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 can't stand a thief.