Greg / MO

To be honest, Jeff, I'm glad I've got them in my arsenal, and I love to be able to speak intelligently about them because I actually own them... but I find myself using screw-in steps or my climber 99% of the time.

I think where the sticks would shine is on a National Wildlife Refuge where you walk in that day not knowing where you were going to hunt, and are afraid your choice might be limited either due to the size or straightness of the trees. Since you can't use steps that damage the tree, the climbing sticks would be a good alternative to an actual climber in that scenario.

Otherwise, I just usually grab my pouch with my steps if I don't want to use my Summit climber that day.

I also dislike getting down from a set with climbing sticks... Not actually the getting down part, but what do I do with the sticks themselves on the way down? I've tried holding onto them as I keep going down, but that becomes cumbersome. I usually end up just dropping them on down to the forest floor, but I'm not crazy about treating my equipment like that.

With the steps, I just drop each one back into my pouch as I remove it from the tree and keep going down.

GMMAT

Mike...

CLIMBING STICKS.....not a ladder section. I use the ladder sections with my lock ons.

TOTALLY different animal.

GMMAT

I've only been hunting a couple years.....but I've used my climber probably 60 times. I can't imagine a quieter, safer way to get (__________) distance up a tree I choose to. That's just me......and I'm never unattached. I just wanted to know how you did it SAFELY....in case they wanted me to speak intelligently on the subject.

Greg / MO

You're right, Jeff... I think climbers are about as safe as you can get, provided your sections are tethered together and you've got your harness attached to the tree and keep pushing it up as you ascend.

The way I do it, if you read closely, actually leaves a very small time frame there when I unhook, step onto the platform, then hook back up. I feel comfortable with it due to to my athleticism and the fact that everthing is already solidly attached by that point, and I'm always able to have both hands and feet free as I step onto the stand. Still... I think it's VC1111 who's provided a link the last couple years of an ascension system akin to ones used by mountain climbers which would provide the absolute in safety.

But you don't even need that system with a climber... just push your harness up as you climb.

arkansasbowhunter

I use the ameristep rapid rails. love em. just love em. I can get reasonably 20 ft with them. put first rail chest high. put 2nd rail on right of stand (on the strap from the first step) put 3rd rail on left side. I use a 25ft cord with a S hook rubberized on it. attach rope to stand, put S hook in waist of pants. ascend first step with second step in hand. Once up first step attach 2nd. afterwards, reach over to the right of step and put one of the 2 remaining steps on the cam rope of 2nd step on tree. take remaining step and ascend the second step and leap frog them up. Man that sounded confusing.

I put one step on the tree and bring the steps up with me leaving them hanging on the cam strap of each the rapid rail attached to the tree. I never descend to get a rail. once all of the are attached to the tree I pull up my stand and set it. once in the stand, I lower my S hook to the ground and snag my bow which I leaned against something or put it where the strings could be snagged from above. Pull up my bow and I am ready to hunt. the rapid rails hang quickly, quietly, and are very sturdy. they get you out away from the tree unlike the lone wolf steps. I tried the leap frog approach with the LW steps but b/c there is virtually no space b/t tree and step I couldn't effectively bring up the steps and hang them on the side of the cam straps.

Hope this helps and didn't confuse you too much.