Open climbing stand vs. gun bar style stand
#11
In shape.. haha I like a few beers but Im not over weight and pretty active, but scaling a tree for anyone is not easy. I wont lie.. toteing a 28# stand, bow, water, calls, rope, and about 4# of corn into the woods is a pain... And by the time I climb up Im typically sweating in the open of the season, not so much in the winter. I do like the sit in climb style gorilla stand I have now.. but again, its cumbersome and heavy. Ide like to try a open shot climbing stand, the open shot weighs in at 15 or so # and the team realtree bushmaster on cabelas (same stand only 4" longer plat form) is right at 18#. They seem easier to set up and get going with. Messing with the lock pins and cables on my gorilla can be hard in the dark and is far from quiet...
#13
LMAO, yeah, that too. And FYI, the Summit Viper tips the scales at just about 20#. That seems to be about the average weight of these type of stands. You only save about 1 1/2# by not having the bar and the bar does make sit-n-climb a whole lot easier and quieter than using a hand climber. Trust me, I've been playing monkey (climbing trees) for almost 40 years now. I started with no cimbing aid. then went with hand climbing aids. Now I use the sit-n-climb method and wish I had changed several decades ago.
Even my "heavy" Summit Titan, at 26 lbs, is a lot easier to lug and climb than those old steel stands were. And I feel a lot safer in the current crop vs the old climbers.
#15
I use a "wide" lone wolf sit and climb with an Ol Man Mesh seat. It is very easy to pack, I can shoot sitting, I can stand and push in the seat for a full platform so I can lean up against the tree. The only con about this setup is it is not as comfortable as a summit but I make the trade off for more flexability.