RE: ''im going to die''

[jonny5buck]

I hope this man has a full recovery and honestly wish him the best.Good thing a cell phone was handy ,it saved his life after the fall.Now before everyone beats me up ,i have a few serious questions,im not trying to be critical at all. quote'' Many of us leave stands in the same trees for years.A lot can happen to wear down those stands.'' this is news to me,maybe because i was used to hanging and breaking down stand and sticks daily from park hunting ,but i tear my stuff down EVERY year at the end of season,and it gets a thorough inspection welds,straps,what condition it's in and if it is questionable it will not be resold or re-used.Again not trying to be critical but the guys i hunt with all do the same.Quote#2-'' i did not replace the climbing stick straps on my stand,because they come loose with a small tap on the fastner'' end quote/maybe just an editing problem[climbing stick straps-i believe on sticks not stand] and after reading quote #2 im still confused by it's meaning-if something comes loose by tapping on it ...shouldn't it BE replaced??? Again i wish this guy nothing but health and thanks for sharing.My question is do any of you leave stands up year round??? besides squirrels,just the sun alone damages those straps,and a tree regardless NEVER stops growing.It may slow down but thats why your straps are so tight the following year.It's pushing those welds to the breaking point.Ice and snow melting and freezing alone does enough damage on your equipment.Safety straps left in the tree get broken down by the sun and the weather.I pray nothing like this happens to me or anyone else,and he did the right thing by sharing this story.I hope someone can clarify what im missing about him-NOT replacing the strap because they come loose? im confused on that??[;)]

[jonny5buck]

This was in response to an artcile from dec17 -2010-by john smith i believe,it can be reached by going to the home page and puting ''im going to die'' in the search box-i

[fasteddie]

I leave my stands up and replace the rachet straps every other year . The straps are fairly inexpensive .

[Jslotter]

I use climber stands mostly. But I do have a ladder stand and a hang on stand. My ladder stand I will not attempt to mess with anymore. Its been attached to the same tree for about 3 years and when I tried to go up it it felt very loose and got the hell off it, Im gonna go in with a pruner and cut the strap off, the stand looks to be still in good shape. My hang on stand I left on the tree, I am gonna pull it off this spring. I bought it last fall so hopefully it wont be all rusted out. I used to pound scrap wood into trees as makeshift ladders and nail in a few boards as a standing platform. Two years later I would climb up these half-assed contraptions and it would be falling apart on me while going up, but I still hunted. I couldn't believe I was that stupid at one time and damn lucky I didnt fall out. I take alot of measures now days with safety harnesses and climbing straps. Safety comes first, never doubt it.