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Using saddle as "safety harness" in hang on stands

buckwalleye

buckwalleye

Member
Joined
Jul 15, 2018
Messages
63
Apologies if this has been discussed already. So I have several hang on stand sets. I may remove them all and exclusively hunt out of the saddle in the future. But for this season I just assume leave them and use them. I'm wondering if anyone uses their saddle as a "safety harness" out of a hang on stand. My full body harness has a busted buckle and I don't really want to get a new one. One of the things I'm most excited about hunting out of the saddle is not having harness straps going over your shoulders and down the chest. I thought about removing the seats out of the stands and using them as a giant platform, and using the saddle as intended. Any suggestions? Thanks!

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With Saddle hunting you want to keep your tether tight. In others words you want to keep keep tension on the lanyards. No problem using your hang on with the saddle.
 
I have used my saddle in place of a safety harness from hang on stands but only when using the stand as a platform. It's not really set up to be used any other way than facing the tree unless you're positioning for a shot, the tether will be across your chest and shoulder while you face that way. You can leave the stands that you already have set up and use them as is with your new saddle, it actually helps to get used to using the saddle at hunting height on a larger platform for many people. I've introduced a few guys to this method this way, works great.
On another note, if you do still plan to hang stands or remove the ones you have up, the saddle is a perfect tool to keep you strapped to the tree while you work.
 
I wouldn’t use my saddle as a fall arrest from a tree stand I’m not sure it could handle it.

Buy a cheap rock climbing harness for preset loc ons and ladder stands. They work great! And you can pick one up super cheap.

Now if your going to use the saddle as designed and stand on the platform rock on.


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BassBoysLLP said:
I did it for many years as I liked the saddle but hated the ring of steps. It works great.

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Just to be clear
it’s ok to use the saddle as a safety harness in a conventional stand? I never would have thought it. I thought with the slack in the rope and the catch from a fall they weren’t rated for that?

Now if your just standing and using the saddle as designed yes


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I would not use a saddle as a safety harness in a hang on or a climber using them the "normal" way. I do not see how that is safe and I wouldnt want the tether in front of me either. If you were to face the tree and be a leaner rather than sitter I guess you would be ok as long as you didnt have slack in the tether to bridge connection. IMO that defeats the whole point of saddle hunting and I think it would be way cheaper to buy a safety harness than a saddle just to hunt out of climbers or hang ons.
 
ImThere said:
Just to be clear
it’s ok to use the saddle as a safety harness in a conventional stand? I never would have thought it. I thought with the slack in the rope and the catch from a fall they weren’t rated for that?

Now if your just standing and using the saddle as designed yes


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I consider it safe enough. If you analyze the potential fall it is far less than ANSI or UIAA standards applied to saddles and rock harnesses.

That being said, taking a big fall on a static line is never a good idea, even with a rock harness. You should consider dynamic lines for fall arrest. Static lines are for work positioning.



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BassBoysLLP said:
I consider it safe enough. If you analyze the potential fall it is far less than ANSI or UIAA standards applied to saddles and rock harnesses.

That being said, taking a big fall on a static line is never a good idea, even with a rock harness. You should consider dynamic lines for fall arrest. Static lines are for work positioning.



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Good deal. Thanks for the reply


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buckwalleye said:
Apologies if this has been discussed already. So I have several hang on stand sets. I may remove them all and exclusively hunt out of the saddle in the future. But for this season I just assume leave them and use them. I'm wondering if anyone uses their saddle as a "safety harness" out of a hang on stand. My full body harness has a busted buckle and I don't really want to get a new one. One of the things I'm most excited about hunting out of the saddle is not having harness straps going over your shoulders and down the chest. I thought about removing the seats out of the stands and using them as a giant platform, and using the saddle as intended. Any suggestions? Thanks!

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Click to expand...
That would work.
 
ImThere said:
Just to be clear
it’s ok to use the saddle as a safety harness in a conventional stand? I never would have thought it. I thought with the slack in the rope and the catch from a fall they weren’t rated for that?
Click to expand...

I've used a rock climbing harness a lot with conventional stands and a rec tree saddle for portable lock ons. Both have a fixed center front attachment point and it works fine. With a friction hitch adjustment right there at your waist it's actually much easier to manage slack than the dorsal attachment without an adjustment on a full body harness . It's much easier in practice than it seems like it would be on paper. The tether doesn't go over your shoulder, at least I don't typically attach it that way. I attach it right behind me as high as I can without being in the way so the tether is going around the side. I've never tried it with a saddle that has a bridge and I suspect that would be more cumbersome unless the bridge is really short but maybe somebody who's tried it a can chime in.
 
brydan said:
I've used a rock climbing harness a lot with conventional stands and a rec tree saddle for portable lock ons. Both have a fixed center front attachment point and it works fine. With a friction hitch adjustment right there at your waist it's actually much easier to manage slack than the dorsal attachment without an adjustment on a full body harness . It's much easier in practice than it seems like it would be on paper. The tether doesn't go over your shoulder, at least I don't typically attach it that way. I attach it right behind me as high as I can without being in the way so the tether is going around the side. I've never tried it with a saddle that has a bridge and I suspect that would be more cumbersome unless the bridge is really short but maybe somebody who's tried it a can chime in.
Click to expand...

Yes sir. I’ve used a rc for many, many years in my climber, ladder stands, loc ons, with my sitdrag. My concern was with the falling with a loose tether would a saddle catch you safely in a fall arrest situation. A harness and a rc are designed to catch you in a fall, is a saddle? A saddle is designed for you to keep constant pressure on and mitigate falling.


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ImThere said:
Yes sir. I’ve used a rc for many, many years in my climber, ladder stands, loc ons, with my sitdrag. My concern was with the falling with a loose tether would a saddle catch you safely in a fall arrest situation. A harness and a rc are designed to catch you in a fall, is a saddle? A saddle is designed for you to keep constant pressure on and mitigate falling.


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Yes because accidents happen

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I ran a rock climbing harness that way. It’s better than nothing. If you want to use it the way it’s intended the stands are not in the ideal position on the tree.
 
It's primarily how I use mine, I still like a good size platform to stand on. Personal opinion I believe it is as safe as a RC harness as long as I minimize fall factor, same as any other harness. Real world talk, I am most careful and safety concious while climbing, there is no way I am going to just fall out of the tree once I am up there.
 
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Rock climbing harness is the way to go IMO as a safety harness in a loc on.
 
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