The hunter attaches his safety vest tether to the carabiner and slides the knot up the rope as he climbs. It utilizes the “Prussic knot,” also known as a friction knot, that mountaineers and tree professionals use when climbing.Ī carabiner-equipped Prussic knot is attached to a 30-foot section of rope. HSS products include a “Life Line” that addresses the fact that most falls occur when a hunter is climbing into or out of his stand. Hunters may not be great spellers or grammarians but the repeated message is clear: Wear your safety vest. The company’s website includes letters from fall survivors. Out of that experience a multi-million dollar company was born. The idea for the company originated during a typical deer hunt in 2000 when John’s tree stand went crashing to the rocks below, and he clung to the tree for his life. All three have hunted since they were kids. The owners are John and Jerry Wydner and lifelong friend Jim Barta. Hunter Safety Systems (HSS) in Alabama manufactures a variety of hunter safety vests that sell for between $100 and $160. I wear a Summit “Seat-O-The-Pants FastBack” harness that sells for about $100. The best are designed with breakaway stitches that prevent a sudden, jarring stop. There are a number of products on the market that are easy to put on without the hopeless entanglements of cheaper products. The Treestand Manufacturers Association (TMA) recommends hunters wear a full-body safety harness that supports the legs and torso. Like a PFD (personal floatation device), a safety vest must be worn if it is going to do its job. In that regard, hunters have a lot in common with fishermen. Most tree stand injuries are easily preventable through the use of a safety harness, experts say. A good safety vest costs under $150, but it is often the most overlooked piece of equipment.Īccording to Newton’s law of gravity, a hunter wrapped in a set of high-tech scent-minimizing camouflage clothing that costs several hundred dollars, who is not wearing a safety harness, falls from a tree stand at about the same speed as his new bow, shotgun, or black powder rifle. Hunters think little of spending hundreds, even thousands of dollars for a new bow or gun. Luckily, his daughter went searching and found him alive 21 hours after he fell. The injured man, unable to move and without a cell phone or radio, stayed on his back in the rain through the night. He broke his spine and seven ribs and shattered his femur at the hip. The story described a recent incident in which a 64-year-old McConnelsville, Ohio farmer fell from his stand when his hand slipped against his homemade stand’s rain-slick wood. Alcohol was involved in less than 3 percent of falls, and drugs in less than 5 percent. Falls from tree stands often resulted in spinal fractures or fractures in the lower body. The study found that half of injuries were from falls, and 29 percent were from gunshots. Charles Cook, the OSU trauma surgeon who led the study, said. “I think the traditional belief about hunting-related injuries is you get shot by a hunting buddy or your own weapon accidentally discharges,” Dr.
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