He was using a Summit Viper climber. He had climbed up an older white oak where he hunted for a few hours and then as he was climbing down the bottom of the climber got tangled up in the bark. As he was trying to work it loose, somehow the cable came out and the climber was hanging by the tether. As he was hanging by his harness the tether to the stand broke and the bottom of the stand fell to the ground. Somehow, he was able to pull himself up and put his weight on the top part of the stand. He called a friend and the friend headed over there. As he was hanging there waiting, he remembered he still had his pull up rope in his bag strapped to the top part of his stand. He tied his pull up rope to a bow hanger he had in his bag and believe it or not fished the bottom part of the stand off the ground and pulled it up to where he was, reattached it to the tree and climbed on down. If not for his harness he would either be dead or paralyzed. He also is ordering some stabilizer straps as I have. Wear your dad gum harness!!!

mercy ...

Glad to hear he is fine. I dont climb anymore just too much risk in it to me.

Glad he is ok

dang it man. glad he is ok

Me too. I don't get up in old ladder stands either any more.

I only do ladder stands now because of stuff like this.... just can't bare the thought of leaving my son without a dad because of a hobby

Bless his heart! Glad he was wearing that harness.

Thanks for posting this important reminder. I still use a climber a lot and have added stabilizer straps from Third Hand Archery to my main stand. I'm walking outside now to put a set of straps on my other Summit Viper right now!!

Ladders are more safe than climbers, but I still wear my harness while i'm in one and use a pull up rope so i can keep three point of contact when climbing up. Be safe out there everyone!

Those third hand archery straps make the
Climber much safer and doubles as tie straps
When putting stand together for packing out

I think a lot of people get a false security about ladder stands. They will hurt you just like any other stand. If you dont believe it just ask Shaw.

I feel more safe in my climbing stand.

My friend got hurt. He was in his summit viper climbing a pine tree and the bark came off the pine tree causing him to slide down it. He said about a 2 foot section of bark just peeled of the tree like it was dead? He said the tree wasn't dead. Its in his yard. He wont let anyone climb a pine tree on his property anymore. He aint jokin either.

Yall can laugh but now that im a little older, i quit climbing real high. It aint worth it. I use summit vipers and they bite good but its still hard to get them to bite an oak or hardwood. Mine want to slip easier than i like if im not on a pine. So now i only climb to where my head is about 15 feet up max. And i use my harness non stop. I hunt alone far away with no cell servive. So im up to see a little better and use it more for a comfortable seat with a little better visability. I had close calls. I quit climbing 20 feet. 15 feet at my head is my limit.

Glad we didn't have to read about him the paper. Scary stuff. Always wear my rock harness.

On stabilizer straps. Take a look at these. Straps
The D rings are great added functionality. Once set I wrap them around the arms of my hand climber and hang my pack on one side and and my AK/AR on the other when I am bow hunting in case a yote or hogs show up.

Glad to hear he is ok. I honestly feel more safe in my hang on with climbing sticks. I know things can happen with that too but if it did I have my harness to keep me from falling and I can climb down the sticks if I need to.

Those are the ones I have and I love them. He ordered the third hand

My thoughts as well

Do the straps you mention engage while climbing, or just when in a fixed position?
Glad he is ok.
I have really been considering getting some spikes welded on my summit, sometimes I just don’t think the cable angle/ geometry is the best.

The stabilizer straps have 2 or 3 things going for them depending on your brand/type of stand.

1. When set in your hunting position you tighten them up; your weight on the foot climber transfers via the straps to the hand climber to hold in on the tree like you are sitting on it. This is a biggie for bow hunters who generally shoot standing, but you sometimes have to stand gun hunting too.

2. When climbing or descending the tree you loosen them and they are a tether from you hand climber to your foot climber. If the foot climber slips off your feet or in the case of op's story your cable comes out it won't drop to ground unless the hand climber does too.

3. In the case of my LW Hand Climber II they also help pack the stand as another tie down of the hand climber to the foot climber.

Best I can describe how they work. On my stand they are an absolute necessity. The hand climber is small and would drop to the foot climber as soon as I stood up.

I use the third hand straps on my climbers. Won’t climb without them either.