# Another hanging by safty harness



## Header (Apr 14, 2004)

Over this weened another man was found dead in the woods, hung by his safety harness. What a shame.
http://cantonrep.com/index.php?ID=439400&Category=9&subCategoryID=0


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## bkr43050 (Apr 5, 2004)

Another sad tragedy. I would like to know for the help of everyone here exactly what kind of harness he was wearing. If he was indeed wearing a full body harness and it suffocated him then I think many would like to know how. I know the ones that I have used would allow me to hang for quite some time before I was in danger. They are not comfortable but I don't see them suffocating me.

Obviously out of respect for the family nothing needs to be discussed that they don't want out there. I am just mentioning this as a concern for more folks. One tragedy like this is too many and now we have two in less than a week. Truly sad.

My prayers are with the family.


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## Fishstix (Aug 16, 2005)

I always carry my knife in my fanny pack. After reading about the first tragedy, I began to carry my Buck pocket knife in my pocket just so I have access to it if I should ever be put in that situation. My prayers to the family.


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## bkr43050 (Apr 5, 2004)

Fishstix said:


> I always carry my knife in my fanny pack. After reading about the first tragedy, I began to carry my Buck pocket knife in my pocket just so I have access to it if I should ever be put in that situation. My prayers to the family.


Many harnesses come equipped with a quick access razor knife to slice the tether in such an emergency. It is right on the chest area of the harness.


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## wildman (Sep 3, 2008)

I DON'T USE ONE. I also don't get to high in the tree. I think they give you a false scene of safety you do things that you normally wouldn't but Again I only get about 15 feet. Its horrible what's happened and Its unbelievable that 2 people have had this happen to them this year. I have never even heard of it happening but I'm not telling people to not use a safety harness its just my choice.


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## catfishhunter33 (Apr 6, 2004)

quote

I think they give you a false scene of safety you do things that you normally wouldn't

http://www.cdc.gov/eLCOSH/docs/d0500/d000568/d000568.html


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## icefisherman4life (Aug 5, 2007)

man i would like to know what safety harness they both had. i have the hunter safety system and i dont know how you could have that happen with that vest. im just curious. what a terrible thing.


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## bkr43050 (Apr 5, 2004)

catfishhunter33 said:


> quote
> 
> I think they give you a false scene of safety you do things that you normally wouldn't
> 
> http://www.cdc.gov/eLCOSH/docs/d0500/d000568/d000568.html


That link is interesting. I have never heard of such a prevalence of suspension trauma. I may have to do some experimenting with our harnesses at home (me and my son) to educate ourselves better on what to do if we find ourselves in a suspended situation. Thanks for that link!


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## Bigun (Jun 20, 2006)

I've been milling this around in my head since the last guy died and have been trying to think of ways to make my hunts safer in the case I do fall. I have a cut out knife on my harness, and another in my pocket already. I was thinking about velcroing or tying a couple of tree steps, and a cheap utility knife to the bottom of my stand. My other thought was to attach my stand to my tree strap to prevent it from falling out of my reach. any body else have any ideas?


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## bkr43050 (Apr 5, 2004)

Bigun said:


> My other thought was to attach my stand to my tree strap to prevent it from falling out of my reach. any body else have any ideas?


My two sections of the climber are attached to each other by a nylon strap. There is no way one falls without the other.


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## bgpark1 (Apr 23, 2004)

I have a tree lounge that is about 7 years old. Mine actually attaches to the climber and only give me about 3.5 feet of strap so if I somehow feel off i could still reach the seat or foot climber and climb back in... I would hate to be hanging from a tree or even drop up to 6 ft before being caught. 

Tree lounge is best safety stand on the market... its my opinion... and you get what you pay for.


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## bkr43050 (Apr 5, 2004)

I just read in our local paper where a 17 year old fell near Fredericktown and was seriously injured. There was no more information than that other than they estimated his fall at around 16 feet. He was life flighted to Grant Medical Center in Columbus.

Be careful out there!!


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## TomC (Aug 14, 2007)

Knife in boot. Anyone smoke??? A lighter or flame would burn/melt the nylon.


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## wildman (Sep 3, 2008)

Ok that was a little contradictory but u know what I mean. Leaning a little to far over, stand slips to the side. stuff like that. 
You guys are a hard crowd to please!!


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## Bigun (Jun 20, 2006)

bkr43050 said:


> My two sections of the climber are attached to each other by a nylon strap. There is no way one falls without the other.


Mine is the same way but if the seat slips, it could very easily hit the platform and both would go to the ground and I would be hanging. My thought was to attach the seat to the tree strap so there is no way either section could fall.


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## HCF (Apr 7, 2005)

once in place I use strap to tie the top to the tree. Also the HSS vest has a deer drag line also used in the event of fall place your foot in strap an stand to take pressure off, I also carry 2 screw in tree steps in the HSS vest.


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## bkr43050 (Apr 5, 2004)

I just recently purchased the HSS partially because of the recent accidents but more because of the cumbersome tangled mess for harnesses that I currently have. I have one other good one but my oldest son is using it now which left me with no good one. It was a chunk of change for the HSS but I know I will love the convenience of it. I have not even gotten a chance to check it out closely yet.


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## One Legged Josh (Jan 27, 2008)

*Guys just an FYI the man who died was OGF member NEOCATS (Jeff) nephew. 
Here is his post from another site. Pray for his family please!*
On November 1st, 2008, my nephew, Kevin Shaw (33) was killed in a freak hunting accident while deer hunting. Kevin is survived by a 2 year old son, Ethan. 

There will be a Big Cat tournament to benefit his family on November 16th. 

The tournament will be held at Spencer Lake from 9:00am to 4:00pm with registration starting at 8:00am. 

Entry fee will be $10.00 per person. 

For more information, call me at 330-948-2108.


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## bkr43050 (Apr 5, 2004)

Given the size of our membership I guess it is not surprising that there is a connection to a member. My prayers are with Jeff and all of Kevin's family and friends.


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## BigSteve (Apr 14, 2008)

That link that catfishunter33 posted was great evereyone should read. I had no idea there was such risk in a device designed to save your life. My prayers are with the family.


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## hunt-n-fish (Jun 19, 2007)

I guess I'm missing something or not thoroughly reading the threads, what is actually killing the hunter in the fall from the tree/treestand, is it a compression asphyxiation or is it tangling around the head/neck area?


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## neocats1 (Oct 14, 2006)

Thanks for everyone's prayers. I don't know what brand of harness Kevin was wearing, but I will find out this weekend and let you all know.

The full details about the accident will never be know for sure, but it appears that the harness was worn correctly. I do know it was not tangled around his neck as we were first told.


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## bkr43050 (Apr 5, 2004)

hunt-n-fish said:


> I guess I'm missing something or not thoroughly reading the threads, what is actually killing the hunter in the fall from the tree/treestand, is it a compression asphyxiation or is it tangling around the head/neck area?


I believe the reports were that the first man who died did have the strap around his neck but I can't say that for sure.

I think everyone should have some source of cutting tool readily available to aid in eliminating the risk of compression asphyxiation.


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## catfishhunter33 (Apr 6, 2004)

quote
I guess I'm missing something or not thoroughly reading the threads, what is actually killing the hunter in the fall from the tree/treestand,

it can be a combination of things occurring in a fall.the fall is not what hurts its the landing!!!the strap comes to a abrupt stop dazing or leaving you unconcious.there you hang while if my memory serves me blood clots may start to form in as little as 20-30 seconds not to mention you are hanging with total body weight with straps applying pressure on the blood vessels in the crotch area.
.i am trying to recall this from osha fall/harness training from a few years back.my safety harness has a built in feature that snaps/stretches in case of a fall to reduce the initial jerk force.it still only allows about 15 min hang time max.

read this link
http://www.osha.gov/dts/shib/shib032404.html


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## squid_1 (Jun 2, 2005)

I place my tree strap as high as possible on the tree. After hooking my harness strap to the tree strap and on the stand I then adjust to take out the slack, there is not much slack and I don't think that if I do come off the stand for any reason either my stand or climbing sticks should be within reach. I have seen people with approx. 7'-8' of slack in their harness strap and tree strap combined. Next time your in your tree just look at your system and figure ways to make it safer if you do come off your stand. Please be safe. Prayers for the family.


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## bkr43050 (Apr 5, 2004)

squid_1 said:


> I place my tree strap as high as possible on the tree. After hooking my harness strap to the tree strap and on the stand I then adjust to take out the slack, there is not much slack and I don't think that if I do come off the stand for any reason either my stand or climbing sticks should be within reach. I have seen people with approx. 7'-8' of slack in their harness strap and tree strap combined. Next time your in your tree just look at your system and figure ways to make it safer if you do come off your stand. Please be safe. Prayers for the family.


That is a good point on the strap height. I usually set mine such that it hardly long enough for me to reach my string for hoisting my bow. I tie it to the bottom section of the climber. Often times I need to hook the string with my boot to pull up in to reach. So you are right that I would not drop very far at all if I were to indeed fall.


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## Onion (Apr 10, 2004)

I just bought a Summit stand last week and there was a lot of info I didn't know about suspension trauma on the DVD that came with the stand. Basically you need to be able to relieve the pressure on your femoral arteries and veins or blood can pool in your legs which will eventually cause death..

To relieve that pressure my harness came with an extra strap which you can tie to loops on the harness at the hip, loop down to ankle height and stand on. This will allow you to loosen the leg straps and exercise your legs which will get that blood moving.

Kinda like http://www.cabelas.com/prod-1/0040139417538a.shtml


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## littleking (Jun 25, 2005)

i too purchased a summit and watched the video...

i too do not wear a harness, i would rather die quickly or be injured than hang there and suffer


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## Onion (Apr 10, 2004)

Well...there is no way I would ever get in any type of treestand w/o a harness. Dieing doesn't scare me too much....spending the next 30 years in a wheelchair terrifies me.


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