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2019-The year of safety

Great topic @redsquirrel

To me, the most important safety advice has nothing to do with gear at all. SLOW DOWN. Be deliberate in your movements. Remember it's not a race. Take your time and double check everything before you climb. Spending an extra 60 seconds on the ground going through your PCCs - Pre-Combat Checks if you're in the Army, Pre-Climb Checks if you're a saddle hunter - and your PCIs - Pre-Combat Inspections if you're in the Army, Pre-Climb Inspections if you're a saddle hunter. Taking 10 minutes to climb slowly and deliberately instead of 7 minutes in a rush will make a world of difference.

I'm one of the guys that likes to push the envelope of lightweight and low bulk. However, everything I do is tested extensively at ground level. I only leave terra firma once I'm confident. When I was learning to climb with spurs, I practiced at 2-5 feet for several weeks before I climbed higher.
Only thing I could add to the above EXCELLENT advice would be to double check every connection (always did a second jump master check before leaving the plane). Same reason we never relied on just our eyes, we backed up with fingers to verify. Trust but verify! And check your gear.
 
Amen!!! Slow and methodical!!!! Check your gear, then check again. ESPECIALLY FOR US SADDLE HUNTERS. Check your gear always! We put a LOT of trust in ropes and knots. Don't get lazy and trust your gut. If something doesn't feel right, it is not right!

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I trust my Mantis saddle, and I trust my ropes, but I will always still use my lineman's rope as a secondary tether to a secondary bridge. It costs me no extra weight and a minute or two of extra time, but it provides me three thousand percent extra mental peace.

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Great topic @redsquirrel

To me, the most important safety advice has nothing to do with gear at all. SLOW DOWN. Be deliberate in your movements. Remember it's not a race. Take your time and double check everything before you climb. Spending an extra 60 seconds on the ground going through your PCCs - Pre-Combat Checks if you're in the Army, Pre-Climb Checks if you're a saddle hunter - and your PCIs - Pre-Combat Inspections if you're in the Army, Pre-Climb Inspections if you're a saddle hunter. Taking 10 minutes to climb slowly and deliberately instead of 7 minutes in a rush will make a world of difference.

I'm one of the guys that likes to push the envelope of lightweight and low bulk. However, everything I do is tested extensively at ground level. I only leave terra firma once I'm confident. When I was learning to climb with spurs, I practiced at 2-5 feet for several weeks before I climbed higher.
And all that I would add to that is, slower is also quieter.
 
I trust my Mantis saddle, and I trust my ropes, but I will always still use my lineman's rope as a secondary tether to a secondary bridge. It costs me no extra weight and a minute are two of extra time, but it provides me three thousand percent extra mental peace.

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Ya know, been using a rock harness for four or five years and always felt safe. But that's a good idea right there! Even tho I'm using ropemans and an adjustable bridge (prussick), it doesn't cost anything or hinder anything to have the linesman's loosely Tethered!! Great safety tip!!
 
Ya know, been using a rock harness for four or five years and always felt safe. But that's a good idea right there! Even tho I'm using ropemans and an adjustable bridge (prussick), it doesn't cost anything or hinder anything to have the linesman's loosely Tethered!! Great safety tip!!
I sit with my lineman's rope as a completely independent backup. My confidence in my system is dramatically increased and I know that at 25 foot up I am completely and utterly safe. At no point does my secondary system prohibit me from moving around the tree or hold me back from any shot angle.
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Ya know, been using a rock harness for four or five years and always felt safe. But that's a good idea right there! Even tho I'm using ropemans and an adjustable bridge (prussick), it doesn't cost anything or hinder anything to have the linesman's loosely Tethered!! Great safety tip!!
Before I started saddle hunting, I used my rock climbing harness as my safety net with my climbing stand. There were a few times where I would leave my stand and use my harness to get around the tree for shots. It wasn't until about 12 months ago that I learned that I was basically hunting as a saddle hunter from a climbing stand. I have since shed the stand and am 100% a saddle Hunter. I have a very healthy fear of heights, but the more I use my climbing system with my saddle the more I know I am much safer than what I was in my climbing stand.

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Hey guys,

As a ropeman user, I'm curious if anyone has had an experience with failure. I use a stop knot but I just wanted to see if anyone has seen a malfunction.

Thanks in advance
 
Hey guys,

As a ropeman user, I'm curious if anyone has had an experience with failure. I use a stop knot but I just wanted to see if anyone has seen a malfunction.

Thanks in advance

Never heard of any but I always use a figure eight (end of rope) clipped back into my carabiner. That way if the ropeman or rope prusik would fail, you will never fall to the ground. If you use just a stopper knot (like many people do) and your prusik fails, your hitting the ground. It's the easiest and free safety precaution to me. A no brainer and I'm a risk taker, adrenaline junky at heart.
 
Hey guys,

As a ropeman user, I'm curious if anyone has had an experience with failure. I use a stop knot but I just wanted to see if anyone has seen a malfunction.

Thanks in advance
After being on this site for a couple months, I've decided to back up my ropemans with either spliced eyes or knots that connect to my biners. Not only that, butt I've started figuring out how to climb tethered (but not aggravated!!) with my sticks.
 
I sit with my lineman's rope as a completely independent backup. My confidence in my system is dramatically increased and I know that at 25 foot up I am completely and utterly safe. At no point does my secondary system prohibit me from moving around the tree or hold me back from any shot angle.
9645e7a3b93449bdb65feeea8608e894.jpg
4469b083dcedb22f117c0ce4f43f3805.jpg


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You just use a second tree tether?
 
The average stats for hunting injuries show that falling from tree stands/trees is still mostly due to lack of fall restraint systems......
The change of season is almost here, green up is coming for us up here, the deer are returning from the winter yarding areas.....
I don't have to tell you how excited we all get when chasing deer in any capacity, even on this site I get so pumped, on my hunting property (aka the doe factory), public land, anywhere!

PLEASE....FEEL FREE TO CUSTOMIZE/USE THIS ACRONYM

SLOW DOWN......
USE A SAFETY RESTRAINT DEVICE ALWAYS......
PRE - INSPECT ALL CLIMBING GEAR....
PRACTICE OFTEN AT GROUND LEVEL....
EXERCISE GREAT CARE WITH EVERY STEP......
REMEMBER REDUNDANCY SAVES LIVES.........

Now climb down and go home to your wife and kids and have SUPPER the same way you were when you left to go hunting today!
PLEASE!
No deer is worth being in a wheelchair from a spinal injury!
 
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You just use a second tree tether?
Sort of. I take my lineman's belt and use it as a secondary backup, I leave it a little loose and it doesn't interfere with being able to move around the tree but it is just another safety precaution.

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I'm declaring 2019 the year of safety around saddlehunter.com. With the recent explosion in saddle hunters I've seen a lot of questionable things floating around here lately. I need you, the community, to call these ideas out. We have developed a culture of safety around here and we need to stick to that. Our mantra has always been about finding new, better and lighter ways to do things while still maintaining safe practices.
Can we have another year of safety?

Or even better - make every year the year of safety? The incidents piling up via facebook reports...are unsettling.
 
I did a podcast last week with a buddy who always wears a safety harness but didn’t one a random day when checking trail cams. He decided to climb up to get a camera arm he left in the tree and ended up falling 25ft. Fortunately he lived to tell the tale and share his story with others so hopefully they won’t make the same mistake. Give it a listen if you’d like and feel free to share...




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Definitely. I wish we could do more. There's a lot of questionable stuff out there as things grow.
You know I've been thinking about this a lot and I wonder if we should reach out to arborist and rock climbing professionals.

Saddle hunting is rather niche and doesn't fit neatly into either category. However, having a real expert be able to give clear explanations of the basics of types of ropes, prusik cords, slings, ascenders, etc. as well as explain the important associated concepts like max breaking strength would be invaluable. My big concern at the moment is that it isn't easy to discern who really knows what they're talking about when trying to learn about saddle hunting. Anyone can post things on YouTube and there certainly isn't a National Saddle Hunter's Association certification to look for or agreed upon best practices to read.



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