# DIY safety harness?



## nick060200 (Jul 5, 2010)

Have they been made? how did you do it? I am thinking I was going to tie a military swiss seat and just use a tether with 2 D rings, one clipped into the swiss seat and the other secured to the tree. I own a salvage yard and have access to as much seat belts as I want. I am trying to think of a way to incorporate this as well. What are your opinions? what kind of thread would I have to use to actually sew a "seat belt" safety harness together? i do have a sewing machine. In the beginning stages.


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## nick060200 (Jul 5, 2010)

just found this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pffKSYino3Y&feature=related


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## nick060200 (Jul 5, 2010)

I used 3 seat belts tied together with water tape knots and used the behind the head method in the 2nd half of the vid and it seems to work great. when you sit in the harness and let all your weight go it does not crush your balls as would be expected, most of the pressure is on your hams. I am going to start to use this. You could tie it and hunt with it like that all day. Just clip in with a D ring once your up in a tree. what do you guys think?


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## Irish Sitka (Jul 2, 2009)

Picked two safety harnesses up in here for $10 a piece, too important an item to mess around with in DIY for my money.


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## nick060200 (Jul 5, 2010)

well you bought a used one, did you ever think that wasn't too smart? what if the guy fell with it?


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## SluggoFrogger1 (Sep 12, 2010)

nick060200 said:


> well you bought a used one, did you ever think that wasn't too smart? what if the guy fell with it?


You would be able to tell if someone fell with it. The stitching on the strap would be shot.


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## nick060200 (Jul 5, 2010)

also the tensile strength of the seat belts is 5000lbs........there is no way that is breaking from a fall from a tree. and if you tie the tether line real close there will not be a huge jolt on the line anyway.


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## nick060200 (Jul 5, 2010)

SluggoFrogger1 said:


> You would be able to tell if someone fell with it. The stitching on the strap would be shot.


good to know.........i stand corrected.


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## tbarn (Dec 23, 2009)

I would go with the tubular webbing idea before making one out of seatbelts just because the webbing is easier for me and less than $1 a foot from REI. I have tied climbing and repelling harnesses out of webbing for years and it is plenty safe and strong as long as you know what you are doing. 
I currently use a riggers belt, ( almost like a search and rescue one ) with a webbing strap hitched around the tree. But really it is only to keep me from falling from my stand if I would slip or something. It is just long enough for me to bend over and touch the platform. I am not sure how it would work if my stand were to brake. But it couldn't be much different than rock climbing except that I don't have any straps under my legs. I would not recommend my technique to everyone but I feel I am being safe, knowing my abilities. 
I have plenty of harnesses that come with treestands but I think they are a pain to put on esp over outer layers. 
My belt method is just so easy and it is strong.


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## Maui Rhino (Mar 13, 2010)

Tbarn, as a professional safety manager, I want to warn you that your belt method is dangerous. Body belts are no longer allowed for fall arrest purposes, only fall restraint. Fall restraint means it keeps you from reaching an edge or fall point, and fall arrest means it catches you if you fall. The problem with a body belt for fall arrest is that you will either flip upside down and fall out of the belt (because your torso is heavier than your legs) or the belt will slide up around your chest, breaking ribs and sufforcating you as you hang there.

Nick, along with being a safety guy, I am also a custom gear maker/sewer. I did a long post on a DIY tree saddle project recently where I talked about webbing, thread, and sewing machines to use to make a safe harness. http://www.archerytalk.com/vb/showthread.php?t=1614036 

What kind of sewing machine are you planning to use? Most home machines can only use up to a#69 thread, which is pretty weak for a harness, even if you put in multiple Box-X or Box-W's to sew it together. If you were to make one with 69 thread, it may hold you, but if there is a fall or sudden jolt, it will probably fail.

Let me know if you have any other questions.


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## Hunterdale (Nov 28, 2009)

I've made modifications to many of my safety harnesses, all hand sewn. I use 80# braided fishing line. Pretty strong stuff. For instance I needed to shorten the winch strap on my boat trailer. Used the same method of sewing it up as I have on my harnesses. My boat weighs about 10k. Not sure how much pressure I've put on that strap but am quite sure it will exceed any pressure ever put on any of my safety harnesses.


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## JezterVA (Jan 26, 2009)

Man, I gotta say that this does NOT sound like a good idea. I'm all about making my own safety line and all with the proper rope supplies, but making my own harness out of some junk yard seat belts seems like a recipe for disaster. In the pic below, you can see how on my HSS that there are folds stitched into the "hang line". Those folds are designed to help lessen the impact of a sudden fall by breaking away at the stitching and slowing the fall. Without them you may experience trauma in that special place that makes harnesses so uncomfortable. You can also tell at a glance whether or not a person has fallen in that harness by noticing the separated folded up areas of the harness.

It makes me nervous to think that you are actually even thinking about doing this. A couple years ago there was a thread here on AT that consisted of people giving away their spare harnesses in the name of safety for other hunters who either didn't regularly use one or couldn't afford one. If you're seriously thinking about undertaking this idea, it may be time to resurrect that thread or even start a new one.

I wish you the best of luck and safety if you do try this, but would recommend that you don't. What is $50.00 to buy one when your life is at stake? 

My $0.02


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## nick060200 (Jul 5, 2010)

I mean come on....I understand your concern but a seat belt out of a car at a junk yard (which by the way we are not talking about a 70's era car here) is still a belt with the tensile strength of 5-6k lbs. I see your point about a jolt to the nuts but I am trying to rig this in a way that won't put any pressure on your balls at all. I feel if rigged correctly there would be 0 problems at all. I thought thats what this DIY section is all about. These companys that make the harnesses are not the only ones that can do this. I have an extensive backround with tieing knots and also climbing, I know what knots can be used and what ones cannot for this sort of thing. Just to give you an idea of how strong the belts are, we regularly tie two together and put them thru both front windows and around the top of the roof and lift the entire car with them. after all 4 wheels are sold it is very hard to get a fork lift under the car to lift it. I have never seen one break. I am not trying to save money here, but like the other poster has said. the harneses that i have used are a PITA to get on. This is simple and effective. You saw in the vid that the webbing he is using cannot be as strong as a seat belt and he was talking about rescuing another person with the hasty harness. so that's 2 peoples body weight there.

I don't want to start a war here so I might not be posting anymore. This is just all my own opinion.


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## JezterVA (Jan 26, 2009)

Not trying to start a war at all bro. It was merely my opinion. Take it as you will. You know what they say about opinions. ;-)


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## Maui Rhino (Mar 13, 2010)

Nick, I wasn't dogging you for wanting to make one either. I do highly encourage you to make a safe harness, however--one that will do what you want it to do, and make sure you come home at the end of the day. If you don't get it right the first time, you won't get a second chance. Besides, your family will appreciate it.


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## hoyt shooter (Mar 31, 2005)

Take it from someone who has fallen in a harness from a tower at 200 feet buy the best you can afford....... AND..... no matter what harness you wear make sure its done up nice and snug or it can do as much damage as falling sometimes.


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## g2imagery (Nov 28, 2010)

Man I have an extra big game full body that came with a stand free. You can have it! I'm a fireman here in nashville TN and in a rural area I went to a call where a guy was hanging a mere 15 ft from his stand by a lower body only harness and couldn't get down. He was susleneded in air 2 to 3 hours. He later died due to his circulation being cut off for so long. I'm not a doctor I'm a fireman so forgive the lack of medical explanation on the last sentence. Suspension trauma and death is for real. I've witnessed it personally. PM me your address and I'll give it to you! Please don't fool around making one. It's not. Top of the line HSS or anything but it will save your life! As for the guy talking about webbing from REI. Man that stuff is used to save lives literally. I don't know of I'd use it to hang by after I engineered something but that's me. Amazing stuff and used to save lives all the time. I keep it in my turnout gear. But me personally I wouldn't try ******* engineering it myself. PM me your address and the harness is yours man!


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## g2imagery (Nov 28, 2010)

And to clarify on the ******* engineering on the webbing.I wasn't referring to you. I was referring to myself making a harness, not the best idea. After reading it I didn't want it to think that was a stab at you.


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