, the transfer from steps to stand seems tricky. I do not think I would want to use one of these stands.

I feel much safer climbing in my Summit 180. And once I'm sitting with the rail around me, it seems much safer and is very comfortable.

To each their own, but the thought of anyone falling makes me almost ill. On the steep hillsides, covered with rocks, where I hunt it would be a very bad landing. Plus, I wouldn't stop rolling until I was in the creek at the bottom.

Good info guys, please ahare any other insights.