The older I get, and the more stories I read, the more paranoid I am about it. Being a big feller, I won’t climb in a lock on at all anymore.I just don’t trust them to hold. When I was younger I didn’t ever use a harness ever. But after kids came along and priorities changed I won’t hardly climb without one these days. I hear the stories but never the details. In you guys’ experience and opinions, which stands and when do most of these accidents happen? Straps breaking? Ladder folding or breaking on the way up, or a cable or platform malfunction on a climber??? Etc. Anxious to hear what y’all have to say.....

While a harness may save your life in a fall, you better have a plan to get down. After 15-20 minutes of hanging there, suspension trauma becomes very likely. Not long after that time frame, major long term health issues and death become increasingly more likely. You really don’t have long to get down.

I had an accident using Summit without a harness once. The teeth on Summit's are pretty dull and won't bite into a lot of trees. I was climbing a poplar tree with it and about 10 feet up when the teeth on the lower frame slipped and it went straight to the ground. I followed it, going straight through the upper frame and to the ground. That was the last time I climbed without a harness

BTW I am sharpening the teeth on all my Summits with a grinding wheel now ...

Ive never thought of that but that is an excellent idea!!

Life line and harness for me on all stands now days.

I have a friend who this exact same thing happened to. I’m very particular about which trees I will and won’t climb too. I stay away from the harder slick trees for this very reason. I love the white oaks. Sinks in deep and usually very quiet.

My first stand was a Baker and I will leave it at that-No way I would ever leave the ground with that death trap today! When I got serious about bowhunting in the early 80's, I bought a Summitt climber. It was made of steel and was heavy but I never had an issue whatsoever with it. I climbed every tree that I placed it on and it held like it was supposed to. This was before safety systems became popular and I never owned one. Looking back I know I was living on borrowed time, but I was extremely careful getting in and out of the stand. The bowhunting club I was in had a least 5 members to climb every day and we never had a single accident of any kind. We were all young men and we were dedicated deer killers who took hunting very serious. We even had members in their early 80's who hunted every day of the week. The best I remember no one ever owned a safety belt there.

Now I can look back at the others I knew and some I hunted with that had "accidents" while using stands. They all have the same thing in common and will tell you very quickly It was their fault." Two men simply lost their balance and fell from the stand because they were not wearing a safety system. Both survived the falls with a couple of broken bones to show for their efforts. One man I hunted with had a strap to break on a Locon as he was getting into it. He also fell to the ground and broke his arm. Could have been a lot worse! One man placed a Locon in a dead tree and the screw in step gave way in the soft wood as he pulled to get into his stand. His hand was on the chain around the Locon and his finger was pulled completely off as he fell. He is now missing a finger as a reminder of climbing the dead tree. One Man I hunted with taught Hunter Ed classes in the late 90's. He was attaching a Locon to a tree and was not wearing a safety system. He lost his grip and simply fell backwards from the tree landing on his left arm. He broke his wrist, but got real lucky as he was about 20' up the tree. These were all with individuals that I knew. All had one thing in common-They all were the result of human error and not the stands fault. I havent climbed with a climber in years and probably wont anymore as the ladder stands are my stand of choice now. Be careful out there folks!

I haven't used a climber or loc-on in 4 years. I went out and started my own business 4 years ago and just didn't feel comfortable taking certain risks. Family comes first.

My cousin fell opeing day of bow season and has been in hospital or a rehab facility since then! Can’t see his wife or kids because of covid! He has regained movement in arms and a little in his legs. I climbed one time this season his fall broke me off climbing I’ll hunt from ground or shooting house here in out

I will never use a Lockon for any reason as they are inherently dangerous imo.

Climbers - love them - but only on pine trees and thick shaggy bark hardwoods like a white oak.

Also, will not use a climber with cables. I hate cables and consider them inherently unreliable and dangerous.
I only use thick motorcycle type chains (4120) or the metal bars with teeth.

Also I used to climb as high as I could. Now my buddy makes fun of me because I rarely get over 15-20 feet anymore. A string wind keeps me closer to the ground too. Guess I’m losing my nerve in my old age. 🤷‍♂️

Same for me. When I was young (and dumb) I would climb 50 -60 feet up pine trees without a harness.

Not anymore.

Seems like 25' is about as high as I'm willing to go these days. I get to a certain height and I suddenly become tense and very aware of how high I am off the ground. Never happened like that when I was younger.

I use a 20 ft pull up rope and when I start to feel tension on the rope I'm high enough.

I haven't been very good about using a harness the last couple years, but I need to change that.

Worse is, I let one of my good friends hunt one of my properties. He runs cameras, food plots, and hangs the stands and usually puts one or two where I like to go. Then if I get a chance I just hunt out of it rather than carrying in my climber. That guy always thinks he needs to be a little higher than whatever climbing sticks or screw-ins he has handy. I've puckered a couple times trying to swing from a limb in the dark trying to get a foot on a itsy bitsy hang-on dangling at least 25 feet up. You'd think a former carrier guy, then Seabee, and carpenter would have learned some safety protocols.

I hunt from the ground or in a shooting house.

I’ve thought about getting a tree seat and doing more from the ground like I used to but I feel like I can see so much more up in a tree. And my climber is so much more comfortable. But sometimes it does seem like more hassle than it’s worth.

Loc-on’s are no more dangerous than a climber. Being complacent and careless are the problem.

I use mostly lock-ons because I like slipping up the tree quietly before daylight but I only use them if they have a life line attached. That way I am attached all the way up and all the way down.

I still do love using my climber especially rifle hunting late season. I just attach the safety rope when I get in the climber and move it up and down as I climb. I’ve done it for so many years it’s just habit.

Same here. With a strap on tree step in your harness pocket and a full length life line you could both take weight off the harness and eventually work your way down a tree.

I’m swapping to an actual climbing harness next year. Much easier to move around if you fell and won’t create suspension trauma as fast.