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Whats up with the 'Sladder Climbing system"?

For those that climb with a tether, have you ever considered a rope choke on your linesman’s belt?
 
Cajunyankee said:
That is what killed the system for me. Once you add the weight of rappelling gear it is heavier than my 3 tethrd one sticks with a CAYG aider.
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How? Sladder weighs 1 lb 13 oz. 30 ft of Oplux is 0.84 lb. You can use the rappel rope as the tether. It's definitely less than 3 one sticks + moveable aider + tether. Sticks and moveable aiders still have the issue of being able to be kicked out and then you have the issue of coming down on a moveable aider in the dark.
 
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skyjacker said:
How? Sladder weighs 1 lb 13 oz. 30 ft of Oplux is 0.84 lb. You can use the rappel rope as the tether. It's definitely less than 3 one sticks + moveable aider + tether. Sticks and moveable aiders still have the issue of being able to be kicked out and then you have the issue of coming down on a moveable aider in the dark.
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No argument here and I think discussions here are how we can make things better. The weight is close, the price when factoring rappel gear is close if not greater than sticks, climbing down in the dark on sticks vs. climbing up in the dark on the sladder and how does the sladder system pack up compared to sticks?
I'd also like to see a video navigating limbs while standing on the sladder.
 
“I definitely think all climbing methods are closer together than farther apart in “effort, skill, money, time, fiddle factor, packability, annoyance” when taken in totality. But if I were picking one for being slightly outside the margin, it’s bolts and an aider.”

My take on on the topic.

So far everything we have come up with basically washes out once you add it all up. There just isn’t enough of a difference in any of them to have a significant impact on hunt success or enjoyment.

Except bolts or spurs. Both of these impose much of the tradeoffs onto the tree. The impact of that is debatable. But they’re really the only ones that swing things beyond the margins.

I am open to changing my mind on these 1lb sticks, but 1.3lb sticks didn’t change my mind.

This sladder currently doesn’t. But I’d like to see some videos of fellers who’ve never used it before climbing.
 
skyjacker said:
How? Sladder weighs 1 lb 13 oz. 30 ft of Oplux is 0.84 lb. You can use the rappel rope as the tether. It's definitely less than 3 one sticks + moveable aider + tether. Sticks and moveable aiders still have the issue of being able to be kicked out and then you have the issue of coming down on a moveable aider in the dark.
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You are correct. It isn’t heavier but close enough that I wouldn’t swap systems.
 
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kyler1945 said:
Except bolts or spurs. Both of these impose much of the tradeoffs onto the tree. The impact of that is debatable. But they’re really the only ones that swing things beyond the margins.
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Unfortunately, bolts and spurs are not allowed on most public lands? I know the rules and regulations are not very clear on this. But I don't want to mess with it for the sake of just using bolts and spurs when there's plenty of other ways to climb.
 
kyler1945 said:
“I definitely think all climbing methods are closer together than farther apart in “effort, skill, money, time, fiddle factor, packability, annoyance” when taken in totality. But if I were picking one for being slightly outside the margin, it’s bolts and an aider.”

My take on on the topic.

So far everything we have come up with basically washes out once you add it all up. There just isn’t enough of a difference in any of them to have a significant impact on hunt success or enjoyment.

Except bolts or spurs. Both of these impose much of the tradeoffs onto the tree. The impact of that is debatable. But they’re really the only ones that swing things beyond the margins.

I am open to changing my mind on these 1lb sticks, but 1.3lb sticks didn’t change my mind.

This sladder currently doesn’t. But I’d like to see some videos of fellers who’ve never used it before climbing.
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I don’t want to buy one outright because I don’t see it replacing my 2tc system but I like the novelty of it and would like to give it a shot.
 
skyjacker said:
Unfortunately, bolts and spurs are not allowed on most public lands? I know the rules and regulations are not very clear on this. But I don't want to mess with it for the sake of just using bolts and spurs when there's plenty of other ways to climb.
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For sure. I’m leaving aside arbitrary rules we set without good evidence to suggest they’ll accomplish the intended goal.

I’m just saying that they are the only ones that move the needle everyone is striving to move with climbing trees while huntjng.

I’m not advocating for them. I’m just saying that they’ve set the bar quite high for mobile climbing methods. Tradeoffs with every other method land squarely on the hunter.
 
gcr0003 said:
What needle regarding climbing trees do bolts or spurs move? I.e. cost, time, safety, mobility, weight, bulk/packability? How much are they moving the needle even if they were legal? Give me your cost, weight, time(20ft avg), safety and bulk values for bolts and spurs so I can compare to my own system.

imagine it’s something like this, but im guessing, we can discuss values based on assumptions
Assumptions:
  • bolts and spurs safety based on climbing with lineman’s belt so risk is higher. mprovements to safety could be made with tree squeeze.
  • Weight and cost for spurs vary based on (aluminum vs steel)
  • 2tc scored higher in safety for always being affixed to the tree with a tether even when passing limbs.
  • Time for climbing spurs includes unpacking and packing
  • Mobility considered 5/5 for all methods
  • Damage to tree or legality not factored in

WtPackabilitycostTimesafety
Bolts4lbs5/5$152/5
spurs 3-8lbs3/5$-$$81/5
2TC2lbs 5/5$154/5
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I’ll think and answer in detail in a minute. But food for thought - I know it’s anecdotal, but how many people have we heard of here on forum or Faceworld in the last 3 years that died or were severely injured climbing with a lineman’s belt? How many have we heard of that died tethered in?
 
kyler1945 said:
I’ll think and answer in detail in a minute. But food for thought - I know it’s anecdotal, but how many people have we heard of here on forum or Faceworld in the last 3 years that died or were severely injured climbing with a lineman’s belt? How many have we heard of that died tethered in?
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I deleted that post since I was typing it on my phone when it disapeared... 10 minutes later and it appeared posted... I ended up spiralling down a rabbit hole and creating a slightly longer post about it from the desktop. Would love to get your thoughts on it here:

Weighing "Mobile" Tree Climbing Options (A Points Based System)

Weighing Climbing Options (A Points Based System) I've wanted to put some sort of metric to the various climbing methods out there for a long time. The tangent on the pack weight thread regarding spurs and bolts is what spurred this on. It appeared to me that @kyler1945 was under the opinion...
saddlehunter.com
 
It’s amazing to me how much everyone is concerned about weight. I doubt most of us are walking in more than 5miles and everybody worried about ounces lol I just always found it odd. As much as I see some of y’all complain about OZs I’d hate to see what y’all do when y’all have to drag a deer lol dang, I thought I was in the trash talk section…:eek:
 
The_Fit_Ness_Monster said:
It’s amazing to me how much everyone is concerned about weight. I doubt most of us are walking in more than 5miles and everybody worried about ounces lol I just always found it odd. As much as I see some of y’all complain about OZs I’d hate to see what y’all do when y’all have to drag a deer lol dang, I thought I was in the trash talk section…:eek:
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Head North and prepare to suffer.


750B6BF6-8F3E-4E88-852F-69273199F745.jpeg
 
One thought I always have about climbing using the sladder with a lineman’s belt and no tether - yup, if you fall and slide down the tree being pulled into it by your LB, it’s gonna suck and you’re gonna get some road rash. But you’re not gonna slice open your leg or other sensitive bodily areas on a metal climbing stick.
 
I love when new things come out and people have these debates...people always preach safety to others....others will do what they have to do to feel safe...it may not be what you do to feel safe or I do to feel safe. stop telling others what is safe and what isn't.
 
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