Seeking efficient, quiet, light-wight, low-cost, inexpensive, and reasonably safe means. I bowhunt early (low) and late season (high) deep (weight, noise) into public lands (no lineman gaffs, bolts, screw-ins). Are climbing sticks (e.g., LW, GoMuddy; $$ @ elevation) basically "it?" Any homemade options? Or thinking outside the proverbial "box," anyone ... (1) use rock/tree-climber methods (e.g., ascenders, special knots)? (2) wear ice walking strap-ons? (3) homemake abrasive-sole sneakers (rappelling style)? (4) build homemade, clamp-on straps with foot bump-outs (light, compact) or sticks? Thoughts? TIA
I use LW sticks for now. They are easy to use compared to other options, but none of the options are that great.
I envy the folks that have their trees spiked, and just walk to the tree and just climb and hunt.
Mosquito's Link
BTW, Medley, I've read your posts on the Tree Saddle. Piqued my interest. Was strongly considering a LW sit & climb. Now leaning toward the tree saddle but getting up the tree becomes an issue. Have been ground hunting with leafy camo mesh. Also considering Ghillie for ground hunts.
Mosquito, IMO a good climber can't be beat if you have the suitable trees available. The safety of being hooked up to the tree with your harness all the way up and down is outstanding. The weight is a tad more than a hang-on, but with a padded waist belt taking the load off the shoulders, I can carry my Summit all day. And by the time you add the weight of any sticks or other climbing device to the stand weight, the climber weight is competitive.
I'd say a hang-on with sticks would probably be the best option if climber-suitable trees are not available in your favorite spots.
Looking at a way to futher reduce the weight of my climber, for those treks into the way-back places, too. I think a strap seat could be used instead of the seat section of the climber. I'd still want the umbilical cord from safety rope to climber stand section, and the seat strap could be anchored to the safety rope also, maintaining safe hookup at all times while reducing stand weight by about half.
I haven't hunted from my idea yet. Made one test run with a wooden seat similar to a swing and a short bar to use as a hand climber, but didn't get the right proportions for the hand bar and found it difficult to climb with. Hope to test model B sometime soon. Still have confidence in the basic idea.
Try the Cranford Rope Steps! They are the ticket for you!
Each LW Stick is 2.5 lbs. and a total length of 32" (or 16" between steps).
Assuming 24" between sticks and 24" between the ground and lowest step and from the highest step to your stand), you can get to 20.7 feet with four sticks weighing 10 lbs.
However, assuming 24" between steps (the same distance between sticks above) and the same 24" between the ground and lowest step and from the highest step to the stand, you can get to 22 feet with 10 Cranford Rope steps weighing 9.5 ounces each, or a total of approximately 6 pounds.
With the LW Sticks you have four straps versus the 10 straps for the steps (not that big of a deal) to connect to the tree. The rope steps are a breeze to install and disconnect.
I can be up to set my stand going up the tree once in under 10 minutes. I carry all 10 steps in a cheap Walmart fanny pack that I wear in front of my waist. With the steps in the fanny pack, I can manuever very quietly and quickly through the thickest woods compared to carrying sticks. You also have to find a way to get all four sticks up quietly to install.
John Eberhart (deer-john.net) recommends steps versus sticks for all of his hunting.
Good Luck!
Medley--Have you tried the rope steps?