Someone Already Got Seriously Hurt
Unlike many recalls announced after just reports of failures, this one came after an actual injury. A hunter experienced the cable releasing, fell, and ended up with spinal fractures and other injuries—the kind of trauma that changes your life.
The Specific Batch Numbers
Only treestands with batch numbers 9G-0114 and 9G-0614 were affected. You can find this batch number on a small tag hanging on the frame below the seat, starting with “BN.”
What The Marksman Looks Like
These are light green metal climbing stands with a main platform and nylon hanging strap assembly. They come with a netted nylon seat without a backrest and include an accessory bag.
The Cable Assembly Failure
The cable that holds the climbing treestand to the tree can just release without warning. When that happens, the entire stand—with you on it—drops.
Sold for a Full Year
These treestands were available at Menards and Rogers Sporting Goods stores nationwide, plus online, from June 2014 through June 2015. At $140 to $180, hunters were paying good money for what turned out to be unreliable equipment.
The Climbing Treestand Design
Climbing stands let hunters ascend trees by alternating between moving the platform and the seat sections upward. The cable assembly is what keeps everything attached to the tree during this process and while you’re sitting up there waiting for game.
Free Replacement Cables Offered
Global Manufacturing told consumers to stop using the stands immediately and return them for free replacement cables. But here’s the question: if the cable design is fundamentally flawed, how much better are the replacements?
The Broken Vertebra Reality
A broken vertebra isn’t something you recover from in a few weeks and move on. Spinal fractures can mean chronic pain, limited mobility, nerve damage, and in severe cases, paralysis.
The Fractured Rib
Rib fractures make breathing painful for weeks or months. For hunters who need to hike through woods carrying equipment and game, a rib injury can end your season and potentially affect your ability to work.
Fall Distance Matters
Climbing treestands are typically used at heights of 15 to 25 feet. Falls from those heights onto hard ground, roots, or rocks cause catastrophic injuries even when you’re wearing a safety harness that arrests the fall.
No Warning Before Release
According to the recall, the cable assembly can release—not “gradually fail” or “show signs of weakness,” but simply release. You get zero warning before the drop.
Cable Assembly Design Defect
If a cable assembly can release under normal hunting use, it’s defectively designed. These components need to be over-engineered to handle way more than the expected load, with multiple failure-prevention mechanisms.
Manufacturing Quality Control Failure
Global Manufacturing should have stress-tested these cable assemblies to destruction to find their breaking points. The fact that one made it to market and failed catastrophically suggests inadequate testing protocols.
Made in China Oversight Issues
These stands were manufactured in China. Global Manufacturing had the responsibility to ensure quality control met safety standards, but the cable failure demonstrates insufficient manufacturing oversight.
The Batch Number Problem
Only specific batch numbers were recalled, which means something went wrong during particular production runs. That suggests inconsistent manufacturing quality or a material defect in those batches.
Model Year 2014 Specific
The recall only covered model year 2014 versions of The Marksman. Did Global Manufacturing change the cable design for later years, or were all years problematic but they limited the recall scope?
Return Process Concerns
Hunters need to mail the entire treestand back to get replacement cables. That’s a hassle that keeps defective stands in circulation longer because people don’t want to deal with shipping bulky hunting equipment.
Breach of Warranty
Selling a climbing treestand with a cable assembly that can suddenly release violates the implied warranty that hunting equipment will safely support your weight at height. This is equipment designed specifically for dangerous elevated positions.
Contact an Attorney
If you were injured when an API Outdoors Marksman treestand cable assembly released and you fell, contact a product liability attorney right away. Preserve the treestand exactly as it was after the fall, photograph the failed cable assembly, and gather all medical records documenting your spinal injuries and other trauma.
References
1. https://www.cpsc.gov/Recalls/2016/Global-Manufacturing-Company-Recalls-API-Outdoors-Tree-Stands