Ha! I've got a big fanny pack that I use fox hunting and you just gave me an idea LOL. I don't have all that much in pack until it starts getting cold and then it is jackets and such but until then I can fit everything in the fanny pack. Great!
Glad to be of service my friend! I've got another more heavy-duty, hardcore fanny pack I take out west when elk hunting that's got a feature I wish I had on my plain-jane fanny pack... If you sew some "lashing straps" on the very bottom of the fanny pack, you can roll up a windbreaker or jacket and strap it to the bottom of the fanny pack on your walks in and out of the woods... still have everything compact and snug and out of the way of the stand and all, and it carries great right there. Hmmm... I may head to our local sewing/fabric store later this afternoon and look for something to modify my plain fanny pack with before season starts... in 89 days.
Step 1 for me is waiting till my GWW straps arrive and see how much better it is. I just don't know if I can become comfortable with the open concept of the LW climbers.
The slippage thing drove me nuts on the LW. It wasn't a slip really. It was simply that if I put more weight on one side of the stand than the other, the whole platform would rock easily off the tree. The first time it did it, it nearly tossed me. Made me nervous ever since. I tried everything and it did it on any "decent sized" tree I climbed. This never happened with my Summit on the same trees.
My issue withe slippage was on climbing and descent ... didn't have alot .... but once is too many .... also when on stand and the straps cinched down it was rock solid...and the seat sucks for comfort
Greg, I did have them cinched down. I even thought I had them too tight, which is one question I asked LW. I welcome anyone to go out in the back yard, put the stand on a decent sized tree, level like at height and cinch everything down. Then stand on the platform and rock it side to side. It does so easily. Not knocking the stand, just reporting my observations.
It's more the tree's than the stand. The tree's have think chunky bark made of thin layers. Just touching the tree make noise. Once I get a stand in place I'll rub as much bark off as I can that I might come in contact with. It's kind of a pain but their tall with minimal lower branches once they older.
Thanks, I'll tell him. I think he just wants to put it to use now. We're hunting private and leased land so we have that option to leave the stands up. Not the LW though!
I believed you buddy... would never doubt anything you'd say. Just haven't noticed it myself... at least to the point that I've remembered it. Maybe I've become used to it? To PT's point... it's no contest that the Summit "bites" into a tree MUCH better... I've literally had to YANK my Summit off a tree at different times. Never so with the LW, but it's never given me cause for concern either.
Okay, this is likely the final decision maker for me. I think I am going to stick with the Summit for now. When I want to go in deep, it might just be a ground blind. It is what it is. It may hold me back as a hunter being that I am scared of heights when not in a really solid stand, but if I'm not comfortable and have 100% confidence in my stand, I won't be enjoying the hunt which is why we do this right?
I just noticed the alloy flexing but I'll watch out for the other. Do you guys not use the LW sticks?
I've been looking over these posts and I have question to those of you who've had slippage problems with the Lone Wolf. What kind of tree were you climbing? (No, don't say the "vertical kind" or "the kind that grows in the woods". I mean what species).
I've got an Alpha hang-on and four sticks, but 90% of the time I use my Alpha hand climber. There's a lot to be said about having something only three inches thick on your back and weighing only about 15 lbs. or so... I could walk for miles with that thing on my back... and have done so, elk hunting in Colorado.
Greg. I've really been considering a Lone Wolf. I have no experience with the Lone Wolf line-up but I've heard bad things about the comfort level. Could you see yourself doing an all day sit in that stand?
Muzzy, one of my first hunts last year with my LW I thought of you and your observations. It was opening day of MD and I was hunting a creek crossing in a huge tree. Even with my regular straps all the way out to the arrows on both sides my stand was very angled upward. Once I got to height, which was a long task to move the base inches at a time, it was then angled downward. At height I tried to move my weight to the other sides of the stand and get it to shift and couldn't do it. Now, what I will say is that the tree I was in was big pin oak with soft bark and the stand dug in very well to it. Out of curiosity where were you putting your weight when it shifted. I want to duplicate this if I can so I know what not to do in the heat of the moment for safety's sake.
"The problem I have is that the weight (21lbs) stock is keeping me from going in as far as I would like" Brad, just try to do some running/walking stairs/bike riding for a couple of months prior to the season. That will give you the strength/stamina you will need to hike in with your Summit. My old Summit must weigh 20-22 lbs, plus on long hikes/all day sits I pack in additional 8-10 lbs of gear. I can walk a clean mile up and down hills to my spot, hunt all day, and hike back out that mile without much difficulty. When you are packing in your stuff you have to align it perfectly on your treestand. Keep everything else you are packing in tight to your treestand. Do not allow it to sway or sit low on your back. Keep your gear high on your back and tight.
LittleChief, I could do an all-day sit with my LW Alpha... would it be the most pleasurable expierence in the world? Nope... not at all. I can usually sit around an hour or so at a time before I need to stand up and stretch for a 10-minute spell, so you do the math on what an all-day sit would turn into... It would be FAR easier to do in a Summit; hands down, the Summit has it beat in the comfort department. I simply don't do many all-day sits very often; I'll be honest. If I were, or that tactic was going to be a part of my arsenal, I'd either take one of my Summits in (I still own a Viper and a Cobra) or I'd look to do what Buckeye did a couple years ago and affix a Summit-type seat to a Lone Wolf.
