Hi, I'm about to purchase my first climbing treestand. I've stumbled across the "Equalizer" which has the feature of having a crank handle so that you can level the bottom stand as you climb. Do you think this is a worthwhile feature?

Click on the "video" link to see it in action:

The Equalizer

Second question is, I've got lots of suitable size trees where I hunt but the ones without limbs and straight trunks are 1) white oaks, 2) water oaks, and 3) pine trees. In your experience, which of these would be safest -- in terms of likely to not slip?

Pine trees are softer allowing your stand to take more of a 'bite' and would therefore be less likely to slip. Having said that I like to climb oaks, cause they ain't got sap issues, not all pine trees do but whenm you get into it you remember......

I always pick the tree based on the terrain, likelyhood of where the deer will be traveling/feeding, and what kind of cover I will have when I get to the height I intend to hunt at. One of my favorite trees to climb is in amongst several white oaks that produce a lot of acorns, and it has a dogwood growing near it, so when I'm up about 20' or so, the canopy of the dogwood shields me from direct view of close up deer. If they've gotten that close, I didn't intend to shoot them, or a shot didn't present itself. I've often had several deer feeding under me, while I waited patiently above, shielded by the dogwood, and hoped for a big buck to come on in. This tree happens to be about a 20" diameter pine.

As to the leveling feature, I suppose that's OK, I've always been able to set my stand so that it's reasonably level when I get to height, if it's a tree I climb more than once, than I will know how to adjust my stand before I start up.

Good Hunting--Don

quote:

Originally posted by postoak:
...the "Equalizer" ...has the feature of having a crank handle so that you can level the bottom stand as you climb. Do you think this is a worthwhile feature?
...
Second question is, I've got lots of suitable size trees where I hunt but the ones without limbs and straight trunks are 1) white oaks, 2) water oaks, and 3) pine trees. In your experience, which of these would be safest -- in terms of likely to not slip?

Hey Postoak, Most trees grow with a gradual enough Taper that you can start at the bottom with a slight upward angle on the end of the Stand. It works out just fine by the time you get to the height you want to be. So, the Equalizer would be another useless, weight adding, gimick where I use a climber.

Any tree will work that is relatively straight. I've probably used a climber on more Pines than anything else though. As long as you make sure the Stand(top or bottom section) has a good bite on the tree, it will work just fine.

"Don" was correct about picking White Oaks to watch for Deer. They really like those BIG sweet Acorns.

Good hunting and clean 1-shot kills.

Thanks guys, you've convinced me to go with my other choice -- the Summit Viper.

Another question though. If you find a straight tree that's got a few branches before your target height, do you trim them on your way up with the climbing stand? How safe is that?

postoak, I trim branches all the time, up to about 4" in diameter. You have to be careful, pay attention to where the limb will fall, and make sure you have a safety belt tied to the tree during the process, the last thing you want is a branch swinging loose after you cut it and it coming back at you and knocking you off of your stand.

If it's a tree you will climb multiple times, take the time and prune the limbs as far ahead of time as possible, preferably with a long pole trimmer.

You'll like the Summit, I have several--solid stable, quiet stands.

I agree with Don again.

One thing you have to keep in mind is the surrounding trees and how high their limbs are. It is easy to go so high that you actually "block" visability below you.

And the higher you get, the more the wind can effect your ability to aim precisely due to more movement(wider swings). But some days it is possible to go 25ft and be as steady as a rock.

What ever you get, make sure it goes together with "Captive Pins"(dangling from small wires), no nuts and bolts.

Get one with a large comfortable seat that can be used both facing the tree and away from the tree. It is nice to be able to slowly shift around a bit from cheek-to-cheek after 4-5 hours.

If you have a chance, go to one of the Gun Shows and try the Stand out before you get it. The dealers usually have a pole to climb up a short distance and you can see how easy it is to hang on the pole and remove.

ALWAYS - ALWAYS - ALWAYS keep a short cord tied between the top and bottom pieces once they are attached to the tree. Sometimes you can shift around a bit and loosen the Foot Rest without realizing it and down it goes. If you have the rope on it, it sure is worth the hassle.

Best of luck to you.

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ALWAYS - ALWAYS - ALWAYS keep a short cord tied between the top and bottom pieces once they are attached to the tree. Sometimes you can shift around a bit and loosen the Foot Rest without realizing it and down it goes. If you have the rope on it, it sure is worth the hassle.

That short rope will sure help a fella out from time to time. Last time I had one slip it wedged and I didn't think I'd ever get it back up but, did. It wasn't a cable type climber, the cable climbers don't tend to wedge as much.

The lighter the climber, the more slip prone they are.

The aluminum climbers are a joy to carry but they are LOUD while climbing. I hunt out of several aluminum climbers, API, Summit, Hunter's View. They make tons of noise while climbing and it's nearly impossible to make a quiet climb especially when climbing pines but, like I said, they are a joy to carry compared to steel climbers. I also have a pile of steel climbers and they are very quite while climbing. If you are not going to have to make long hikes w/ your stand, steel is the only way to go. It also depends where you hunt, I hunt close to bedding areas so steel is prefered and a lock-on placed before the season is even better. Summit makes a stand like the viper that's steel instead of aluminum. I saw one of their steel models at Academy just the other day.

Good Luck

Reloader

For sound proofing I used some of that rubber dip stuff that I found at Lowes and also glued strips of felt in key places. It made a lot of difference.

Gidday Hotcore,

I agre totally about the cord connecting the bottom climber to the top climber.


Infact I would have a cord connecting them on both side.


When I tied mine on just one side the blasted thing still came loose and dangled in such a way that I couldn't pull it up so it would grip the tree again. It now has rope both sides so I can control it more easily.

My mate Barry had to change his trousers from laughing so much watching the antics and gymnastics a 48 year old can still pull off when dangling 20 feet above the ground.

The miserable sod also took photos and video to show everyone when we got home. What happens on tour should stay on tour.

Before you ask no I am not going to post the pictures as a man should still have some dignity left after such trauma.

Happy Hunting

Hamish