OUTDOOR TEST PILOTS 2009 PRODUCT REVIEW PRODUCT-FALLGUY 20+ TEST PILOT-Rick Marchand Preamble- After being a victim of a hunting accident in 2008, resulting in 3 broken vertebrae, both broken feet, and badly fractured wrist. I was lucky enough to be introduced to a product that I previously never heard of, the Fall Guy 20 system. I had never considered not returning to the bush and hunting, but I had plenty of time to contemplate a future of ground hunting, a scenario that I really wasn't looking forward to, as you may well expect I was having second thoughts of climbing back up into the tree tops. Once I found out about the Fall Guy 20 system, I actually had a renewed vigor to get back on my feet and into my stands again, knowing full well that I would be tethered off from the ground up. When I received the systems and seen how they were built and the fall bear hunt just around the corner, I made sure that everyone that was going on this hunt was outfitted with one. They included my wife, two daughters and of course myself. Field Testing- I have used these systems now during three different game seasons, Fall bear hunt- The weather was unusually warm and dry, the system was very easy to install, but beware that when initially installing and again when taking down the system, you will require a secondary means of tying off to the tree when attaching or removing from the tree.( I was using a full body harness that came with my treestand along with a linesman style belt around the tree). The system attaches to the tree very easily by means of an attached web belt that is an integral part of the main body and wraps around the tree and secures together with mating buckles. Likewise it is actually easier to remove from the tree by simply pulling the tab on the buckle to loosen and then unclasp it. Any full body harness can be used with this system, just make sure you are comfortable and it is adjusted properly. The system comes with a lockable heavy duty carabineer that is attached to the 20' web lanyard. You may want to remove this carabineer and attach it to your body harness instead. The reason being once you have removed the lanyard when you are leaving, the carabineer appears to be too heavy for the self retracting mechanism to retract the lanyard all the way back up into the holder, thereby leaving it open to the elements. By leaving the carabineer on your harness, all you have to do is tie the supplied 20' string to the lanyard and it will retract back up with out issue. When next needed, all you do is pull it down with the string, remove the string and attach the carabineer that is already on your harness. (really it's only quirk) With a little trial and error you will find the ideal height at which to install the system, myself, I prefer it to be about eye level when I'm standing on the stand, just to minimize the drop should I happen to fall. If you have the system any lower than you risk the possibility of lanyard noise scraping across the opening of the system when you stand up. Moose Hunt and deer hunt During the moose hunt we experienced weather varying from very hot to heavy frost not to mention some heavy rains. With the lanyard securely retracted into it's holder, these conditions did not bother it. Although there were occasions where the back of the retractor housings appeared to be separated from the main casing, this was caused mainly because of the way in which it was transported in some of the packsacks. By simply applying a little pressure on the back it easily snapped back in place. Synopsis of the Fall Guy 20 system Overall I would rate this system an 8 out of 10. In my opinion this is the best overall fall protection system out there at this time, however there are a few minor issues that caused me to prevent it from a higher rating and they are as follows.  The retractors springs- they should be a slightly stronger in order to pull up the extra weight of the caribiner  The back plate on the retractor housing should be secured better. My concern here is if it pulls off slightly and the elements get inside ie: rain and then it freezes, what would the effect be? I personally would recommend this system to all hunters and anyone who uses elevated stands. By far the safest way to ensure you're going home that night.    


 Rick Marchand