Safety harness reviews, PLEASE!

[JW_Halverson]

PeteC posted a thread with a good healthy reminder to make sure we are buttoned up this season with our safety harness gear when hunting tree stands.  Not bad advice at all, but it has me digging thru loads of advertising blather and balderdash as every single make, model, and brand of safety harness is the best there ever is, was, or could possibly be!  What a load of wheelie-bow B.S.!  Not everything is the second coming of mankind's only possible salvation, but how to cut thru the advertising and get to the meat of the matter.  I sure as heck don't have the money or time to buy and test 30 different harness systems. 

So I hit on the idea of tapping the best bunch of field testers I could find, namely anyone in here that has ever worn one of these systems.  Write up a little about what you have used, what works about it and what doesn't.  IF you have actually fallen and given the rig a real test, please include that as well.  I like a little bragging and chest thumping when you describe your bows/arrows/handmade gear, but in this case, lives are on the line and let's stick to facts.  I get it that you might actually want ME to fall out of a tree and land on my head, but a lot of other people are reading this as well and I am counting on you to have their best interests at heart. 

Signed,
Out On A Limb*

*That's typically where you find the fruits and nuts, after all.

[JoJoDapyro]

My question is: are you looking for a dog leash to keep you in your stand, or a fall protection harness?

[bubby]

Wish i could help jw but i mostly ground hunt I'm interested to hear some posts on this though

[DC]

Might be an idea to go down to your local telephone company and see what they use.

[JEB]

JW, I am also interested in what others have used.  Not the free type that come with stands but the vest type harness is what I am interested in getting some feed back on.

Cost
Ease of use, put on and take off
Ease of hooking up to tree/stand
And if anyone has had to use one as in fell and how the harness worked.

[Pat B]

I have a SOP(seat of the pants) harness. It fits pretty well and is sort of comfortable to wear. I've added another rope to my system that attaches above the stand and at the bottom of the tree for going up and down and safety as you get hooked up to the tree teacher.
 I hate harnesses so much I have just about stopped hunting from a tree stand. Anyone that hunts from a tree stand and doesn't wear fall protection is asking for trouble. I know a few guys that have fallen and injured themselves badly and a couple that died from their injuries.
  John, I have an extra harness, still in the package that you can have it if you want it. I don't know the brand but it is complete with leg and shoulder straps and a tether.

[mullet]

Mine is a "Big Game", jacket, harness. It's real easy to put on in the dark.

[osage outlaw]

I use a hunter safety systems harness.  I think I paid $45 for it two years ago.  They are $59 now.  I really like it.  It's way better than the junk free ones they give you with a stand.  It has the plastic clips around the chest and metal clips around the legs.  They are rubber coated and don't make any noise.  Even the plastic clip has a stretchy fabric cover over it.  Its fairly lightweight and only took a couple of trips to the stand to get used to.  It doesn't bother me at all when I'm hunting.  My Dad has the vest type harness and he likes it.  What I really like about my harness is once you adjust it to fit, it stays there.  All you do is snap it on and off.  No adjusting straps.  I haven't tested it out thankfully.  I started wearing it after I fell from a tree trying to put up a ladder stand. 

You don't have to pay $150 for a fancy harness.  They are all basically the same.  You will pay more for a company name than actual features. 

[DLH]

I have searched for this over the past year too. I came across a lot of threads on archery talk I know they are compound guys but there was a lot of insight. One guy was advocating rock climbing harnesses and claimed the hunting ones are just for advertisement he also was a rock climber and had taken long falls and never was suspended upside down which is what most people claimed was the problem with rock climbing harnesses. I think I'm gonna look his thread up and go with his recommendations

[JEB]

Looking for something my wife who hunts from ladder stands.  Me, I hunt from ground blinds most of the time.

The last couple of years she used the free kind but all the straps are a pain. Looking for info on the vest type.  When it comes to safety, cost are not a major issue but if I can find one that is  reasonably price that works as good as the expensive ones that would be good info to get.

[Pappy]

I also use the Hunters safety system, love it,I Can have it on in 10 seconds, just like putting on a jacket, cold weather I put it on early in the layer process, in warm weather I use it as the last thing, in fact I have 2,one pretty heavy and one light, if I am putting up a stand that I plan on leaving, which I do a lot I put a 3/8 closed eye/ self tapping eye bolt at the height I want which is about the top of my head and then when I get to the stand I just clip the strap in the eye bolt. I added a good climbers hook to the end of the strap and that makes a quick hook and un hook system. At that height for the strap I can't fall off the stand and dangle or if I nod off while setting it will catch me before I can fall from the stand, I want the strap just where I can feel it tighten a bit when I set down, it will scare the heck out of you if you do that but you can't fall love it.
   Pappy

[PEARL DRUMS]

Pretty hard to beat Hunter Safety System Tree Hawk. It'll fit right into tight wad budgets, like yours and mine! Plus its comfy, discreet and more than adequate.

[Pat B]

Even with a good harness on you can die(have a heart attack) if you hang for more that 15 minutes. I keep a small, sharp knife in a sheath attached to the harness where it is easy to get to if necessary. 

[H Rhodes]

x 3 on the hunter safety's system.

[PEARL DRUMS]

Same here Patty ol' boy. I always have my KH knecker on for that very reason, or in case some silly ass deer walks by me and I get lucky enough to hit its rib cage with an arra!