How many hunting seasons will you enjoy in your lifetime? I had two wake-up calls, both in the same season; I guess I'm a slow learner. The first came in Canada, when my foot slipped from an icy step about fifteen feet from the ground, my fall slowed as I pawed at thick cedar branches. The second came in Ohio, my left foot was on the last step and my right foot stretched up onto the treestand, which skidded loose. My fall stopped as my chin cracked down onto one side of the stand platform and my right hand grabbed the other side. Both times I could have easily hit the ground with fatal consequences.
And, both times, I was wearing my full-body harness. The trouble was, I wasn't hooked to anything. I already knew that anyone using an elevated stand should be wearing a full-body harness; I'd learned that. Two times I'd been lucky, and survived to learn more - that wearing a harness and hooking to the tree once I was in the stand wasn't enough. There had to be a way to hook to something solid whenever my feet left the ground.
"A full-body harness is an incredibly valuable piece of safety equipment, and even more if it's used as part of an integrated safety system," said John Louk, executive director of the Treestand Manufacturer's Association (TMA). "When you use a product in conjunction with the full-body harness, a product that promotes you attaching the harness to the tree from the time you leave the ground, you've taken a significant step to protect your own safety."
Hunting buddies have told me that they don't use harnesses because they are "too complicated." And I remember one night when a group of us lady hunters amused ourselves by drinking some wine, throwing my full-body harnesses off the porch into the semi-darkness and holding a little contest to see who could unsnarl it and put it on the quickest.
The harness inside a vest, such as the FallGuy safety vest developed by automotive industry engineers for Integrated Safety Systems, eliminates that excuse. The vest makes it easy to wear a full-body harness… and then the company took it a huge step further. The FallGuy retractor system works like a vehicle seatbelt.
The seat-belt technology used in the FALLGUY 20-foot retractor attaches Bess Nolan to the tree while she is in the stand. The cardinal rule about that connecting tether is "no slack when seated". The FALLGUY's retractor insures that there is no slack.
It is attached to the tree above the stand. A black cord extends to the ground from the carabineer that hangs out of the housing. The housing holds a 20-foot length of seat belt strap. When you walk up to your tree you use the cord to pull the 20-foot length of webbing down to ground level. Now you hook your harness tether to it and begin your climb. The retractor takes in the webbing as you climb, eliminating all slack. If you fall or slip at any time during the climb the seatbelt mechanism instantly locks the webbing and stops your fall. You then remain attached through the hunt and until you return to the ground. You're never disconnected…and you're never exposed to a lethal fall.
This solves the biggest problem associated with treestands. It allows you to be attached to the tree at all times - climbing up and climbing down, stepping in and out of the stand, and while in the stand. The retractors can be purchased separately, and used in multiple treestands. The Integrated Safety System FallGuy safety vest and retractor, used together, make it simple for hunters to make safety improvements to the equipment they use, and the familiar design eliminates any issues with ease of use.
But is making safety equipment simple to use enough? Will it mean that all hunters will be properly protected?
Amanda knows how to play it safe while climbing treestands. She is connected from the minute she leaves the ground, throughout the hunt and until she returns to the ground. The FALLGUY 20-foot retractor and vest have her covered.
The TMA, in conjunction with state Hunter Education and Bowhunter Education Foundation programs, has made great strides in teaching newcomers all about treestand safety. But what about the long-time hunters, years and even decades removed from their hunter safety courses? It's almost a mirror of anti-smoking efforts - young people are getting the safety message, but people their parents' age are not.
Louk referred to a recent study which uncovered that gap. "The Consumer Products Safety Commission provided information to the TMA about more than 6,000 incidents from 1998 through 2005, which were reported as accidents involving treestands," Louk said. "A committee appointed by the TMA went through each one of those reports."
"Here's the conclusion - those reports could be narrowed down to actually only 107 accidents that were treestand related," he continued. "Ten percent of those accidents involved people using homemade treestands. And in 82 percent of those accidents, the user was not wearing a full body harness…..and more importantly, the accident would have been prevented if the user was wearing a full body harness and was hooked to the tree."
"But the most surprising statistic for me was that the average age of a person involved in a treestand accident was 44," Louk said. "That told me that we needed to find a way to reach the older consumers."The TMA has launched two initiatives towards that goal. Louk has been taking the message to consumer shows and has also created a guideline of standards to be included in treestand safety DVD's. "Here's our challenge," he said. "We need to have a united message about the best ways to use treestands safely, and we need to promote that message to the general public."
The FallGuy Vest and 20-foot retractor are the easiest solution to incorporate into your personal treestand safety plan. How many hunting seasons will you enjoy in your lifetime? The answer may have to do with how much thought you put toward treestand safety.
