Combined garment and tow harness

3,074,074

Jan. 22, 1963

Filed Oct. 6, 1959

H. D. LOVERING

COMBINED GARMENT AND TOW HARNESS

Sheets-Sheet 1

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3,074,074

Jan. 22, 1963

Filed Oct. 6, 1959

H. D. LOVERING

COMBINED GARMENT AND TOW HARNESS

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United States Patent Office 3,974,074

Patented Jan. 22, 1963

3,074,074

COMBINED GARMENT AND TOW HARNESS Henry D, Lovering, Bolsters Mills, Maine

Filed Oct. 6,1959, Ser. No. 844,791

Claims. (Cl. 2—94)

The present invention relates to garments such as a shirt, coat, or vest to be worn by a person who may have to tow a heavy object.

While garments in accordance with the invention are adapted for a wide range of uses, the objectives of the invention are best illustrated by hunter’s garments made m accordance therewith. Those who hunt such game as deer usually have a difficult problem whenever they are successful. Often the deer is shot a considerable distance from a road and as it is unsafe to carry a dead deer, they are. customarily dragged. Even when companions are available to take turns, “dragging out” a deer is exhausting work as the deer’s legs, head, and horns, if a buck, readily catch on the various obstructions which are usually abundant in areas inhabited by deer. When a hunter ίτίκ⁷ himself, the “dragging out” operation is even more difficult and exhausting as the successful hunter must carry his firearm in addition to the load represented by the towed carcass.

The principal objective of the invention is to provide a garment having a tow line so incorporated therein that it is a built-in tow harness always available for the hunter simply by attaching the line to the deer so that it may be hauled from the woods with maximum ease and convenience. This objective is attained by providing, in combination, a garment such as a coat, shirt, or vest, and a tow. The tow has a pair of sections which extend forwardly through the back of such a garment and upwardly and over and downwardly around and under respective ones of the armholes and, preferably, transversely of the garment’s back. Each section is attached to the inner surfaces of the garment so that it is held by the garment as a tow harness loop for receiving a respective one of the shoulders of the wearer.

With such a garment, the tow line may be attached to the deer or other object to be towed and the garment, when worn, then functions as a comfortable and efficient towing harness. When not in use, the external portions of the tow may be stored within a pocket, preferably a part of a flap, whose free end is detachably secured to the garment’s back and disposed and dimensioned for use as a hood with the pocket turned inside out.

In the accompanying drawings, there is shown an illustrative embodiment of the invention from which these and other of its objectives, novel features and advantages will be readily apparent.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a side elevation of a shirt in accordance with the invention illustrating its use by a hunter in dragging a deer,

FIG. 2 is a front elevation of the shirt, on an increased scale, the shirt being open,

FIG. 3 is a rear elevation of the shirt, and

FIG. 4 is a vertical section showing the left half of the shirt.

The generally indicated hunter’s shirt 5 may be conventionally made and is shown as consisting of a shoulder or yoke part 6 and front and back parts 7 and 8, respectively, sewn together and providing armholes 9 to which sleeves 10 are stitched. A collar 11 is attached to the yoke and front parts and the free edges of the latter are detachably interconnected as by complemental slide fastener parts 12 and 13.

In accordance with the invention, a generally indicated tow 14 has a pair of sections 15 extending freely through the back part 8 which is shown as having a pair of transverse, reenforced slits 16, one for each section 15. The slots 16 are spaced and located over approximately the middle part of a respective one of the proximate edges of 5 the shoulder blades. The sections 15 are shown as together comprising a loop and each is disposed upwardly and forwardly and downwardly around a respective one of the armholes 9 and transversely of the back part 8. The sections 15 are joined together as at 17 outside the 10 shirt and, inside it, the sections are secured thereto. It is preferred that the sections be anchored to each seam they transverse as by bar stitching and, between the seams, it is preferred that the sections be so attached to the garment as to hold them smoothly and securely in place to 15 prevent their catching when the garment is being donned.

The tow 14, which may be of any suitable material with narrow webbing being shown and preferred, usually is of considerable length. In order that it may be stored to be conveniently available, an upwardly opening pocket 18 20 is provided on the inner surface of a depending flan 19 at the lower part thereof. The flap 19 may also be* joined to the shirt by the seam between the yoke and back parts. The flap 19 covers the slits 16 and near its lower edge, it carries snap fastener elements 20 detachably engageable 25 with complemental elements 21 (see FIG. 3), on the back part 8. The pocket 18 and its flap 19 are so dimensioned and arranged that the pocket may be turned inside out to be worn as a hood. The pocket 18 is of sufficient size to accommodate other articles that the hunter may wish 30 to have with him.

When a deer 22 is to be dragged from the woods, best results are attained by passing the free end of the tow 14 through a slit in the lower jaw, through slits in the hocks of both hind legs and then through corresponding slits in 35 both front legs. The deer is then pulled together compactly, approximately as shown, and the length of the tow adjusted to provide a distance between hunter and deer that permits easiest travel. In this connection, it will be noted that the zone where the tow line sections 15 pass through the back of the garment is selected to prevent the garment from being subjected to garment disturbing or straining pulls when the built-in tow harness is put to use.