I like my Lone Wolf treestand but the metal buckles on the straps were noisy during setup and take down. I saw a post on 365whitetail here How to silence your Lone Wolf treestand - 365 Whitetail in which $10 paddle grips were cut in half and positioned over the buckles. Neoprene gathers scent (think wetsuit) and I was reluctant to drop $30-40 on yakgrips. Instead, I used free bicycle tubes with a hole in them that the bike shop gave me. I cut them into 4 inch lengths and slid them over the buckles. Use a tube that is large enough so that it lets the pins that hold jaws of buckle move freely. This modification made setup and take down super quiet. The crusty snow on the other hand was like walking on styrofoam!
Wow for your first post you sure come in with a bang, Welcome to Bowhunting.com and thanks for posting this great tip. Beefie
For similar reasons, I opted to take this course with my stands this year too. I found the product from the Tree Stand Silencing Co. for my stands and sticks amazing. It is cut to size, required some work to install but well worth the time and money. The customer service was also very prompt. For the buckles, I too used discarded tubes. I found them tough to install and evermore challenging to use. The buckles were difficult to adjust with the tubes in place and the tubes frequently bunched up as the fabric was being drawn to or from the buckle. These bunches would essentially eliminate future potential movement and resulted in torn tubes, and a few swear words... I am looking for another solution. It is possible the tubes I chose to use were too tight in the first place but I did not want them slipping en route. I have seen guys use a simple rope with a loop in the end for steps and stands. This is MUCH lighter and MUCH faster for transport and install. It is obviously also far more quiet... I have also seen the following suggestions on a different site... "Lone Wolf Climbing Stick Alterations Strap to Rope Not sure the amount of weight I cut off by doing this but I did it because of the ease of putting them in the tree. I bought Cam cleats that accept 3-6mm rope. Bolts were 8-32 stainless steel,washers, and nylon lock nuts Rope was 5mm @ 10ft w/a 5000 lbs tensil strenght. I also used 6mm but not alot of room if you wrap excess rope around the LW factory Button See (Attaching to tree) About 1- 1,1/4 inches above the LW factory button (were your straps would normally attach) I drilled and mounted the Cam cleat. I then tied a hoop (eye) in one end of rope and then tied rope to the LW factory Button. (Important that the Hoop or eye is in the opposite side/direction of the grab of the cam. ) Done!! That easy!" I will investigate both options more in the future. Anyone doing this with their steps or stand?? Thanks, Tom
Tom, You said, "For the buckles, I too used discarded tubes. I found them tough to install and evermore challenging to use. The buckles were difficult to adjust with the tubes in place and the tubes frequently bunched up as the fabric was being drawn to or from the buckle. These bunches would essentially eliminate future potential movement and resulted in torn tubes, and a few swear words... I am looking for another solution. It is possible the tubes I chose to use were too tight in the first place but I did not want them slipping en route." I have not encountered either problem. I could easily loosen the buckle by just pressing the light weight tubing to depress the jaws of the buckle. I did not notice any bunching either. My tubing slipped over the metal buckle with no soap so perhaps we were using different size and weight tubing. I also slipped it over both ends of the straps. I was using lightweight road bike tubing. I was not interested in applying the Stealth strips all over the sticks, if that is the Treestand Silencing Co. product you are referring to. Cheers, B
I plan on experimenting with the rope method. I always found the straps and buckle clunky and annoying especially in the dark setting up, trying to make sure the straps aren't twisted on the tree. I'll post my experiences with the rope method. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
I practiced for the first time with my new lonewolf today. I'm definitely going to be using something to quiet the buckles down. I guess 20 min wasn't bad for being out of shape and never using the stand or Sticks b4. Lol
After a season of use, yak grips are the way to go! Dead quiet. That's all I'll use on my run & gun setup.
