Suspension Trauma-Must Read For Tree Stand Hunters

[Val]

Here's a very informative article for those using tree stands or work in high places with safety harnesses. Hanging from a harness can kill you in 10 minutes.

http://www.suspensiontrauma.info/

[clodbuster]

Val    Thank you for posting this link.  It looks like this info is NOT generally known by many people who really should.  I'm going to develop techniques to get myself out of a suspended condition.  I just started hunting from a treestand this year and never gave it a thought about being this dangerous in such a short time.  You always think about the injury from the fall or actually the sudden stop at the bottom of the fall.  Since new treestands come with what appears to be a good suspension harness you feel safe.   NOT SO after reading your link.  Thanks again I'm heading right up to our local fire and rescue volunteers with this vital info.

[MS10point]

I had never thought about it but this year I was discussing treestand harnesses with a hunting buddie. He was showing me the one he had rigged with a bow holder and a small pouch on the left chest strap. In the pouch he had a small credit card shaped letter opener that could be readily used to cut himself free of the harness after the initial fall. I thought it was a good idea but after reading the article you posted I will definately add one to my harness.
TP

[sdb777]

Most Hunter Safety Systems come with an extra strap that has a loop on it.  After the initial fall, you take the strap and connect it to the strap holding you to the tree, and put your foot through the loop and lift yourself up to take the pressure off the harness.  A lot of the people I tell about this think I'm filling them full of stuff.  I can only hope they wear one and keep the extra strap...and never need to use it!


Scott (safety makes sense) B

[usmc2111]

I have not personnally seen the ones with the loop but when i hook up i make sure that "IF", hopefully never happens, but if I did fall that the harness will stop me when the stand is about mid body. That way I can grab the stand and pull myself up or around the tree to my steps or ladder. I usually hunt from a lock-on so I always have my harness on.

[beemanbeme]

But, without the harness, you could be dead a whole lot quicker.  I think the key words are vertical and IMMOBILE.  I only read the cover sheet but one would think that being able to flex your legs would prevent the puddling of your blood and, as posted, you would be against or near a tree.  As USMC posted, does any of the stands even have straps long enough to supend you out of touch of anything?
 I think its kinda nice to know.

[john keyes]

I just spent three days in trees.  Sometimes I wore the safety belt and sometimes I didn't.  If I had enough 4-6 ft scrub brush underneath I didn't wear it.  If I did wear it I tied it around the tree leaving about a 30" lead  ( I don't want to fall halfway down and then have it stop me).  I had it so if I slipped off I would be hanging right at both sections of the climbing stand.
I have used a summit sabre for about 15 years which is a good light small mobile stand but I swore to myself next year I would get a tree lounge or something where I can be comfortable and nod off If I need to.

In my opinion the most dangerous condition for little climbing stands that have the seat upper part is not bungeeing the upper seat part.  If they are  not secured they will fall and you will be leaned over and off balance and probably headed down.  Usually the lower parts are rock solid but as soon as you get that upper part where you want it, bungee cord it and check it.

[The Gamemaster]

The first treestand models were nothing more than a belt that you wore around the waist.

Those belts were the dangerous ones, because they cut off the circulation mid drift and most people that wore them ended up upside down.

The newer style harness is a big improvement over those style belts.

I worked construction and with OSHA regulations, you must wear a harness when ever you go more than 8 feet off the ground.

The harness's main job is to keep you from falling out of the tree.  It's not meant to be used to repell off the side of a cliff or down the tree.  Only to keep you from falling.

If it is wore right and it is put in the tree the right way, you will not have enough slack to fall very far and should be able to scoot right back into the tree.

I believe the ones I wore only gave you 10 inches of slack.

I usually don't hunt alone when I hunt in a tree-stand and I always carry a walkie talkie and could call or yell for help if I needed it.

You would be more at risk getting into and out from the tree than you would be falling once you are set up.  It just shouldn't happen.

My dad fell a few years back and broke his ribs and had to walk out of the woods by himself and then drive himself home and to the hospital.  He ended up with a collapsed lung and a long stay in the hospital.

I believe with a good harness, the most he would have had would have been a bruised ego and some brush burns.

Everything you do in life can kill you - even eating an apple.

I wouldn't worry about the opinion of some do good-er that thinks that they are going to save the world by saying that something good for you can kill you.

[sandcritter]

Ohhh, i dunno. "Well-intentioned but overblown" comes to mind. Believe what you will from this family physician. It's true that while vertical, the body is dependent on the contribution of one's lower extremity muscles to return blood to the heart. How long does it take to experience an adverse effect without this, i don't know. However, doing isometric exercise while "suspended", particularly contracting the calves, should suffice. The mechanical action of one's muscles effectively pumps (by squeezing) the blood back upward. You do this without thinking while sitting stationary at your desk, just wiggling around. The site has some cutesy "what you should do" ideas of their own, but frankly they don't hold water (or blood) IMO (and i felt like was sitting in a mandatory OSHA meeting). Maybe am just being cantankerous today.

Like the previous posts said, i think taking a minute to ensure our set-up discourages falls or allows for a minimal fall/drop is probably where we should put our energy. Having acess to a knife from a fallen position. Giving thought to how you would climb/crawl/jump down after falling/suspended. Frankly, a swiss-seat crushing my crotch is prenty of motivation to get outa there right quick. Waiting for "help" is not in the cards there.