With full humility I must admit that I am a gear junkie. My garage and closets are full of hunting and fishing gear from as far back as I can remember. I am a cross between sticking with the “Old, Tried, and True” and wanting the latest and greatest of today’s technology. Sometimes I fight the change and grumble about how easy things have to be today…how soft everyone seems to be…how we used to do it back when I was young. Other times, I am reading 50 amazon reviews and articles trying to shave a few ounces off my pack weight by getting the newest, lightest, and most advanced gear on the planet. I don’t know, I am in my early 40’s…I am a cross between an old stubborn curmudgeon and a super-techno gear head.
I think of myself as a pretty easy-going guy. I enjoy hunting and fishing for the comradery, the scenery, the experiences, and most definitely, the eating. I like to think that I can roll with the punches, embrace the suck, and appreciate the suffering that goes along with my hobbies of choice. My point is, unless something really bothers me, I usually don’t mess with it. But with my tree stand harness…I had just about hit my limit of patience. I, like most of you have a traditional Tree Stand Safety Harness. The one with the big strap on the back, between your shoulder blades, and the seat belt buckles that hang and clank a foot below your butt. While, I do appreciate that I am still here, living, and not impaled on a tree somewhere in the woods…I have never liked wearing that damn harness. I knew I had to wear it, I mean…I have kids and I like living…a lot…but there’s been many times where I wanted to “accidentally” leave it home. So, this was one of those things that I realized “really bothered me” and I set out to enlist the ever-powerful internet to help me solve my all-important harness problem.
After reading way too many articles on rock climbing (not one of my hobbies) and reading Lord knows how many amazon reviews, and watching hours of mostly useless YouTube videos, I have found the solution. I have fixed my problem. I am happy and more importantly, I am safe…again. I tried to compress my findings into about 4 reasons why I made the switch to a rock-climbing harness. Some of my reasons are 100% game changers for me, a few others are cool to know but they may not move the needle with you. Either way, thanks for reading, leave a comment if you can add anything or if you have advice for the rest of us. I have included links to all of the gear I purchased below. I purchased all of my things on Amazon because the pricing was way better than some of the outdoor stores you find on line (I am an amazon associate, so I just want to be out front that I can earn from qualifying purchases). Last and most importantly, don’t buy used safety gear…this should go without saying. Get new, tested, and approved gear..this is your life we are talking about here.
4 reasons for using a climbing harness
Convenience
Years and years of fighting with my traditional safety harness is what drove me down this road. The awkward back strap, the full body shoulders, and the seat belt bottom was just a pain to wear. After tons of research, I settled on the Black Diamond Alpine BOD Harness. It is about $50 and is pretty darn light. Now, you can get a lighter harness, but the Alpine Bod has all the bells and whistles you need and one GIANT advantage. The Alpine Bod Harness has clips on the leg supports that you can disconnect. This was the deciding factor for me. You can put your harness on like a belt and then clip the leg supports between your legs and attach to the waist belt. This is an awesome feature that I have not found on other harnesses. These leg clips let me easily put on and take off clothing layers while in the stand. I can put on rain pants, take off said rain pants, add a layer, or even get down and take my long underwear off. All without having to take off the harness. Just un-click the supports, do your thing, and re-click. The other cool thing is that with these leg clips, you don’t have to “step” into the harness when putting it on. It just goes on like a belt….this is way cool considering that “stepping” into a harness with my big ass snake boots or my winter hunting boots would really suck. Any climbing harness will be more convenient than the traditional tree harness but I really like the advantages of the Alpine Bod Harness.
Noise
My old harness was loud….like…”I just ruined my hunt…loud” I had two seat belt buckles on the bottom that would clang together if they were not cinched up tight. The shoulder pieces had snaps…yes…snaps. If you needed to adjust anything once you were in the field, you were in trouble. When you use the climbing harness, you are not dealing with metal on metal. I usually put my harness on at home or in camp before I leave. Climbing harnesses are not terribly uncomfortable to me. I find it easy to strap it on, check and make sure it is secure, and hike or drive to my hunting spot. When you are not messing with things in the woods you can really cut down on making noise and scaring game.
Weight/Size
Not much to say here. I dropped a few pounds in my pack when changing to the climbing harness. Less material less weight, right? As far as size goes, my old harness would take up a full gallon Ziplock bag. I couldn’t pack it in my smallest backpack (waist pack) and it took up a ton of space in my day pack. Trust me, changing to a climbing harness will save you size and weight. Oh….and less weight means less stress when hiking…less stress means less sweat…less sweat = less scent in the air.
Ease of Movement
Ok, so my old system had a rear/shoulder tether that would attach to the tree. I could never see where it was, if it was tangled, or if I had any slack in it to move. I couldn’t reach it to give it a soft pull to see what I had left before trying to maneuver to see an animal. I hated that. Time after time, I would attach to the tree an hour before first light only to make my first movement two hours later and find that I had no slack in my tether. Using a climbing harness keeps your attachment in front of you at all times. Now I can pull that Daisy Chain (see video below) and immediately know how much space I have to move. Point #2. The rear/shoulder tether often messed with my draw when archery hunting. Like I said above, you attach in the dark. A few hours later, I stand slowly to draw my bow and find that I can’t get an angle for my shot….and the tether is in my back swing……Enough said on this.
Check out our video below for details on how I set up my system. For about $90-$100 you can be ready to go. I am pretty sure this system is a bit cheaper than buying the traditional safety harness. I can tell you that since switching to this new system, I have made my life easier. In the woods and wilderness, anything that makes life easier is worthwhile to me. I wish all y’all luck and leave a comment, note, picture, or advice below. I would love to hear about your system.
Thanks