Hunting Safety Harness

I decided to purchase a full body hunting safety harness to use while installing my hang on treestands after having an accident over the summer of 2005. My accident left me without part of the cartilage along with a previously blown ACL in my right knee. Although re-habilitation has gone well I do not have the confidence that I once did and I’ve also proved to myself that I am not invincible.

The first harness that I purchased was the Cabela’s Full Body Harness. It is a basic harness that goes both over the shoulders and under the legs and also has a lineman’s belt. I particularly wanted one with the lineman’s belt so that I could use both hands while attaching my hang on treestands. This always seemed to me to be the most dangerous part of putting up a treestand.

That first year the harness has worked well for me. I put up several treestands and the security of the harness and lineman’s belt made the treestand hanging much easier and safer.

Wearing it while on the stand isn't much of a problem. One of the few downsides is that the harness makes it difficult to use some of your pockets.

All of the buckles and attachments seem to be heavy enough for their intended purpose. Although this is the cheapest treestand safety harness that Cabela’s sells it does not appear to be cheaply made.

I’ve read in advertisements for other harnesses that this style will get all tangled up and I can see the possibility of this happening. If it will tangle I will be able to tangle it. Over the past deer season tangling hasn't been a big problem. When I take it off I hang it on a hook on the porch by the shoulder straps. This makes it easy to put back on without any confusion.

I have had touble with one shoulder strap sliding down while walking. There is a strap in the front to keep the shoulder straps up but it slides down as well. This appears to be a problem due to it being a one size fits all hunting harness (or at least up to 275 pounds).

In 2006 I purchased a new Gorilla treestand and a full body safety harness came with it. After trying both this new harness and the one I purchased last year I like the new one from Gorilla better.

This harness is essentially the same as the harness from Cabela's except that it straps directly around each leg and the attachment at the chest keeps the straps over my shoulders without any problems. This harness has a lineman's belt as well.

The only problems I see so far are that it is also one size fits all so the straps are a little long and flap around and the strap that connects you to the tree seems a little too short, but I'm sure that if I fell it would seem way too long.

Hopefully I’ll never need the hunting safety harness to catch me but buying one was probably one of the wiser things I have done.

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