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Helmets

But seriously. It is good food for thought. Early morning climbing in the dark on a new tree. How often do you see dead branches laying in the canopy?
It has crossed my mind tossing a throw ball up into the trees. Lost it in the leafs a few times on a bad throw.
When I was younger and broke my hand, I remember the nurse telling me. "We can fix almost anything other than your head"
 
raisins said:
largely, we do what we do and then use our brains to prop up our decisions after the fact
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Jonathan Haidt provided me with one of the most useful metaphors I've ever stumbled upon.

Your brain is an elephant; rational thought a little elephant rider.

The elephant, by-and-large, does what he wants to do. The rider can poke and prod and cajole, and on a good day may think he's in control. Sometimes what he wants and what the elephant wants (or at least doesn't mind) align.

But when push comes to shove, the elephant will do what it wants, rider be darned.

The 2nd analogy is that rational thought is a lawyer that works for the rest ofnthe mind. He's not there to figure out objective truth...he's there to find arguments that strengthen his client's case.
 
I got a couple Kask Super Plasmas, a Kask Zenith, and a Petzl Vertex or something or other with face shield and ear protection. All very light and comfortable, I forget I’m wearing them all the time, until I bonk it when climbing back into my truck. They’re for work pruning, removals, and recreational climbing. I contract climb for a couple small businesses and I’m never sure how experienced my ground guy is. I’ve gotten good at moving myself out of the line of fire before cutting a piece that’s rigged for lowering, but it’s still possible to get hit sometimes. Our recreational climbing involves wandering all over the canopy, limb walking on lateral branches and getting into positions where it’s entirely possible one could slip and go for a pendulum swing and smack into anything that might get in the way. We’ll use that pendulum swing to our advantage, intentionally to get around the canopy too, it’s really a hoot, but not without risk of striking something. Getting hit in the head sucks and can have life changing permanent effects, but even that isn’t my number 1 fear around head injuries on the job. I’m more worried about possibly losing consciousness and being at the mercy of the local volunteer fire department to rescue me. I love those guys, some are true badasses and bless their hearts for everything they do to help the community, but they don’t get sufficient technical and aerial rescue training, and I don’t want to put them in such a risky position either. A lot of paid city fire and rescue guys would be out of their element too, and they often get oodles of cool training.

For you climbing hunters, it looks like it’s often a lot of straight up and down, with a tie in point directly above your position and you hang out right on a spar. If there’s nothing above at risk of being dislodged and falling on you, and you’re not using your rope to bear your weight as you walk out far to the side of where your rope is anchored, I’d say a lot of the risk is negated. If a hunter is getting out on a lateral limb with their tie in dozens of feet out to their side, a helmet is probably a fine idea. Do any of you guys do that?
 
Most people I know don't wear one when climbing trees or hunting. I have a couple of lightweight hardshell rock climbing helmets from my rock climbing days. I have worn one while practicing tree climbing and rappelling in my yard, but not while hunting (yet). But I do think it would be a good precaution, even if only worn during climb and descent. Any strike to the head in a fall is going to be serious. And if your head gets cut on a metal step or a broken limb stub during a fall, it'll bleed like crazy.

My woman likes to say, "They don't call accidents PURPOSES! - they call them ACCIDENTS for a reason - nobody PLANS on having them."

I'm going to try wearing a rock climbing helmet during climb & descent this season and see what I think about it after I've used it on a few hunts. I'll carry it into the woods in my pack; Put it on before I climb; Then take it off and hang it on a hook on my gear strap once set up at height; Put it back on before descent; Then put it in my pack for the hike out. I don't see any big negatives to giving it a try.
 
This forum is the only place in the hunting community that a question like this would be asked and if tree limbs fell like fall leaves above you while hunting, helmets would already be part of the wardrobe.
Times sure have changed from the days of hunting out of 50 gallon drums nailed into trees.
For those that plan on implementing a helmet.. Post a selfie.
 
Lucky13 said:
This forum is the only place in the hunting community that a question like this would be asked and if tree limbs fell like fall leaves above you while hunting, helmets would already be part of the wardrobe.
Times sure have changed from the days of hunting out of 50 gallon drums nailed into trees.
For those that plan on implementing a helmet.. Post a selfie.
Click to expand...

For me, a falling limb is not the primary risk to protect against. It's a hit to the head during an unexpected fall.
 
LoadedLimbs said:
For me, a falling limb is not the primary risk to protect against. It's a hit to the head during an unexpected fall.
Click to expand...
I agree. I probably won't wear a helmet but I should.
If you have not see it, please read post 28.

Who has removed leg straps? Any regrets?

Is it fair to your family to risk your life for a deer?deer don't climb trees.most hunters shouldn't either.i risk my life to feed my family .29 years in the number 4 hardest most dangerous job in the world without an accident.not 1 stitch.i do stupid for a living
saddlehunter.com
 
Lucky13 said:
This forum is the only place in the hunting community that a question like this would be asked and if tree limbs fell like fall leaves above you while hunting, helmets would already be part of the wardrobe.
Times sure have changed from the days of hunting out of 50 gallon drums nailed into trees.
For those that plan on implementing a helmet.. Post a selfie.
Click to expand...
Times have certainly changed. I remember riding long distances laying under the back glass of my mom's car and in the back of my dad's pickup across town. 30 to 50 years ago, kids weren't wearing helmets on their bikes either.

Doesn't mean we shouldn't question the safety of those things and strive as a community to ensure every last one of us has a blast in the woods and makes it home safe to our families!

My father worked for a major forestry company here in the US and was the driving force in changing Oregon's 1 fatality per year rate down to zero in that company. He also helped them achieve over 2 million continous person hours serious injury free (injuries resulting in lost hours). That's done by looking at the global stats, understanding what can go wrong, questioning preconceptions, and implementing best practices.

Am I saying all SH's should wear helmets? Heck no. Should there be less stigma behind using them to go up and down your tree? IMHO, heck yeah! How is it any different than a lineman's belt, a locking carabiner, modern climbing rope, etc?

I'll be uploading a picture as soon as my saddle comes in. Can't wait to wear my father's forestry helmet out for my first saddle hunt; in his honor.
 
GeoFish said:
I agree. I probably won't wear a helmet but I should.
If you have not see it, please read post 28.

Who has removed leg straps? Any regrets?

Is it fair to your family to risk your life for a deer?deer don't climb trees.most hunters shouldn't either.i risk my life to feed my family .29 years in the number 4 hardest most dangerous job in the world without an accident.not 1 stitch.i do stupid for a living
saddlehunter.com
Click to expand...

That's pretty powerful. I'll descent out of this thread and forum.
 
Lucky13 said:
This forum is the only place in the hunting community that a question like this would be asked and if tree limbs fell like fall leaves above you while hunting, helmets would already be part of the wardrobe.
Times sure have changed from the days of hunting out of 50 gallon drums nailed into trees.
For those that plan on implementing a helmet.. Post a selfie.
Click to expand...

Read the hunting accident reports on the DNR site - things happen. I don’t wear a helmet when on a bicycle - but my head could still get a dent in if I hit the curb. If people want to wear a helmet - so be it. I’d say the would win at the game of Darwinism.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
I don't, but I'll probably pick one up at some point. If not a dedicated arborist or climbing helmet, maybe a hockey helmet with an eye shield.
 
I won't be wearing a helmet....and I'm not gonna start another safety oriented thread either.....but 1 thing I started doing last season is wearing glasses while climbing. Ive got bark in the eye a couple times and that stinks. I'll put them on sometimes when walking around sometimes too...keeps the needle grass and twigs from poking. They don't weight anything and I like having them. Pine trees are the worst for bark in the eye
 
If I take the sled out hunting in the late season, I wear my snowmobile helmet. Does that count? It has Bluetooth speakers so I can jamb out on the way to my spot and it keeps my face from freezing, so that's a plus.
 
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