This will be my final comments on this post. WKP Todd, I agree about the silence of the LW and I'll even concede the packability if thats all that is on your back, the stand. However, I used a Sit and Climb for one full season and feel I have a pretty good assessment of the stand. For starters, climbing with this stand is, IMO, more difficult, especially if you're on the taller side, like myself. This stand keeps you tight to the tree and my knees hit the tree unless I straddled the tree more. Not a big deal and I learned quickly how to climb with it without much adjustment on my behalf. Safety? Sorry, I disagree here. On more than one occasion, I had the LW rock from side to side on me. This after doing everything as instructed and even a phone call to LW to ensure I was doing so. This was not on an overly large tree either. I still had plenty of belt left to adjust. As long as you make sure you're in the middle of the platform, you're A OK. ;-) Some other tidbits with the LW. Comfort. No question the Summit is much more comfortable. Even after I put my Summit seat on the LW, I still wasn't as comfortable, but it was doable. The top frame is too narrow, even for me and I'm not a big guy (185lbs). Expense. LW's are expensive, and get even more expensive IMO. The belts that are provided with the stand aren't as long as say the Summit cable. So if you need to climb a larger tree, you have to buy the longer LW belts at a whopping 45.00 a set. Then, if you want to be comfortable on long sits, most need a replacement seat, such as a Summit seat for another 40.00. Add up the stand price with that and you'll be right around 500.00. I don't have an issue with the price of the stand, but I feel its too much for what you get IMO. If LW would make the teeth section of the platform wider so more teeth are in contact with larger trees (I think would fix the issue I found with the platform rocking), add the XL belts and fix that blasted seat for good, I'd say I would probably buy another. The silence of the stand itself is worth every penny. They are of the highest quality as well and now that they are back in the U.S., is a great thing for us. Now their hang-ons... they rock! This is not a knock on LW as a company or product, just simply my opinion and findings. The stand did not work for me. Others, in fact many others, love them and thats great. To the OP, get yourself to a large retailer of treestands, like Cabela's or Bass Pro, where you can actually try them out. I would recommend doing yourself a favor and spending a bit more than 150 on a stand. After all, you're going to spending a lot of time in it and you want something that is not only comfortable, but safe.
I have the Summit bushmaster and it is my first climbing stand. It is a great stand at a great price. It is open in the front, which I like, because of this it is lighter too. I can walk a long long way with it on my back. As far as safety goes it is STURDY!!! I feel so safe climbing in this stand that I wish the safety harness wasn't there to slow me down. That is how fast and safe you can go with it. I will never climb without the safety harness, but you get the picture. Having said that, I also have a LW assualt hang-on with 4 sticks. Haven't hunted with it yet, but have lots of practice with the set-up. Weight and packability, to me, are virtually the same. Both are comfortable and one does not outweigh the other in terms of quietness, weight, and packability. Each set-up has its place for me in the woods. I bought the LW for going in and hunting completely new areas. Where you see fresh sign and just decide to setup there. It is a great set-up for almost any tree. You do have alot more options in terms of which trees you can set up in with the LW. The climber I use mostly for pre-scouted areas where I have trees picked out that work well for a climber. Remember, you have to have a condusive tree to use the climber. Having said this, I have $190 into the summit stand and $425 into the LW set-up. I will use both of them this season and I'm looking foward to using the LW set-up in new areas. Both are great and will work well hunting on public land. Given your price range I would save an $50 dollars and get the Bushmaster. Once you use it enough you will get a good feel for it. If you don't like it for some reason then I would suggest giving the hang-on and sticks a try. Good Luck!!!
