Tree Gear Equipment

Versatility, safety, and comfort are primary considerations in the design and manufacture of Buckingham Glide Lite Tee-Climbing Saddle. It is of a modular construction allowing you to change worn parts easily instead of discarding the entire harness when only one section is no longer serviceable.

The Glide Lite weighs only 3.9 pounds, making it one of the lightest harnesses available in the market. Notwithstanding its light weight, it has a durable and heavy-duty construction.

The wide webbing of its back pad distributes weight over a larger surface of your back, thus helping reduce the possibility of back aches. It has as many as 12 loops, dee-rings, and snaps for your gear. It also has two slots for carabiners and a soft belay loop. Provisions for the attachment of a shoulder harness are also incorporated.

A suspension bridge with an aluminum o-ring provides improved lateral movement. It is attached to both the waist belt and the leg loops via o-rings and straps. Aluminum buckles on both the waist belt and leg loops can be released easily and quickly, which means that getting into or out of the saddle is a breeze. They also allow full adjustment for a truly comfortable fit and suspension even when wearing thick and padded clothes when climbing in cold weather.

Man began having back pains ever since he started walking upright. Among adults today, nine out of ten have complained of back pain at least once. To minimize the possibility of back aches when climbing trees, Buckingham Manufacturing designed the Ergovation Tree Climbing Saddle with ample back support.

The wide lumbar support is ergonomically designed with a thick closed-cell foam padding that contours to your lower back and pelvis. This assures optimal posture thus helping prevent back pains. If you have a doctor-prescribed therapeutic pad, whether hot or cold, you can even insert it into the lumbar support through a hidden opening. Its width is intended to distribute loads rather than concentrating them on a small area of your back and pelvis. To keep the padding clean and hygienic, it can be removed from the harness for washing.

The Ergovation is highly modular. As many as 22 of its parts are replaceable, which results in a fully customized gear. It is also extremely adjustable. Work positioning dee rings can be moved forward or backward. Buckle placement in the leg straps is also customizable. You can have them either inside or outside your thighs. A waist tensioner also improves fit as well as abdominal stability.

The saddle weighs 6 pounds and 3 ounces. It is available for waist sizes from 24 to 44 inches.

Featuring a floating bridge design, the Weaver Cougar Tree Saddle allows a climber’s torso full freedom of movement. You can reach up, down, or sideways more freely with this suspension strap that is connected to the leg straps. Both the bridge and leg straps are fully adjustable. The means that whatever is your body size and shape, the saddle can be fine-tuned for a comfortable to wear.

The Cougar Tree Saddle’s waist belt has an extra-wide back measuring seven inches. It is padded with memory foam which moulds to your back within minutes of putting the saddle on thus reducing pressure and increasing comfort. It also wicks moisture keeping you dry, and it quickly dissipates heat for a cool wear.

The waist belt is tightened with a buckle equipped with a roller to reduce wear and tear as well as to make putting it on easier. Two d-rings with a two-bar design are fixed on either side of the belt. At the back are nylon loops for accessories, and two nylon straps where chrome brass snaps and nickel-plated rings are attached. These can carry your climbing tools and keep them within easy reach. Attachment rings for suspenders are also built in. Additional d-rings at the back of the waist can also carry a ditty bag or medical kit.

Rope-style micro pulleys can be mated with the rope bridge. It also features rubber bumpers. It is connected to a ring that also holds the leg strap, and is adjusted by a strap that is also connected to the same ring on one end, and the waist belt on the other.

The back of the leg straps or loops are four inches wide and, like the waist belt, are also padded with memory foam assuring a comfortable, dry, and cool performance. These are fitted with quick-connect buckles for easy fitting.

The Cougar is available in small size at 30″ – 34″; medium, 34″ – 40″; large, 40″ – 44″; and extra large, 44″ – 48″.

If you are a hard core tree climber and you would like your children to literally follow your footsteps even when you are stepping on air, you might want to start them young. That way they will experience the excitement and pleasure of hanging, standing, or sitting on a tall tree and looking at the world from the point of view of a bird. As all parents must, you will have to provide your children with fail-safe protection –a helmet, safety glasses, gloves, and a safety harness.

The Petzl Simba Full Body Harness for Kids is one of the safety harnesses available in the market. Designed specifically for children 40 kg and below whose hips are as yet undefined, it has an over-the-shoulder pattern. These shoulder straps as well as the leg loops are fully adjustable to fit a wide range of body sizes using four double back buckles. It will fit young fast-growing tree climbers aged 5 to 10. A double tie-point at the chest keeps the child upright in case of a fall.

Since children taking their first outing may not be very familiar with the proper way to wear the harness, you will need to continually check on the little ones. To help you immediately spot if there is a problem with the fitting, the webbing is constructed with a black and a colored side. The colored side should be on the outside, while the black should be inside. Even from a distance you can see if your child has been playing with the harness.

A distinguishing feature of the Arc’Teryx R320 Harness is its ultra-thin waist and legs. Unlike other harnesses, it does not need thick padding to provide comfort while climbing. With its proprietary Warp Strength® Technology, the entire weight of the body is evenly distributed across the entire structure of the harness. This is possible because the belt and legs are closely contoured to the shape of the body.

Four gear loops of injection-molded polyurethane cover webbing loops directly attached to the harness. These allow you to carry all the racks, draws, or other climbing gear you need. These reversible and removable gear loops are flexible even in extreme cold. A haul loop is also included for trailing a second rope.

Wear Safety Markers are included in the thermoformed tie-in points and belay loop. A bright orange appears when the protective ballistic sheath of the structural webbing is worn out. Using the harness in this condition is inadvisable as it could abrade the structure leading to loss of strength. A 7075 T6 aluminum anodized buckle that is self-locking allows adjustments while maintaining a double-back configuration.

The exterior of the Arc’Teryx R320 Harness is made of Schoeller® stretch fabric. This is a lightweight and abrasion-resistant material that allows maximum freedom of movement. The inner part is lined with soft and breathable spacermesh providing comfort and allowing the free flow of air.

A thermoformed waistband fitted with dual-density foam padding makes the Black Diamond Big Gun Climbing Harness a most comfortable and convenient harness. You can hang for hours from a tree branch and not feel any discomfort. At the lumbar region the belt widens to as much as five inches making it look like a bullhorn. This distributes the weight supported by the belt over a wider area. The leg loops are fully adjustable allowing you to wear or remove layers of clothing when climbing in cold weather.

The Big Gun is equipped with seven gear loops that are color-coded to help you classify and organize your climbing gear. Thus, if you need a carabiner or a descending tool quickly, you can easily locate it among the several equipments attached to the gear loops. In addition to these, the harness also features two holster slots and actually comes with a holster for a hammer.

There are two color-coded belay loops that provide separate attachments for ropes, belay devices, and daisy chains. For a secure connection, these are rated at 15 kN. The haul loop also has the same rating of 15 kN.

Climbers, not only of trees but mountains, will always give a premium to safety harness that is lightweight, comfortable, and easy to use. The Mammut Mirage Harness is an attempt to deliver all these.

The structure of the Mammut Mirage consists of Hypalon, a chlorosulfonated polyethylene (CPSE) synthetic rubber manufactured by DuPont Performance Elastomers. This material is stronger than natural rubber and is resistant to most chemicals, oil, and abrasion. It is also unaffected by heat and exposure to the elements. Thus, it can be expected to provide secure support, and to last for long periods.

Rigging with the Mirage is quick and easy with the use of the Slide-Bloc buckle. Mounted on the waist belt, it enables quick adjustments and maintains the double-back configuration. Load on the belt is spread over its entire width by a full-strength edge taping. The leg loops are also adjustable with two thread-back buckles. This means that you can wear layers of clothing when climbing in cold weather. And for a perfect anatomical fit, the leg loops have a trapezoidal design.

Both the waist belt and leg loops are fitted with a soft padding material which provides comfortable wear. A 3-D mesh lining wicks moisture keeping you dry and preventing chafing. On the waist belt are four molded and stiffened gear loops where you can rack your carabiners and other climbing gears.

Tree climbers, especially when climbing tall trees with twisting and even inter-woven branches, would definitely welcome a harness giving them freedom of movement and flexibility. This is precisely what the TreeMotion Tree Climbing Saddle provides.

This climbing saddle has an innovative design that took over five years to develop from the drawing board to the trees by a three-man team of tree climbers headed by seven-time ITCC world champion climber Beddes Strasser.

Instead of the usual wide web for the lumbar support, TreeMotion uses a flexible back pad that incorporates several narrow webbed straps that are individually adjustable. This is also true for the leg loops. In addition to being flexible, this multiple webbing design also helps distribute loads over a wider area.

The suspension bridge is user-adjustable as well as versatile. The length may be shortened or extended simply by untying and retying the rope bridge at the desired length. For this reason, it is easy to add to or remove an aluminum ring from the bridge. If you do not want to use an aluminum ring for suspension, you can also attach a swivel to the bridge and connect it with a carabiner. Another alternative is to directly attach a carabiner to the bridge and insert your climbing line into it.

Utility loops for the suspension of gear and tools are included in both the lumbar and leg supports. Their placement is highly customizable according to your preferences. Apart from the fixed chainsaw and first aid kit attachments, you can hang your stuff high or low, or sloping inside or outside anywhere on the harness. Additional lightweight build-it-yourself loops even come with the TreeMotion Tree Climbing Saddle that you can install where you want.

The Ergovation Fall Arrest Y-Harness is a chest harness that is intended for climbers who need fall arrest attachment for the sternum or the upper back. With this harness, the strain on the lower back region is eased. This is because the weight of the saddle is dispersed. Also, some of the tools and other equipment needed by a climber can be transferred from the saddle or sit string harness to the chest harness thus distributing their weight to the upper torso.

When climbers want or need to stay vertical during a climb using a Single Rope Technique or SRT, the Ergovation Y-harness can be very useful. The sternal and dorsal attachments provide exactly that.

The harness is made of a combination of polyester, nylon, Kevlar, and nomex. Its webbing includes over half a centimeter of closed cell foam thus providing comfort and improving hygiene. These are stitched to the webbing to prevent shifting. The D-ring attachment points both at the front and back are made of aluminum to reduce their weight. For easy adjustment of the fit of the webbing, Y2 friction buckles are included.

The Ergovation Y-Harness is compatible with all Ergovation sit harnesses manufactured after May 2009 though not with those from earlier dates. Connecting the two is accomplished in either of two ways. These are the web and carabiner attachment methods. In the former method, the webbing of the dorsal adjustment strap of the Y-Harness is slid through the rear buckle of the sit harness. In the carabiner method, on the other hand, a carabiner is inserted through a web loop in the sit harness and then attached to the Y-harness.

The Quartz CR3 is an all-around climbing harness that can be used for rock climbing, general mountaineering, alpinism, and tree climbing.

It is constructed of a 3-D honeycomb mesh. This is enveloped with an EVA perforated foam that is 4 mm thick. The foam is attached to the mesh with a minimum of internal stitching.

On the waist belt, the foam padding folds over the top, providing extra comfort around your abdomen, hips, and back. Its Sliding Waist Belt System allows the padding to slide along the honeycomb mesh. This makes it easy to center the padding and the tie-in point.

On the leg loops, the entire surface of the padding absorbs the force of your weight, thus eliminating pressure points. This is made possible by the Edge-Load Construction of the loops.

Both the waist belt and leg loops feature patented Sicura buckles. These allow the stripping of the harness without having to remove your boots or skis. The leg loop buckles also allow full adjustment to accommodate different layers.

At the front of the harness is a No Twist belay loop that keeps you belays, descenders, or rappel devices in their proper position. There are also four gear loops where you can attach carabiners, cams, quick draws, or nuts for easy access. At the back is a rear haul loop that is rated at 12kN.