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Warning

I'm new to the saddle. I have used a safety harness for years. I don't know how a guy could feel safe without being tethered to a tree. Go on you tube and look up tree stand accidents you will wear your linemen's belt and tether ,trust me. I see you guys saying hey I climbed with out a linemen's belt WOW man. Seriously this is no game!!! You fall your done, done with work , done with regular life as you know it , my girls father is in a wheelchair , from a motor cycle accident. He broke his back. He has been that way for 20 years guys!!! Think about being in bed all day every day ! You cant move your legs! You can lose your life , your wife , your kids!

If you haven't gone through these pages or watched videos on this , don't try it without instruction!!!!! I've really worked my way to this point. I have a buddy who just wont wear a harness , I don't even want to hunt with him! Because one day he will fall or something will happen and who is going to have to find him ,ME! Don't be like him! ALWAYS use your safety gear! Know the knots you should use! LEARN IT before you do it!
 
As someone who has taken a fall and landed on concrete...I won't leave the ground untethered. My experience is that when I first started hunting, I was climbing a tree to grab my gambrel for my deer. I fell out of my ladder and landed on my driveway, split my head (arterial bleeding), a concussion and now a 6" scar on the side of my head.

Now when I climb a tree I have a lifeline on EVERY tree. I will buy the best equipment I can afford...I won't scrimp on my life. This is what I have so far...will go hunting on Saturday for the first time with the harness system.

1. Mantis saddle (wish I tetherd would send me my mini-adjusters)
2. 10 carabiners rated for 28kn
3. Mantis linemans harness and tether
4. Petzl Left hand asscender
5. Rockguard Lifeguard
6. Petzl Rig
7. Wild steps aider with amsteel
8. 5 muddy pro steps
9. Petzl roller clip carabiner
10. Edelrid Static Rope 10.5mm 30 meters
11. Mantis predator...hopefully soon.
 
Newhunter1 said:
As someone who has taken a fall and landed on concrete...I won't leave the ground untethered. My experience is that when I first started hunting, I was climbing a tree to grab my gambrel for my deer. I fell out of my ladder and landed on my driveway, split my head (arterial bleeding), a concussion and now a 6" scar on the side of my head.

Now when I climb a tree I have a lifeline on EVERY tree. I will buy the best equipment I can afford...I won't scrimp on my life. This is what I have so far...will go hunting on Saturday for the first time with the harness system.

1. Mantis saddle (wish I tetherd would send me my mini-adjusters)
2. 10 carabiners rated for 28kn
3. Mantis linemans harness and tether
4. Petzl Left hand asscender
5. Rockguard Lifeguard
6. Petzl Rig
7. Wild steps aider with amsteel
8. 5 muddy pro steps
9. Petzl roller clip carabiner
10. Mantis predator...hopefully soon.
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love the hint hint with the mantis I waited forever just keep contacting them lol!
 
denots said:
I would strongly suggest not taking an intentional fall. There's plenty of videos out there I'm sure you can watch of other people falling and then you don't have to take the chance of hurting yourself. Although a lineman's belt will help stop you, the chances of you being able to get over the fear of being hurt to actually simulate a real fall it's not likely. I'm sure if you watch videos You'll see there's plenty videos of guys falling and not stopping very quickly. I consider my lineman's belt more of a positioning Aid Then Fall restraint. I have had several kick outs since I started using my Spurs mostly due to not paying attention and my lineman's belt has allowed me to push away from the tree and get my spur back in place. If I was not able to push away from the tree I don't believe the lineman's belt would save me from going all the way to the ground. Where as a fall restraint system will stop you from hitting the ground whether you are able assist or not(tree squeeze). In my opinion the lineman's belt being thought of a fall restraint gives a false sense of security especially to guys who are not familiar with them. I also have a lot of concern for guys tying off to the rung on the wild Edge stepp for those who use them(Cain method). The stronger point would be on the V of the bottom stand off. The rung is plenty strong enough to hold your weight obviously, but my concern is creating Slack in your rope and then falling. There is a huge difference between supporting weight, and stopping it. I spent about ten years building scaffolds and climbed every day. I can promise you no one wants to take a fall out there by themselves. I don't want to see people get overconfident in a lineman's belt ability to stop them from falling and getting hurt. Also don't want to see someone not using a lineman's belt in lieu of tying off to another piece of equipment expecting it to stop them, when it's not made to do that. Understanding your safety equipment and its ability to prevent or stop a fall it's just as important as using a safety equipment to begin with. If we think we're not going to get hurt we are more likely to take chances we wouldn't otherwise. If we improperly use our equipment and it fails there's nobody in the woods to help us things can get pretty nasty pretty quick.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G890A using Tapatalk
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I just bought a pair of tree gaffs from a member here. When I get it and start practicing I will use the linemans harness as well as my tether...I do not want to hit the ground again. It hurts and i don't bounce as well.
 
Mike Nutto said:
I would just message them , I don't know who is in charge over there , but they have a lets say screwy shipping department. The adjusters do help though
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I have...they said it was being shipped on Sunday. I like this harness, but I'm ready to send it back and get a kestrel. It hasn't even been a week so I know I have 30ish days.
 
Newhunter1 said:
I have...they said it was being shipped on Sunday. I like this harness, but I'm ready to sell it and get a kestrel.
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Oh I get it , it's fustrating , a kestrel will take just as long. You have to remember this exploded all at once. It's almost the end of the season you have a whole year to practice , and figure out what you like and don't like. It's just like trying to get that big buck you have to wait. It sucks I know. I waited to get climbing sticks when they finally became available, just to find out it wasn't what I wanted. Or that I have to change things to make it work better. That is kind of the fun part of learning this it keeps it interesting.

Sent from my E6810 using Tapatalk
 
Mike Nutto said:
Oh I get it , it's fustrating , a kestrel will take just as long. You have to remember this exploded all at once. It's almost the end of the season you have a whole year to practice , and figure out what you like and don't like. It's just like trying to get that big buck you have to wait. It sucks I know. I waited to get climbing sticks when they finally became available, just to find out it wasn't what I wanted. Or that I have to change things to make it work better. That is kind of the fun part of learning this it keeps it interesting.

Sent from my E6810 using Tapatalk
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I know...just when I was told that it was being shipped and I still haven't seen it. I've been wanting to get it on and adjust the XL to make sure I don't need a large. I'm still going to go out on Saturday to do some hunting with it...What I plan on doing is finding a tree with a few branches. Do my SRT up to that branch and use that branch as my platform. Then rappel down when I'm done. I just hope that their shipping person figures out what is going on as I would love to have a relationship with a company that looks out for their customers. Hopefully someone from the company will reply.
 
Newhunter1 said:
I know...just when I was told that it was being shipped and I still haven't seen it. I've been wanting to get it on and adjust the XL to make sure I don't need a large. I'm still going to go out on Saturday to do some hunting with it...What I plan on doing is finding a tree with a few branches. Do my SRT up to that branch and use that branch as my platform. Then rappel down when I'm done. I just hope that their shipping person figures out what is going on as I would love to have a relationship with a company that looks out for their customers. Hopefully someone from the company will reply.
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Find them on Facebook , also message them though the site. I don't think they are a big company. I'm not sure how long ago you ordered things but I ordered my mantis in June didn't see it till November. They we're slammed. They do updates if you sign up for email .it also comes out on Facebook. My whole hunting season was more of a lessons learned. So if you get it now you get to adjust the system. Your going to want to do simulated hunts. It helps once the season comes. That way you have it down. Just keep on them man

Sent from my E6810 using Tapatalk
 
I think a check your gear thread would be good. Someone going over what to look for on your saddle for wear, ropes, ex. It should be well thought out and detailed with pictures. Someone buying an old saddle might not have a clue what to look at.
 
Newhunter1 said:
I know...just when I was told that it was being shipped and I still haven't seen it. I've been wanting to get it on and adjust the XL to make sure I don't need a large. I'm still going to go out on Saturday to do some hunting with it...What I plan on doing is finding a tree with a few branches. Do my SRT up to that branch and use that branch as my platform. Then rappel down when I'm done. I just hope that their shipping person figures out what is going on as I would love to have a relationship with a company that looks out for their customers. Hopefully someone from the company will reply.
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I was on the fence thinking I'd like a Medium but worried it would be to small. Got the large and I'm super happy I sized up... especially when all layered up when it's cold out. Hopefully you get yours soon! I know it's a rough wait. It was worth it for me.
 
Well, I’m not gonna restate all the well thought out previous posts! All you founding fathers are spot on! One thing that hasn’t been mentioned! DONT CLIMB UP A DEAD TREE! During a windy hunt 2 weeks ago the tree next to where I was hanging snapped about 12 feet above me. It went the other way so I was in no danger of being hit, but talk about trying to pull your saddle back out of your butt! It shook me up pretty bad. To me the tree looked healthy that snapped, I can’t imagine if I had selected that tree in the dark!!!

Stay safe my friends!!!
 
fbwguy said:
Well, I’m not gonna restate all the well thought out previous posts! All you founding fathers are spot on! One thing that hasn’t been mentioned! DONT CLIMB UP A DEAD TREE! During a windy hunt 2 weeks ago the tree next to where I was hanging snapped about 12 feet above me. It went the other way so I was in no danger of being hit, but talk about trying to pull your saddle back out of your butt! It shook me up pretty bad. To me the tree looked healthy that snapped, I can’t imagine if I had selected that tree in the dark!!!

Stay safe my friends!!!
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I climbed 25ft up a pine once in my hand climber before the top section flaked off a piece of bark the size of a magazine. Shined my headlamp up to look at the crown and it didn't exist!

I'm a bit more careful now when choosing trees, especially if its the first time I'm climbing it. One if the little perks of drilling is you get a good feel for how healthy a tree is. Soft, dry, punky wood coming out of the hole is a solid indicator even if there are no leaves in the late season.
 
Being new to this the site has become my go to. Looking thru the thread I can see some of the unwise things I have done already. I practice in the yard daily in an effort to get comfortable and confident. Being said I don’t know what I don’t know and try and make a point of doing a deep dive on a topic before I jump into something new. No one was born an expert in anything. People who are ignorant yet humble will learn, stupid and proud equals disaster every time.

I would hope that if I post something sketchy someone would bring that to my attention. To date everyone has been nothing but helpful and I have learned a lot and adjusted my gear or methods as I learn. I would hope those with vastly more experience don’t jump ship because they feel uncomfortable. In the end your call of course but what you have learned and share adds to the body of knowledge that helps keep us newbs safe.

Now G2 about this 5 step aider thing.....going to take a lot more than going up and down 3 or 4 times to feel comfortable at least me!

Thanks again for sharing what you know.


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Sheldon said:
Looking thru the thread I can see some of the unwise things I have done already.
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Like you say we all have - and there's a huge value in learning what we're doing wrong! There's no reason to keep doing things that are unwise, especially when the added cost or effort is often zero or near zero.
 
And I know you cannot use paracord for climbing but what about using it for a purrsik loop for your knots?
 
Nutterbuster said:
Paracord NEVER needs to be used to hold you. The only thing I use it for is gear loops. It is nowhere near properly rated for using anywhere on a lineman's or tether.

@Vtbow, help me out brother.
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thank you so what is the lowest rating you guys use for climbing as far as working load not break strength?
 
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