So I purchased the summit open shot couple months ago. Ive been using a sit and climb but figured the open shot would be a great stand to use for bow because of nothing in the way. Today I finally took it out in the woods to mess with it a little before the season and found out this is not the stand for me. The tree that I climbed was straight and had no lean to it that I noticed. These are just opinions. Its from what I experienced. 1. The seat is very annoying. Trying to set it up and climb, the seat kept flying around and getting in the way. When you finally get it in place, the seat seems way too big. Being comfortable is not a major factor for me but I think summit was trying way too hard. Sitting on it felt very awkward to me. 2. The stirrups. This is not the first time Ive used them but it finally hit me that these are very low quality. These things should be made from something besides plastic. They slide around too easily and its very uncomfortable trying to lean down and tighten the screws. You would thing Summit would build the stirrups into the actual stand. 3. The platform. After getting 15 to 17 feet and getting seated, I realized that there is barely any room for your feet. When hunting I don't want to feel like Im hanging over the platform. I want enough space to stand up with the seat still down and feel comfortable taking a shot. I think this is caused by the top half not having wider teeth. They are very narrow and only would work on a tree that is too small to climb. Again, these are just my opinions that I wanted to share with others. I will definitely be looking into a better climber with a bigger platform and smaller seat. The Lone Wolf hand climbers seem like a good option for me. Anyone have one of these that you could share your opinion? I would greatly appreciate it and will be attempting to sell this summit ASAP.
Interesting that you have those issues. The seat on my openshot is fixed. But I think that's because mine is older. Kendall has the one with the flip seat and his stays upright the whole climb. If it's really flopping, yours may be defective. I only need to tighten my stirrups about once each year. They stay put pretty good, and despite many years of abuse they haven't broke yet. I like the fact they are adjustable because I'm sure I'm smaller than the majority of hunters so I need them in a different spot. (Kendall is the opposite) I think the platform is actually bigger than the lonewolf hand climber (overall).. at least the LW handclimber I used. I also know that with the stock summit cables I can get into much bigger trees than I can with the lonewolf. Lonewolf does make a great stand... but I think it's main advantage over the summit is the fact that it's a lot quieter.
