Help me with the math on some of these high end portable climbing sticks such as Lone Wolf or Muddy. I'm not talking about price, I'm talking about length. I'll pick on Muddy since this is a Lone Wolf sponsored website, but they are all very similar in length. The muddy package is 4- 20'' sticks. That's 80". Let's say you set the bottom stick 15'' off the ground and then space them 15'' apart. That puts the top of your top stick at 140'' or 11' 8''. If you're like me, you want to step down onto your stand, so I like my sticks to go approx. 4' past the platform. That would put my hang-on between 7 and 8 ft. in the air! I'm obviously missing something here. Of coarse I could always buy more than 4 sticks, but that's the recommended number and these are supposed to be portable, light systems. Somebody please explain. Thank you in advance.
I believe it is a safety/insurance issue with the length of the sticks. They worry about them pivoting on the tree when your weight is on the top step.
The Muddys are shorter then the lone wolf sticks. I hunt with 4 LW sticks with my lone wolf stands and continually get 13 to 14 feet off the ground. I start my first stick at waist level and have approximately 18 inches between each one as I go. I'm above 6 feet by the time I step on the second I believe.
That is precisely why I sold my muddy sticks and went with LW. They weigh almost the same, are longer, and are less bulky when packing what you need to get to an acceptable height. Right now I'm packing 3x LW sticks, and I use a single Muddy stick at the top because of the double steps. I can easily get 24" between steps, so this puts me at 15' or so which is plenty for most situations I'm in. Generally if I'm using this stand instead of my sit and climb it's because I'm in a tree with lots of cover so getting 20'+ isn't as important as if I were in a tree with a climber.
Why would you space them less than the actual steps themselves are long? I personally space mine closer to 30" than 15", utilize a branch here and there, and place my stand platform level about halfway up the last stick. I usually end up around 15' - 20' with 5 steps. I would like to try the LW sticks though to see how secure they feel compared to the muddys. I just love the rope system for the Muddys compared to straps for other brands.
I'm right with tervor. If you space them about bottom of your foot to knee height your looking at about 30 inches. 30 inch spacing with 4 lw sticks and the last stick having 12 inches above the base of your stand equals 236 inches or 19.6 feet. I carry 3 lw sticks and pack in 3 crawford strap steps and can reach 20 feet safely without breaking a sweat.
I actually bought two sets of 3 leverage sticks just so I could have the option of hanging 5 sticks. I like to be able to set my hang on 16'-22' high and I having the top stick next to or above me.
I don't believe this John. LW doesn't seem to have that problem. Now only if LW would incorporate the steps on both sides they would corner the market not that they don't already. BTW, anyone want to swap a new this year Muddy stand for a LW stand?
What he said^^^^ After a few times you figure out how far to space them to maximize your height, while safely being able to step from one stick to the next. For me, I set the "button" at my nose and I know I'm good.
The whole idea behind Lone Wolf products is to make them light weight. Adding a step to both sides like the Muddy sticks would increase their weight, thus making them less attractive to those who are concerned with that. Additionally, it would make them more expensive as well. I've never had a problem with getting up and down a tree with a step only on one side. The key is to plan ahead when putting your sticks on the tree. Know which side you want to hang your stand on before you put the steps down on your first stick and you should be fine. Lone Wolf sticks measure 32" long, so a set of 4 sticks is 128 inches - or just over 10 feet. Conservatively placing the first stick 18" off the ground with 18" in between sticks you get and additional 6 feet, so now you're at 16 feet to the top of the last stick. If you space them up to 24" apart you can get to 18 feet with no problem. I perfer to have my platform level with the top of the last stick if possible, or maybe a foot below it. In some cases if I need to get higher I will actually step up onto my stand instead of down.
First off Lone Wolf stick - 32", Muddy stick - 20". So mine break down like this, the sticks are spaced at around 25" and I usually put a screw in step at the very top as a handle. This allows me to put my stand just below the top step on the top stick. That gets my platform to 18'-6".
Quote: I've never had a problem with getting up and down a tree with a step only on one side. The key is to plan ahead when putting your sticks on the tree. Know which side you want to hang your stand on before you put the steps down on your first stick and you should be fine. ----------------------------------------------------------------- My issues with just the one sided step is if I have to mess with the stand for some reason I like being able to change feet or standing on both feet and not having to go to the next step up or down. It may be a rookie thing I think muddy and LW should use some of the others idea for their next generation sticks. I think leverage has but their made in China so their not perfect either.
