I have the lone wolf hand climber and I have found that it is difficult for me to climb a tree. Takes me a long time to get up 20 feet and by the time I'm at the top I'm drenched in sweat. I have used climbers before and they never took me this long and I have never been that sweaty when done. I'm 5'7 145lb so weight and height isn't an issue. Is the summit open shot easier to use?
Good thread, I'm also interested in what everyone has to say. I was planning on getting a Lone Wolf climber this year
Are you using the sit strap with the LW? I think that the summit would be more difficult to use because of it's size. I will say that the LW takes some more finesse. I would practice climbing with it more.
I had a summit open shot. It was my first hand climber. It was a lot of work to climb. I sold it and got another viper and couldn't be more satisfied. It is the most comfortable stand on the market and the rail around the front has never got in the way.
I have never used a Lone Wolf, but I have a Summitt Viper and love it. When I am climbing, I sit on the "belly bar" to pull my platform up. Besides Summitt, I had a Loggy Bayou stand and it was horrible. It slipped on a few occasions and that is scary. It was also a pain to get off the tree after the hunt because of their "trap door" design. As far as sweating, I have sweated or close to it on most of my climbs. The best I can suggest is to open up any heavy layers to allow the heat to escape, remove hats and/or gloves and take your time getting up. In Maryland, season starts early September.. so even with just a thin base layer and my 3-D suit, it is almost impossible to not sweat some going in and up or down and out.
There is a sit strap option or a fold down bar also. I used the hand climber for many years and never had any issues. Think of the hand climber as the "little bird" of deer hunting tactical operations. The "blackhawk"(larger)or sit and climb or larger summit climbers are fine but big and bulky. I always used my hand climber in ambush type set ups that required a long walk or other obstacles that make the hand climber a more viable option then my LW hang ons....i have some plans to utilize a hand climber this season on some public land hunts. At 507 145 those hand climbers are Taylor made for you. Take advantage of the weight and quietness of the stand and shoot a giant this season! Good luck!
I've never used the strap on the LW, but did have a summit hand climber. It's really a world of a difference when you don't have to hold yourself up. You don't waste as much energy and you don't sweat as much. I have the lone wolf sit n climb and have replaced the standard seat with the flip top seat. I don't think I would ever go to any other climber. the only advantage I see of the hand climber is that it weighs less. So if you're looking to shed a few lbs. especially if you'll be trekking long distance you might want to stay with the hand climber and just get the strap.
I have 2 lone wolves and i won't use anything else. However i have the sit and climb which is far easer than the hand climber.
I had a Summit open front climber I believe it was the bandit (fold flat model) it was very comfortable but I liked climbing much better with my LW hand climber. If your determined to use a hand climber, practice and you will come up with a technique that works for you. But if you want much easier climbing, go with a sit and climb top. I have both and typically use the sit and climb. Truly a world of difference.
Hey cq2737 I'm in steuben too. Howard… Been hunting there for 15yrs. now…... Just bought a camp last yr there. I'm all over….Live in ma. work in ct. hunt in all three.
Whitecotton……when I bought my first wolf I bought the hand climber. It was so hard to climb with I called LW and they swapped out the top hand climber for the sit and climb top for a few extra bucks. Never looked back. I own 2 sit and climb lone wolves now and all my hunting friends have at least 1 or more also. Like 7 or 8 guys. Once you hunt out of a wolf you'll know why. I don't work for wolf and Iv'e owned a summit viper climber and in my opinion there is no comparison.. not even close to the wolf……..owwwwwwwwwooooooooooooooo…………… wolf lover.
and I'm carrying the lone wolf and a video pack all hooked together that weighs 50lbs. Hows that for a 60 yr. old goat.
I've used lone wolf, several loggys, and open shot I've used the lone wolf, several different loggys, and the open shot. I find them all about the same to use but I never sit and climb as I always use my forearms. I prefer the loggys because I feel safer and quieter when sitting on the loggys because the seat and the platform are all ways connected together. I use the loggy with the tree band for large tree trunks and the newer loggy version with the cable (similar to Summits's cable) and metal teeth for all other tree trunks and also wet tree trunks. I prefer climbers to fixed stands. I bow hunt many different properties in multiple Counties and multiple States so the mobility of climbers is best for me. I wear very little clothing to and from the stand and up and down the tree and carry my layers in a duck decoy bag and this reduces heating and swetting up.
Do yourself a favor and get one of the Summit Viper or the Viper Elite (And swap the seat). I have three of them and wouldn't trade that bar for anything in the world. I'm solely a bowhunter and the bar is never an issue. Be conscious of it but it's never prevented me from killing a deer and climbing is effortless. I have owned both the LW hand climber and the Openshot. As far as climbing goes, they're pretty similar. To be honest, they're a pain and a workout to climb with. The Summit was slightly more comfortable. I did however, pick up a Summit MLB Specialist (Essentially a Specialist but with the good Summit seat made for ****s) for $58 after season. It's an open front but is made quite differently than the Open Shot. I climbed with it a couple times, just checking it out and it's quite a bit better than the OpenShot but still no where near as easy as a regular Viper with the bar in front. I'm going to keep it to use for certain situations, because you can never have too many stands!
