I use the harness that they give you with the stands and the HSS tree rope. I put the tree rope as high as I can and still sit comfortably and bend forward a little while sitting. You can also slide the prussic knot down and stay attached to the tree if you need to bend down more than that (assuming you have the tree rope so it won't loosen and slide down the tree---I try to always have it go above a limb, and have heard of using a tree step or some type of hook if no limb is available). Don't have much problem with getting caught on the tether strap this way. Also, works a lot better being able to use the caribiner to attach the tether strap to the tree rope than trying to thread the tree strap that they give you thru the tether and cinch it up. Plus the rope lets you attach to a bigger tree than those straps that come with the harness/stand (#1 reason I bought the HSS tree rope, with #2 being the caribiner/prussic knot combo).