What Will Happen If You Fall While Climbing To Your Tree Stand With A Lineman Belt 

im a journeyman lineman and I have to say you explained how to be safe very well. Great job!

Hopefully you don't severe the The femoral artery. That could spell death if the fall and contact with the step, causes that.

Thanks! I really appreciate your videos addressing tree stand safety.

That's why I girth hitch from ground up

Great video. What kind of knot do you have holding your rope to the carabiner (on your left hip, not your ascender)? i was using a clinch knot but you appear to have a knot that allows the carabiner to float/move freely. Thanks in advance.

I fell from my stand / sticks last weekend. It was the scariest experience. I was using all XOP gear. XOP mini sticks with cable aiders. I was on my 3rd stick, hanging my 4th stick. The stick I was standing on, just popped off the tree. I heard a “boom”. It happened so fast. That stick was gone. I fell / slid into my other stick. It cut me up bad. I’m sliced up from my knee, to my crotch. My tummy, and chest. But, my linemen’s belt stopped me from going too far. I only slid down around 5-6 feet. Instead of 15-16 feet. I am very thankful to not have been seriously injured. I took a breather, and then went home. I was alone. 3.5 miles from anyone. Coulda been alot worse. Thank you XOO for making good products.

Thank you so much for addressing all the things you go over in this video. I got a lot out of it that will help keep me safer.

Spikes or screw in steps into sides of private land trees is safest

Great video thanks for the tips. You made a subscriber out of me.

Would be nice if someone made a side step on at the end of the stick, why you ask? Let's say do fall the stand would be on the opposite side of the tree and you won't hit a cheese shredder down at the bottom.

Worked with two fall victims yesterday both from ladders. One broken back with no deficits.... Luck man. The other a guy cutting limbs at 20 feet. Two broken wrist, face fractured and pelvic fracture. Always stay attached to the tree is the lesson.

Very helpful, thanks

Add a Prusik loop to your tether and tighten it up once you throw it up, keep it tight as you move, along with your lineman belt

I think this guy is good man. I like his teaching style.

Excellent safety video and that settles it - if I ever use sticks to climb a tree, I'll carry a CAT 7 tourniquet, wear a jock with a cup and carry some booze! 😇 BTW, I noticed the tree wasn't vertical with the ground and you wisely climbed from the "underneath" side which apparently allows your lineman rope and tether to get a better bite without slipping.

I need to be safer climbing, guilty of standing on the stick, unhooking getting around the branch, and clipping back in. W/ young kids I want to eventually teach I need to be consistent with always being tied in. I one-stick climb with a saddle so between the lineman belt and tether through a madrock I can always be in tight.

If you attach your tether via a prusik with a rope tender (aero hunter makes a nice setup for this), then you can take the slack up quickly as you step. Then reposition and start over using tether and linemans. It's a pain because between the linemans, tether, ladder, and sticks....there's just a bit too much going on.

A dynamic line anchored to the bottom and fed through the top anchor is the safest thing in my opinion. Falls on static lines are very painful no matter if it's a linemen's tether or some other. When climbing sticks, I use friction hitches to grab my lifeline. As I go up, I slide my hitch up. I caribiner from the waist(waiste loops) to my hitch. This allows me to take out all slike everytime I slide the hitch up. If i fall, the fall is very soft because the dunamic rope elongates about 26% of whatever length is supporting you. When i come down, i keep tension on the rop. As I step down, I slide the hitch down. This to me is the very safest way to climb stands.

Welp, I’m sure as sheet going to SINGLE steps staggering off to the SIDES. Thank you very much for the gut ripping opened visuals with your demo!

Had a friend fall and it messed him up pretty good and hes a lineman by trade so even a professional can mess up. I can't chance it myself, I'm on a blood thinner so if it get cut bad I'm bleeding a lot. So i use a extension ladder against a tree and strap it to the tree. Then i have a harness i hook to hooks i attached to the ladder. Yes, its not the most quite method, but iv never had a issue spooking deer and it works freaking great.

I made my own as well. I love mine and use the same set up as you do with a rope man . Another excellent video my friend. Thank you for taking the time to share this with you. I agree safety is paramount while in the woods, especially if you are hunting in an area solo or in an area your hunting buddy knows the general area but hasn't been there. Thanks again for sharing my friend. I am so looking forward to opening weekend here in Oklahoma, will be here soon, OCT 1st, Thanks again and have a blessed week. Dale

Look at “buck squeeze “ Buckingham climbing equipment.

The hawk sticks are kind of crappy but I like their dog bone steps for this reason. A little more forgiving if you do slip. Great video!

This is what I was looking for I comment on the over video this one is better 👍🏻

There's no smashing into the tree with 2 tether. There's no slack in my climb. None, nada, zero.

I had the straps bust on one of my sticks. Instinctively I grabbed the tree and lineman’s went limp. Sticks do hurt… walked away with 6 staples in tricep and a 10” gash in leg and bruised ribs

Excellent demo. You are saving lives. Thank you!!

I appreciate your content thanks! I use the 2 lineman’s belts, at the top I use one for the tree strap… so I only have the two ropes

Good safety reminder right before deer season!! Good luck man 2 days!!!

Am looking to get into saddle next year, was lucky enough to be able to order some beast sticks, they are set for delivery towards the end of the year, I figure I get all the gear by the spring, practice all summer and get into the woods in the fall. Here is my question, how do you overcome that fear of falling/heights? I see that as the biggest obstacle for me.

Thank you! Very informative. I think this video will help many people avoid life-threatening mistakes.

Do you think it’s a bad idea to use the Ropeman 1 instead of a Prusik knot for a tether?

Nice and easy setup

I think I'll stick to a climber...lol

How much do you charge for your lineman belt

Thanks for taking the time to make this video! Excellent info for someone like myself who is considering switching to a saddle and climbing sticks

I spent the money on a full saddle set up a few weeks ago, hunted with it quite a bit last week... felt like it was unsafe, a gimmick, and nothing compared to a climber, and this video proves it. Climbing with a climber isn't safe either but it is no where near as complicated or introduces the same level of risk as a tree saddle.

Great vid as usual. Any reason why you haven’t swapped those straps out for the rope mod on the sticks?

Thank yo so much for taking the time to do this in-depth video on safety. I am looking at switching from a climber to sticks/lock on or saddle next year.

Very important info including some small details which are seldom stressed. Thoughtfully done and well presented.

Love this guys honesty and straight forward thinking!!!!

Thanks for another great tip! I’m looking forward to using my new sticks in a few days! Good luck this season bud.

Last year was my first year hang and hunting and about the 6th time climbing my stick slipped on a vine on the tree and I fell and scratched my stomach pretty bad. But im ALIVE thanks to my lineman belt!

Great video! You mentioned about a torn meniscus. I go for an MRI tomorrow as I feel I may have torn mine. Did you get the surgery or just let it heal on it's own? Trying to determine how much of an impact this will have on my hunting season. Thanks!

Awesome. Thanks, Jason.

Like your no nonsense approach

Use a prusic knott on your rope that goes around the tree. this allows you to make it shorter or longer depending on how tree tapers.

Great video.

The Ropeman1 is not made to save you from a fall it will cut your line, fail etc. its not designed to do that. i want to use one but dont know how to yet without worrying about it failing

Thanks for making this!

it would be worth investing in a Buckingham tree sqeeze and a climbing system would take your safety to a different level over all good info

Love these Jason. I always learn something.

Thank you!

Do you sell your lineman belt?

Good video. I had to learn the hard way that you were supposed to use something called a linesman’s belt to install steps and hang a stand some 30 years ago or so. Thank the good Lord my broken foot healed correctly and He protected me from so much worse that could’ve happened. Murphy’s law in hanging a stand without a linesman belt is that if you fall it will likely be when installing the very last step, with a stand on your back. Lord have mercy, and He did. Main issue with hang-on stands is getting from the top of the stick(s) into the stand, and for that reason I use a safety line on all my pre-hung sets. A big shout out to the Summit line of climbing sticks with the enclosed steps if you can leave a set in the woods because there are no protruding steps to gouge in a fall. I’ve got a couple of the “Vines”. Thanks again for the tip on the Rockman ascender. I started using it last year after seeing your recommendation.

There’s that term again....lineman belt?

Had a friend years ago who fell out of his tree stand and broke both bones in his lower leg . He laid in the woods for 3 days and almost died . Then he got to a hospital and nearly lost his leg . I'm a ground dwelling ape .