Treestand Safety Harnesses

The rest of the treestand setup

• Hang-on stands and climbing sticks
• Ladder stands
• Climbing treestands
• Hunting saddles
• Treestand accessories for hooks, hoists, steps and straps
• Missouri deer season dates

The three pieces, and why most hunters own one of them

A complete fall-arrest setup is three separate things doing three separate jobs, and the gap between them is where people get hurt.

The harness catches you once you are in the stand and tethered to the tree. That is the part everyone owns.

The lineman's rope or belt keeps you connected to the trunk while you are climbing, hanging the stand, and setting sticks. Industry fall data and every stand manufacturer's own safety literature point at the same window: the climb and the transition into the stand account for the majority of treestand falls, and that is exactly when a harness alone is doing nothing for you.

The lifeline is a rope you leave on the tree with a Prusik knot that slides up as you climb and locks if you fall. Clip in at the base, stay connected the whole way up, unclip at the platform onto your tether. It is the piece that makes the first three steps as safe as the last twenty feet.

Full-body harnesses

The Hawk Elevate Pro and Elevate Lite use Hawk's form fit construction with a one-hand quick set carabiner and a flexible tether. The Pro is the heavier-featured of the two. Both are built around getting into the harness quickly in the dark, which is the difference between wearing it and leaving it in the truck.

Muddy's line splits by how much comes in the box. The Magnum Elite is the harness on its own, with adjustable chest and leg straps, quick-release buckles, air-flow mesh and a 300 pound rating. The Magnum Pro adds a lineman's belt, tree strap and suspension relief strap, which makes it the least expensive way to own the full system rather than one third of it.

The Diamondback is the warm-weather pick. Breathable air-flow mesh through the back, a one-hand carabiner loop, an adjustable chest strap, and a tether with an anti-shock bungee that keeps slack from dangling in front of you. Rated to 300 pounds. Early October sits in the Midwest are hot, and a harness you are willing to keep on is worth more than a better one you loosen at nine in the morning.

The Safeguard Combo ships with lineman's rope, tree strap and suspension relief strap, padded and adjustable, 300 pounds, with room for gear. The Crossover Combo is the fullest kit here, adding a Safe-Line to the same package so the harness, the climb and the lifeline all arrive together. Its flexible tether allows 360 degree movement, and the pockets and cushioning are aimed at all-day sits.

The Ambush is the same padded nylon platform in Optifade Elevated II, with built-in binocular cables, quick-release buckles and a 300 pound rating.

Youth and women's harnesses

A harness that does not fit does not arrest a fall correctly. The leg loops ride wrong, the chest strap sits too high, and the suspension load lands somewhere it should not.

The Youth Safeguard Combo is rated to 150 pounds and comes with the lineman's rope and tree strap, so a kid gets the same three-piece system an adult does rather than a scaled-down version of the harness alone. The Women's Safeguard Combo is cut to fit most female hunters without added bulk, rated to 300 pounds, with lineman's rope, tree strap and gear lanyards included.

Lifelines and lineman's ropes

The Safe-Line is 30 feet of braided nylon with two reflective Prusik knots that slide freely and stop immediately under load, rated to 300 pounds, available singly or in threes. If you hunt three stands, buy three and leave one on each tree. The Safety-Line is the same 30 foot braided nylon rope packaged with one Prusik and a steel carabiner.

Muddy's lineman's rope is the piece for the climb itself, braided nylon rated to 300 pounds with a quick-clip design so you can move it around the trunk one-handed while both feet are on sticks. It is listed here as Safety Harness, which is the manufacturer's name for it and not a description of what it is.

Reading the rating

Almost everything here is rated to 300 pounds, and the youth harness to 150. That figure is the rated capacity of the harness including you and everything you are wearing and carrying. Add a loaded pack, a heavy coat and boots before you decide you are comfortably under it.

Inspect it, then replace it

Check the webbing for cuts, fraying, UV chalking and stiffness, check the stitching at every load-bearing junction, and check the buckles and carabiner gate for grit and corrosion. Any harness that has arrested a fall is finished, whatever it looks like. Manufacturers publish a service life for their harnesses, usually measured in years from date of first use, and it is printed on the tag rather than left to judgement.

Frequently asked questions

Do you need a harness in a ladder stand?

Yes. A ladder stand puts you fifteen to twenty feet up on a platform with a rail, and falls from ladder stands happen the same way they happen from hang-ons, usually while climbing on or off. Every ladder stand sold in the US ships with a harness for that reason.

What is a lineman's belt actually for?

It wraps around the tree and clips to both hips of your harness so you can lean back and work with both hands while staying attached. You use it going up, while hanging the stand, and coming down. Without one, the entire climb is unprotected.

How long does a treestand harness last?

Check the manufacturer's stated service life on the tag, and retire it earlier if you find damage or if it has caught a fall. Sun and moisture do most of the aging, so a harness left hanging in a shed outperforms one left in a stand all season.

Can two hunters share one harness?

Not at the same time, and sharing between sits is a bad habit because harness fit is specific to the person. If two of you hunt the same property, own two.

What size harness do I need?

Go by the manufacturer's size chart against your chest measurement and your weight with gear, not by shirt size. The youth model is rated to 150 pounds and the women's model is cut for a smaller frame rather than simply sized down.

Does a saddle replace a harness?

A saddle is a suspension system you hunt from rather than a fall-arrest harness you hope never to use, and it is used with its own tether, bridge and lineman's rope. If you are saddle hunting, shop the saddle collection and its dedicated components rather than adapting a treestand harness to it.

Keep going

• All treestands
• Hunting blinds for the hunts you would rather do from the ground
• Trail cameras to know which tree is worth hanging
• Deer scents and rut attractants

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