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John E Sling

So how does one go about getting one of these setups?


Yeah, you have to buy the pieces as Red said. Then you have to get them sewn together by someone with a true industrial machine if you want to replicate it exactly.

If you find an Anderson or Big Buck Sling, you could definitely make something similar for the rest of it. They will cost anywhere from $50-125. All depends how bad you want it and how much the seller wants to part with it. Usually aren't too many around at one time.





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With all the straps I've accumulated with the purchases of stands over the years, I have a ton of safety harnesses, and I have a local fella who could sew me one of these. I'm currently using a NT Evo, with self tied ropes with blake's hitches for both my lineman's strap and my tree tether. I've messed with the setup enough that it's pretty comfortable for a 4 hour sit. Maybe comfortable for longer than that, but my season hasn't allowed for any longer sits. Anyway, I hunt pretty deep in public land from time to time (4-5 miles deep), and stay for several days at a time. I'd really like a lighter rig, and this looks like it would fit the bill, but I'm curious if this can be made to be comfortable for a 240# man. I like how compact this rig is as well. Any thoughts?
Thanks!
 
With all the straps I've accumulated with the purchases of stands over the years, I have a ton of safety harnesses, and I have a local fella who could sew me one of these. I'm currently using a NT Evo, with self tied ropes with blake's hitches for both my lineman's strap and my tree tether. I've messed with the setup enough that it's pretty comfortable for a 4 hour sit. Maybe comfortable for longer than that, but my season hasn't allowed for any longer sits. Anyway, I hunt pretty deep in public land from time to time (4-5 miles deep), and stay for several days at a time. I'd really like a lighter rig, and this looks like it would fit the bill, but I'm curious if this can be made to be comfortable for a 240# man. I like how compact this rig is as well. Any thoughts?
Thanks!
John has been hunting out of this for years and he does all day sits in it, but he is a much smaller guy than you. I go about 180 and I've put 4 hour sits in an anderson sling that I've modified differently than John but that works for me. I'm sure I could do all day sits, but I do start to feel it after about 4 hours. My best advice would be to try it out on some longer sits before you need it for a really long sit.
 
Re-posting a pic from earlier in the thread so the cartoon ballsack stops showing up in tapatalk...
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Never saw this thread before this morning, guess I don't search the site as much as I should.

First off, on that particular set up the Mike is showing, the bridge and lead strap are made from a Trophyline lead which is 9,600 lb. test and over the 20 or so years I've been using the saddle lead strap material for my bridge and lead, what little bit they have rubbed together when moving while hunting, you can't even tell. I don't think the rubbing together has compromised the strength at all.

And I have to say this, when TMA (Treestand Manufacturers Association) tested the Trophyline saddle, it withstood more punishment than any conventional stand they had ever tested because the strapping was way overkill concerning heft. They strapped a 275 pound log in the saddle, tied off the lead 6 foot above, lifted the log/seat and let it free fall the 6 feet and the lead strap not only didn't break or rip, none of the stitching on the saddle or lead, nor the adjustment buckle showed any signs of weakness. There is no question that you could use the saddle lead as a tow strap for pulling small vehicles out of ditches if needed. Of all the conventional treestands and climbers TMA tested by dropping a 275 pound weight on them from 6 foot above, they all failed miserably and collapsed.

For what it's worth I do use Cranford T-screws and screw them in at 45 degree angles (screwing it in at a downward angle is extremely important so that the lead is always tucked tight to the tree, even when you lean back farther away from the tree), however I do not use the Midget T they show on-line of in their catalogue. Cranford makes a longer T screw that is not in their catalogue or on-line and you would have to call Dennis (owner) @ 704-209-1817 and request them. The issue with the midget T is you can't them deep enough into the meat of the tree to be safe because at the 45 degree downward angle, the T portion hits the tree and doesn't allow you to screw it in deep enough for safety after all this T is supporting your LIFE. Of course in soft trees like conifers, poplars, cottonwood, and sugar maples for example, the longer T needs to be seated as deep into the tree as possible and I carry an 8 inch piece of conduit to tighten them beyond what I can tighten with my hand strength. I actually always use the conduit for all trees even though on hard trees I don't screw them in as deep. The second T that the loop goes over is also at an angle so the loop ends up tight to the tree.

Never use rod steps for this procedure as they as well only allow you to screw them in a specific distance before the side of the step stops you from going deeper.

If you're on property where you can use spikes, I would suggest using 8 to 10 inch long 3/8 diameter spikes or bolts and again drill the hole at a downward angle and drill at least 4 to 5 inches deep before placing. The drill a hole and place another spike or bolt to the side to drape you end loop over. Make sure that the hole you drill is a bit smaller than the spike or bolt as you want them tight. I usually have to tap them in with the hammer end of my hatchet when setting up with spikes or bolts.

When I originally showed Mike this set up, we were in his back yard and we screwed a Midget T (at an angle) just past the threads into a relatively soft tree and another off to the side for the loop hookup. I weigh 160 pounds and when I got in the sling (our feet were on the ground) and moved around the tree it was fine. When Mike got in the sling (Mike weighs a bit more than me) and began moving around, the top T screw that the lead was draped over began to drop downward because the tree was soft and the T wasn't screwed in very deep into the meat of the tree because it was a Midget T and could only be screwed in so far.

I had mentioned to Mike that might happen and it did. Now Mike is using longer T's and screwing them in all the way until the T hits the tree and is having no issues.

If this is not for any of you, you can use a rope/prussic as your lead and wrap it around the tree as normal, but what the T's do is make tree diameters irrelevant, if you can climb it, you can hunt it and that's a big advantage.

Another thing I should mention is that in the one picture of Mike sitting in the sling so you can see the lead, bridge and adjustment buckle, Mike's leaning backwards (only to show the set-up). At no time when hunting from any harness system, should you ever lean back in this position for any extended period of time as it will put a major strain on your back and is very uncomfortable. That's why I've always suggested to tie off the lead to the tree at or near eye height or even lower on small diameter trees as that allows your upper body to lean forward and be much more comfortable. I oftentimes lean my upper body and head into my lead, wrap my arms around the lead, and take a nap and you can't do that if your body is directly upright or leaning back. My lead is typically at a 45 to 60 degree angle depending on the diameter of the tree.

I think a lot of first time harness users have given up on harnesses for this very reason, they hooked up too high and were extremely uncomfortable.
 

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It makes sense John, but personally if I can't get my lineman around the tree, Im not hunting that tree. Ive climbed trees with multi trunk where I couldn't hook up lineman till I got 8ft up onto a single trunk, but its rare.
 
I'll probably be hunting some cottonwoods next year that are right at the edge on size for my linesman belts. I'd rather not, as soft as they are, but that seems to be the most prolific "climbable" tree in lots of the floodplains around me.


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John great points and as with anything it's best to test all of this stuff in the backyard or park at ground level or before climbing into any tree to hunt. I'm really glad to hear that story about the safety test for the Trophyline TreeSaddle because many of the guys I talk with who've never tried a saddle system question it's strength and safety! I don't know about anyone else but since I've converted to using a saddle system, in my case the Aero Hunter, I have way more confidence and feel much more secure! I'm not sure how large these trees are but is it impractical or not cost effective to make a tree rope that would wrap around the tree? So far I haven't encounter a tree that my tree rope wouldn't fit around. Although I do remember a thread a while back where someone else was hunting in an area with a lone cottonwood tree that was in the perfect location but was so massive his tree rope didn't fit around it so I guess it does happen.

Roger,
 
John, this test you mentioned puzzles me. I looked into TMA certification and whats involved and their website says they dont do any testing. You have to have your product tested and submit the results to TMA. They then determine if they will certify you. Your basically paying them to put TMA on your product and they are basically a library holding different companies testing results. Maybe Im misunderstanding or they "used to test" but dont any longer. Not doubting the results of the test you mentioned, just the statement TMA did the testing.
Long of the short, you manufacture and sell a product that you want the TMA selling point, $1250 a year please.
From the form on their website: “The TMA is a non-profit corporation. The TMA does not design, certify, approve, test, review, or provide any customer service for any products, including but not limited to members’ products listed on the TMA web site. The TMA mark should not be construed as an approval of design by TMA. Any product listed on the TMA web site indicates that the TMA has been provided with an acknowledgement demonstrating that a representative production model has been tested by a third party testing firm and certified by that testing firm to meet or exceed industry standards recognized by TMA. TMA is not involved in and thus not responsible for the design, quality control and/or safety of the product or end user. It is the responsibility of each end user to safely use the product as it was intended to be used and according to manufacturer’s instructions.”
 
Wow - so TMA gets paid because they were smart enough to brand themselves as an "expert" on load capabilities even though they don't do any load capability testing? Genius.
 
Kenn1320

Been at the ATA show in Indy, so a bit late on the reply. You're obviously correct and Sherry Green (owner of Trophyline when they were in business) told me that they had their harnesses tested so they could be TMA approved and I just assumed TMA and not a third party did the testing. I was told that they passed the test with a 275 log from 6 feet which was more than they had to test for to be TMA approved and they were the only system to pass.

Being a rep in the industry (never represented a tree stand company though), having at least a million dollar per incident (many accounts require 2 million per incident) liability insurance for anything that supports a hunter off the ground is a must if you want to get into any large retail outlet or mass merchant and TMA has helped a lot for the insurance companies as most want stands or harnesses to be TMA approved because then they know they've been tested. About 20 years ago or so there were a couple stand companies bringing in cheap stands from China that were sold for $39.99 or 3 for $100 as in-store specials. They were not tested and didn't have liability insurance and many welds broke and companies and stores were sued. That short period of cheaply welded stands pretty much brought liability insurance into the equation.

Sherry also told me that for a stand or harness company to get liability insurance it had to come with a 5 point safety system and that's why Trophyline had to put shoulder straps on their saddles as they originally didn't come with them. All stands now come with 5 point safety harnesses. The Treesling for instance would never be eligible for liability insurance because it doesn't have enough safety features.

Stykbow1

Attached is a picture of me in a huge cottonwood in 2004. Very crooked and I took a good buck from it on my first hunt as it was the right tree for the active scrape area.
 

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