When hunting using a treestand, it’s important to have the most reliable safety measures possible; one way to ensure your safety is to use a harness.
Treestands are designed with safety in mind, but sometimes accidents can happen and you’d rather be safe than sorry; so, the following article will discuss the importance of a treestand harness, various harnesses on the market, their features, and the multiple benefits and downsides to each. We will also explore how to spot a good quality harness.
At a Glance: Our Top Picks for Tree Stand Harnesses
- OUR TOP PICK: Hunter Safety System X-1 Treestand Hunting Harness
- BEST YOUTH HARNESS: Hunter Safety System Youth HSS-8 Safety Harnesses
- BEST WOMEN'S HARNESS: Summit Treestands Women's Pro Safety Harness
Comparison of the Best Tree Stand Harnesses
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Importance of Using a Safety Harness
There are many benefits to using a safety harness, some a lot more obvious than others. You might fully trust your treestand, However, things can easily go wrong and it’s always best to be on the safe side. The following section will discuss the importance of having a safety harness.
They Saves Lives
The main benefit of using a safety harness is that they save thousands of lives around the world on a daily basis. If you’re climbing a tree and you accidentally slip, you could easily fall and break your neck. However, if you’ve got a reliable safety harness on, you’ll come away relatively unscathed.
Safety comes first. (Source)
Extra Comfort
Harnesses can offer plenty of comfort when sitting your tree, not only physical comfort, but also peace of mind when it comes to moving around and adjusting yourself between shots. You won’t need to worry about what’s below you and you’ll perform a lot better.
Maneuverability
One of the main benefits of using a high-quality harness from our listing is that you won't have limited range of movement from a restrictive harness. You’ll understand that cheaper and lower quality products will need more straps and parts to keep you safe, in other words, more stuff to just get in the way; with high-quality material that's strong enough, you won't suffer from restricted movement.
Aspects to Consider Before Buying
There are a few things that you need to understand before going ahead and committing your cash to a harness. The following section will discuss the considerations that need to be made and features to look out for before buying your harness.
Extra Features
Your harness might have the ability to hold your small devices and equipment such as your cell phone, binoculars, or hunting knife. Keep an eye out for a harness that you think can offer the best value when it comes to added extras, they might only just have a few attachment points or small pockets for these accessories.
Hunter Safety System Patriot Reversible Vest Harness has pockets that you can put your cellphone and other devices.
Weight
The weight that your treestand harness can support is an extremely important part of the research that you don’t want to miss. You need to find something that you know will support your weight; you’ll also need to understand whether you’ll fit inside or not. These are important in terms of safety, as you might be too heavy for a harness; once you slip, the harness could snap and you’ll be defenseless.
Material
Both the weight and material work hand in hand with each other; you need to ensure that the material used on your harness is of high quality. If you’ve already got the harness, inspect the fabric for any tears at any strain points and make sure there aren’t any tears whatsoever. If you could pull on the material and it tears, it’s not safe.
Key Terms to Know
To help compare products in this review, we have included a few key specifications for each. Here is a quick summary of what they mean.
Weight: The actual weight of the harness.
Material: The materials the harness is made of.
Additional Storage: Any compartments, pockets, or clips for storing or holding accessories.
Safety Features: Any additional safety features including tree straps, bungee tether, and suspension relief.
Review of the Best Tree Stand Harnesses
Now that we've discussed the most crucial considerations when purchasing a harness, let's examine the products that we have determined to be the absolute best on the market in this category. The following section will discuss the features, pros, and cons of each of these options.
Best Overall:
Hunter Safety System X-1 Treestand Hunting Harness
PROS
CONS
Review
This harness can be regarded as the best currently on the market for several reasons. It has a convenient suspension relief strap that can be used to drag deer or other animals through the forest. The comfortable, padded straps are far better than many other systems where you have straps constantly digging or rubbing you up the wrong way.
The manufacturers made sure that there aren’t any excess straps if you go for the right size; these usually cause movement problems and can be quite dangerous when you mess around with them. These harnesses come in several sizes so you’ll have no problem finding what you need.
Bottom Line
This harness was voted the best for good reason; it’s simple and comfortable. The padded straps will provide comfort where you’ll find the most pressure when you’re dragging a deer or just simply sitting in a tree. You’ll also greatly benefit from the well-measured sizes; if you choose the proper fitting you’ll be comfortable and won’t suffer any rubbing up the wrong way.
You’ll find with many other treestand harnesses that the weight can mean fatigue and limiting maneuverability after a while. There is one downside to this harness and it’s that you don’t have any pockets to carry your smaller gadgets in, whereas other harnesses in the same price range have pockets that you can use.
Product Specs
Weight:
2.5 lbs
Safety Features:
Padded straps / Shock absorbing tether / Adjustable torso and leg straps
Best Youth Harness:
Hunter Safety System Youth HSS-8 Safety Harnesses
PROS
CONS
Review
This harness is great for any child hunters out there. The lightweight material will ensure both safety and comfort, which are huge priorities for anyone. You’ll be happy to know that it can fit children of almost all sizes as it can be easily adjustable in both the chest and waist straps, offering a snug fit.
The quick-snap belt buckles will make it so much easier to put on and take off, which makes this product a lot faster to use. This harness also has a great deer drag strap which will make transporting your game a lot faster and easier. The suspension relief system will take most of that pressure from falling and spare you from whiplash or damage.
Bottom Line
This harness was designed to support the weight of a young hunter and ensure their comfort just as much as their safety. The lightweight material will ensure that there isn’t much weight holding the child down or limiting their movement, it can be put on fairly easily with the buckles and will allow you to adjust the the straps to fit your child comfortably.
The deer drag system will make it easy for your child to carry anything they’ve successfully hunted without getting tired or taking too long, it simply trails the game behind you on a strap. Unfortunately, this harness lacks pockets to hold small devices or hunting accessories.
Product Specs
Weight:
3 lbs
Safety Features:
Quick-snap belt buckles / deer drag strap
Best Women's Harness:
Summit Treestands Women's Pro Safety Harness
PROS
CONS
Review
It’s important that a harness can accommodate the comfort needed by a female hunter. The secure bungee tether will take any pressure, meaning that you won't need to worry much about friction or uncomfortable positions, the same goes for the padded shoulder straps. This harness was made with comfort in mind.
The quick-release buckles make this harness really easy to get out of and back on without any hassle. The harness can withstand a weight of up to 300 lbs and has multiple sizes, making it accessible for everyone. You’ll also be able to add different accessories as this harness, as it has a military-style attachment system.
Bottom Line
This female-friendly harness can withstand weights of up to 300 lbs and has plenty of various sizes to choose from, meaning that you’ll easily find something to accommodate to your figure and weight.
The quick-release buckle system is what makes it so easy to put on and take off within seconds, a great benefit when all you want to do is get up that tree and start hunting. The padded straps and where the straps are placed is important to accommodate a woman’s chest. The attachment points are also a great added extra just in case you need to add some extra equipment.
The only downsides to this harness are that it lacks deer drag straps to help you transport your game more easily and pockets to hold your hunting supplies.
Product Specs
Weight:
4.9 lbs
Material(s):
Nylon
Safety Features:
Bungee tether / Quick-lock buckles and comfort-engineered padded shoulder straps
Most Comfortable Harness:
Hunter Safety System UltraLite Flex Harness
PROS
CONS
Review
This is the most comfortable harness you can get on the market; this is due to the many padded straps and padded hexagon back. The absorbing tether and waist buckle will help reduce the overall weight and pressure on your body from the harness.
The HSS design means that there aren’t any dangling straps, which can be dangerous and a pain in certain situations; you’ll also have a secure mesh cell phone pocket that can be used for emergencies or general use.
The deer drag system makes it a lot easier and more comfortable to transport your deer or game back to your truck. If you ever come across any problems, you can always count on the five year warranty to help you out.
Bottom Line
It’s easy to see why this harness was voted the most comfortable; it has plenty of padding support on the shoulders, waist, and back to ensure that you never suffer from any friction irritation. If you need to adjust the harness to make it more comfortable or fit you better, you’re able to easily adjust the straps to give you a snug fit.
You’ll greatly benefit from the five year warranty if anything goes wrong within that period; this also shows the amount of confidence the manufacturer has in their product. Sadly, this product lacks pockets and yet is quite expensive.
Product Specs
Weight:
2.32 lbs
Safety Features:
1.25-inch upper-body webbing, shock absorbing tether and waist buckle / Deer drag system
5. Tree Spider Speed Harness
PROS
CONS
Review
This harness comes in at a close second place, offering plenty of special features such as Spider Speed clips that can be used with any Scent Blocker jacket; this product is the only one to offer this feature.
Other features include shock absorbing bungee straps and vertical climbing hoops, which are perfect for that flexibility and extra maneuverability that you need, allowing you to reach new heights and areas that you couldn’t get to before.
The Ario mesh back is another feature that adds to your comfort, which is a huge priority for many experienced hunters out there. The fit of your harness can be easily adjusted in any area including the chest, shoulder, and leg straps.
Bottom Line
The runner up harness only misses out on the top spot by a small margin. This product has many benefits, like being fast and easy to put on; you’ll also receive a helpful DVD that you can follow before you feel comfortable doing it yourself.
You’ll also notice that the bungee straps that are used will be able to take a lot of pressure of certain areas of tension, if you ever need to get yourself comfortable. If you have a larger than average or smaller than average, you can easily adjust the straps to fit you.
However, there are a couple downsides to this product. Much like the product reviewed above, there aren’t any pockets to use for your small devices. Another downside would be that the groin straps can be quite uncomfortable and might take some adjusting to get yourself comfortable.
Product Specs
Weight:
.45 lbs
Material(s):
Ario Mesh Back
Safety Features:
Shock absorbing bungee tether and vertical climbing loops / Adjustable shoulder and leg straps
6. Hunter Safety System Patriot Reversible Vest Harness
PROS
CONS
Review
The main standout feature of this harness is that its both a jacket and a harness; you’ll be able to turn this jacket inside out to wear either a bright orange or camo harness. The jacket itself is fairly lightweight at only 2.5 lbs and has some comfortable upper-body webbing with a shock absorbent tether and waist buckle, which take off a lot of pressure from your body.
With it being a jacket, you’ll benefit from the eight large pockets and attachment points for other pieces of equipment like your binoculars or cell phone. If you find any problems with your harness, you’ll have a five year warranty to fall back on.
Bottom Line
This harness is the best budget option on our list; it has plenty of benefits such as decent pressure relief with the shock absorbent straps. The design of the harness ensures that it’s fairly lightweight and won’t cause any fatigue. You also have two options when it comes to colors; you can either use it when hunting on the ground with the orange vest or blend into the trees with the camo side.
Another huge advantage of using a jacket styled harness is that you’ll have use out of the many pockets they have. The primary downside with using a jacket harness like this is that they’re not as strong as a normal harnesses and they could hurt you if you ever fall and dangle from a tree.
Product Specs
Weight:
2.5 lbs
Additional Storage:
8 pockets
Safety Features:
Shock absorbent tether and waist buckle / 1.25” upper-body webbing
Conclusion
If you like to hunt with a treestand, it's likely that a safety harness will one day save your life; we all fall and hurt ourselves, but being clumsy 30 ft up a tree can be life threatening. So, it’s always better to invest in a high-quality harness that’ll keep you safe for when the time comes. We hope that this guide has opened your eyes to the dangers of elevated hunting and the best products that can act as a reliable solution to those dangers.
