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"Get
Down Easy" by Bob Humphrey
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The leading cause of injury among deer hunters is treestand-related
falls. The treestand industry has made considerable progress
in this area through educating hunters about the need to always
wear a full-body fall restraint harness. When used properly
these harnesses
can help prevent serous injury, and could save your life.
However, many do not completely addresses some of the chief
causes of injury.
The Jolt
Falling from a stand, even when wearing a harness is not a
pleasant experience. Most harnesses are designed to break
your fall, i.e. keep you from reaching the ground should you
fall while in your treestand. When hunting however, you need
to move around, stand and sit, or change positions to shoot.
This requires a certain amount of slack in your harness tether,
and a fall of even a foot or two can exert considerable shock
to the body.
The situation becomes even more dangerous if you cannot recover
(get back into your stand) quickly. Suspension trauma or blood
pooling can occur when suspended motionless in a harness for
periods of time, which can eventually lead to unconsciousness.
Depending on the circumstances, you may have from a few minutes
to a half-hour before it's too late. But that's not the worst
of it.
The Freefall
Most accidents are not the result of falling directly from
a treestand. According to the Kentucky Department of Fish
& Wildlife 75 to 80 percent of falls occur while a hunter
is in the act of either climbing to or from the stand, or
getting into or out of it. This is a much more difficult situation
to address.
Hunters using climbing style stands can be reasonably safe
if they follow some basic guidelines. Begin by attaching your
harness tether to the tree while still at ground level. As
you climb, do not detach the tether. Instead, loosen it, move
it up, then re-tighten. Similarly, keep it attached, sliding
it down as you descend. This will ensure you are always securely
attached to the tree. The situation becomes a bit more problematic
when using ladder stands as you cannot keep a conventional
harness attached to the tree as you climb. With a hang-on
style you can use your lineman's style belt and attachment
tether to stay attached.
Fortunately there are products available that address all
of these important safety issues, and Integrated Safety makes
examples of each. First, they integrated a safety harness
into a vest that provides secure restraint only where it's
needed. Through researching weight distribution during a fall,
they designed their FallGuy harness to distribute your weight
in all the right places, reducing the likelihood of suspension
trauma.
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However, you may never have to worry about falling or descending
if you use the FallGuy retractor. This is the proverbial cat's meow!
Most fall restraints attach solidly to the tree above the stand,
allowing you only as much movement as your tether length, which
is usually too short when you need to move, and always too long
if you slip and fall. The FallGuy Retractor attaches solidly to
a tree at head level above the stand platform, but then uses a retractor
system similar to those used in auto seat belts. Unlike conventional
systems, it allows you more than three feet of free movement in
treestand, BUT, stops falls almost instantly within that three-foot
span. Perhaps best of all, the Retractor also comes in a 20-foot
tether version.
Once it's installed, you can clip on and be securely attached to
the tree from the moment you leave the ground throughout your hunt
and until you descend back to the ground.
When you begin your climb you pull the webbing connector down to
the ground via a small black string that attaches to the carabineer.
Once you pull it down just attach it to your harness tether and
begin your climb. It retracts as you climb, never allowing dangerous
slack to accumulate due to the seat-belt retractor mechanism. Statistic's
show that most falls occur getting in and getting out of your stand,
well, the FallGuy retractor has you covered during those times and
once you get into the stand it retracts up softly and again maintains
no slack in your connecting tether. When the hunts over you can
climb down while being protected by the FallGuy retractor.
This device was developed by two Detroit engineers who have decades
of experience in seat belt design. As a mater of fact they are the
guys who set up the crash dummies for those wrecks we see on TV
for crash ratings. Seatbelt technology that we rely on while driving
out trucks to the farm where we hunt can now protect us when we
hunt from our treestands. Here is one thing to remember about treestands,
they involve a degree of risk and gravity never blinks. Your first
mistake can be your last. Do it right every time.
fallguy.com
Editors note: The best safety idea to come to the treestand
industry in 10 years is the 20-foot retractor by FallGuy. I have
one on all of my hang-on style treestands. They also allow young
and new hunters to use treestands with out the risk of falling to
the ground. Old guys like me also enjoy the safety offered. I just
reviewed hundreds of reports from the CPSC concerning treestand
accidents as part of a task force committee. Failing to respect
gravity can be a fatal mistake. Go to NBEF.org
for the best DVD ever produced on treestand safety.>>>Wade
Nolan
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