LKNCHOPPERS

Yeah I understand price, but over the course of a couple of years $100 or $150 extra for the stand goes by the wayside with the rest of the hunting expenses. Here is what my stand looks like with the mesh seat. I like the Summits as well but I like the LW better now I have this new seat.

LKNCHOPPERS

Another Angle, here you can see I used some pipe insulation covered with Camo Duct tape to keep the Ol Man mesh seat from moving too far back into the tapered section of the frame. It is silent and mesh ends up being about 7" wide for you to sit on. This is perfect for standing and leaning on the tree, shooting from a seated position and climbing (I like to see the platform engage tree).

sproulman

very nice idea.the LW has the ends plugged so no sound comes echoing out the ends if banged by limb or anything else.why summit does not do this,i dont know.
i put expanding spray foam inside my summit 180 max with a 2 ft hose a made to get it real deep inside.cut it smooth on outside after dry and then i painted it camo green on foam on end where sealed.it took 2 cans to do bottom /top inside.

no smell after 2 days when dry.

this SHOULD deaden any sound trying to come out of the rails and also keep water from getting inside and adding no weight to stand.
the seat on summit cant be pushed back as far as LW idea you have to give more room when standing.but if you face tree, its fine ,lots of room and i always face tree to hide behind when bow or gun hunting.facing tree has been big plus for me over years on getting spotted by a buck.
ol man owners swear by type of seat you put on LW .i cant lean against tree anymore with my back.i get sore all over and numb.summit 180 max allows you to recline a little with their surround seat and i found that facing tree you can really be comfortable.
here is some of the things i read happening to LW .they corrected 1, they put WIDE seat on.before if you had hunting clothes on, it was tight.this is why summit went to 180 MAX , their vipers were to tight for anyone over 6 ft /230 pds with heavy clothes on.
seat still is not very good. owners are buying summit seats for LW.
regular cable/belts were too small, most are ordering the XL belts for stands.

some are having trouble getting the belts to move if they are on heavy bark with deep grooves, the belts are sticking in grooves of bark.
price is another factor,which i dont remember where i read it that they may be going to china to build stands but that may not be true.dont know....

again i have nothing against the LW stands, they were my first choice until i sat in SUMMIT 180 MAX.
few things i have improved the summits also so i listed some but this was about LW stands that i have read only.

LKNCHOPPERS

Those are good ideas like putting the foam inside the tubing. The other thing I thought of was adding moleskin to the top surface. They sell big sheets of different colors in the hardware store. I am glad I got the Wide Sit and Climb. I couldn't imagine getting into the standard model. I'm 6 foot 225lbs and I fit fine. I havn't used my heavy gear in it as most of the season here it's 35-80F. I think it would be ok.

sproulman

if you do foam, give me PM as it can be messy and i have trick to reduce that.
some are using the stick on gray foam tape you use to put on your bed of truck rail so you can put a truck cab on it with water/air leaking between cab/rail ontruck.
i used summit skins but some say they come off. i used hair dryer on skins to melt the glue more, dont know if it will help yet until i get it out in summer in rain etc.
i like your foam idea. i used that soft pipe foam 3/4 inch inside dia on my summit foot rest.its black and real soft so i did not put camo on it but i liked your camo, so i think for looks, i will get soft camo and cover it.
i also put anti-slip tape 1 inch wide accross my 5 platform rails. lowes had it for 6 dollars .summit floor gets nasty slippery with ice or wet rubber boots.

some are spraying bedliner in can o0n floor.
if i had LW i would look at spray bedliner stuff to spray floor if you feel its slippery with rubber boots.

take care sproul

jaywalker

Glad that it was more comfortable for you Piney.