c903

Treestand safety is paramount, with comfort and ease of use following a very close second.

Safety is not just how a person uses a stand, or how a person installs a stand, or what safety device(s) a person uses to secure the stand, or what safety device a person uses to insure against a fall that can result in a serious injury or death. Safety is also how safe the stand is regarding design, material used, construction, stability, etc.

Personally, I have never used a new treestand without first upgrading certain critical components e.g., bolt grades, installing double cables for platform, upgrading strength of hook that chain attaches to, installing high psi nylon straps to secure stand to tree, etc.

Considering it would be a monumental task for any one person or an officially recognized testing facility to field-test every model of every brand of treestand that is out there, and do so for each new brand and model, choosing the best and safest stand is not easily done.

I consider manufacturer claims to be too biased to be of any determinative value. Opinions and recommendations by one or just a few people who have used a particular stand are too subjective.

Therefore, how do you choose the right stand for the right price (higher cost does always factually represent higher quality).? Not easy! It takes time. Considering that serious injury or death can be the result of a hurried and/or bad choice, the time spent researching and asking questions is well worth the effort.

I personally know of a person who is partially disabled due to falling from a treestand. Just this past season, a bowhunter in my area died when he broke his neck in a fall. I was told that a platform cable failed and caused the platform to tilt, which resulted in dumping him from the stand before he was able to get into his safety harness.

Although information and user-opinions gathered from many people (users) and sources are still not exact, accumulated information is far better than what the manufacturer claims, or what one or just a few users have to say. Do yourself and those who love and need you, a huge favor. Take the time to choose the safest stand, and then use it safely.


Following are some evaluative links that can help begin your research.

http://www.women-outdoors.com/treestan.htm

http://pabucks.com/treestands/

http://www.bowhunting.net/evaluation/default.htm#top


Do yourself and those who love and need you, a huge favor. Take the time to choose the safest stand, and then use it safely.

thundermug

WARNING:
THE FOLLOWING REPLY IS NOT A POLITICALLY CORRECT, FEEL GOOD ABOUT YOURSELF, WARM AND FUZZY REPLY. so, if you get your feelings hurt easily, do not read any further.
Someone fell before they got their harness on? And broke their neck?
How did he fall off the ground? I put on my harness at the truck, it is a little less noise when you get to your tree. After I attach my stand then a put the rope on the tree and attach it to my harness, and THEN I climb the tree with EVERYTHING attached to the tree, Seat o' the pants harness and all! You CAN climb with it. You CAN descend with it.

My Summit Cobra is designed by a structural engineer, and the cables are rated at 8,000 pounds, not because thats how much tensile power is applied but the stiffness of that cable helps hold it's shape when you climb. The welds will break before the cable does.
If you buy a quality climber....there is no need to replace anything on it before you use it.

No manufacturer will mass produce a faulty stand due to litigation practices of the American consumer, IN MY OPINION the only reason people fall from a stand is due to ignorance and violatating simple safety practices. Having a 10 year old stand that has been tossed around in the back of the truck or left in the tree all year are neglected and neglect is a violation of a simple safety practice. Not inspecting your stand prior to use is also a violation.

Summit gives a free video with every stand it sells that shows common safety practices but I'd be willing to bet at least half of the people who get one have the attitude that they know how to use a stand and will not watch it. One of the PROPER steps to install a climber is to ascertain the platform is secure before moving you feet out of the stirrups.

The ONLY reason someone could fall out of a summit and break their neck is because they are a dumbas*

c903

Thundermug:

1. Subject that was killed obviously did not fall from the ground.
2. Not everyone climbs with his or her harness attached to the tree.
3. I am sure that in many situations access to the stand is not easy with the harness attached to the hunter and the tree, and I doubt that most are dumb-asses.
4. Not all bowhunters use a "climbing stand."
5. There are bridges and buildings designed by engineers that have fallen due to design, material, and construction flaws..
6. Welds have been known to fail because of improper material matching and fabrication.
7. I doubt a reputable manufacturer would purposely design and produce a faulty stand. However, flaws in design, material, and fabrication can occur.
8. Regardless it be a Summit or another brand, I doubt that 100% of all injury or death incidents involving a treestand was a result of 100% of the users being a "dumb-ass."


However, you have, in a way, made my point:

Treestand are not one size fits all stands. Don't choose based on the opinion of just one person or just a few that use one particular brand and model, and do not assume that a brand-name always guarantees there will never be a quality control problem. Find out as much as you can about as many treestands used by many people. As I said: In the end, the consolidated information may not be conclusive, but a person will have more information to go by (choice).

thundermug

Yes, I understand your point of view and we do have similar ones
The point I attempted to make was that people should be a little more intelligent and inspect their stands before each use. And even if someone were using a strap on stand or a permanent stand there are systems that can be used to prevent a catastrophic fall.
BTW I was being facetious(?) when I mentioned falling off the ground(I thought it was sort of a funny response...no offense intended if it were a friend of yours).

VAhuntr

c903,

I agree it takes time and effort to find a safe stand. I also add extra straps to certain stands I have. Other stands I have confidence in them so I do not add extra straps and such.

I have a few questions about the hunter that died in your area. What type of stand was he using, how old was the stand, had it been damaged in any way, what exactly happened to the cables? You stated that you were told that the cables failed, was this information from a reliable source?

Even though you may add "higher" grade hardware, it too could fail due to engineering, manufacturing or material flaws.

I own a Summit Viper climbing stand and I feel it is the safest and best engineered stand I own. However, being a "dumbass" is NOT the only way someone could fall out of it. Anything mechanical can break. I can recall at least one post on this board about welds on fairly new Summit stands develpoing a crack. According to the poster Summit quickly replaced the stand.

c903

Thunder:

No offense taken. Just exchanging opinions. I should have inserted a "smiley" to indicate such

Advice is absolutely correct. However, I was pointing out that safety begins by doing your best to assure that the stand to be used is well constructed and safe, does not have a history of malfunctioning, and fits your needs/requirements.

VAhuntr:

I knew the accident and death had occurred, as many people did. However, the only details I was informed of, about how the accident occurred, was that a platform cable failed. I do not have any info about brand, age, care of stand, etc.

thundermug

Another sorta funny story about treestand safety is the 240 pound man who bought a stand that was rated for "up to 250 lbs." on the advice of a store salesman. The man takes it to the woods the next weekend, climbs up in it, THEN he pulls a 30 pound backpack of food and water up into the stand with him.


Give that man a sign!

thundermug

A couple of years ago a man who lived a couple miles from e was found at the bottom of a tree and his stand was still 25 feet up. He took his harness off so he could remove his jacket, and fell as he had his jacket half off.

This is another reason I put my harness on at the truck. Down here we get a 30 degree temperature change between 5am and noon. The harness goes on before allof my outer clothes, plus more outer clothes are put on after walking to my area. This way I can remove a piece at a time and my harness is still keeping me safe for the family.

VAhuntr

Here's a link to a thread on Archery talk where the guy had a problem with a Summit Cobra.......definately shows the importance of wearing your safety harness b/4 you leave the ground:

http://www.archerytalk.com/vb/showth...threadid=62109

DaveH

I have a climbing stand--it's a ol' man vision-but I rarely use it. Most of the time, I can be found in a fixed position stand up among lots of branches. I look for double and triple trunked trees, trees with lots of limbs and so forth. I also like to use very large trees This kind of tree helps to break up my outline.

For this reason, I don't attach the other end of my harness to the tree until I'm at hunting height and the stand is attached to the tree. Much of the time, the tree is too big at the bottom and I'd have to be unattaching and re-attaching it all the way up anyway. I always attach myself to the tree before climbing in the stand though--just in case. Of course, I'm not a dumba--, but's it's impractical since I'd be unattached much of the time anyway.