Yep, got a little feedback for ya'll.
Executive Summary: they're perfect, they rock, you want'em!
I had 10 days of vacation over Thanksgiving week to thoroughly field test the two squirrel steps
@DanO sent me. I would have done a write-up sooner, but duck opener resulted in a dead phone, and Verizon's poor handling of the situation resulted in me switching to another provider. Between the hunting overdose and the technical difficulties, I've had to get back into the swing of things.
Anywho, first impressions when they arrived were quite good. They looked extremely slick. The powder coating was a phenomenal touch. The steps had a little heft, but not too much. They just felt
good. According to my food scale, they came in at just shy of 5oz. A tad bit heavier than the ameristeps I've been using for the past 3 seasons, which weigh 4oz. However, they felt substantially smaller. As discussed in the thread, an ameristep is 2" wide with the wings. The prototypes I was sent were 1" wide. Without speaking out of line, I believe that subsequent models should be a good bit lighter and more compact. I'll leave it to
@DanO to confirm.
According to my math, 5 of the squirrel steps, the 1" IMMI buckle that
@redsquirrel prefers, and a 6' long 1" polyester strap would come to right at 1.5lbs. With the changes I've heard discussed being implemented, that number would be lower. To my knowledge, this would be the lightest, most compact, and most versatile platform option on the market. Super cool.
First thing I did with them was wrap them in vet wrap. The stuff I used came from Tractor Supply, and was $8 for 4 rolls. Quite a good deal, but not as high quality as camoform. I had about 3 overlapping layers on both steps by the time I was done. I then used my pocket knife to cut a hole in the wrap where the strap slots were. This left the steps completely quiet, since they were 100% covered in the vet wrap. While you can do this with ameristeps, their irregular shape doesn't leave you with a clean look, and the loose material seems to wear quicker.
I removed two of my ameristeps from my strap, and replaced them with the squirrels steps. Since the sides of the squirrel steps are flat, it was immediately obvious how much better they would pack. They made no noise against each other.
Onto the tree they went. I'll be honest, I was unable to get them as solid under side pressure as the ameristeps. The wings really do help prevent twisting. However, they didn't "walk" around the tree under pressure, or make any noise. It was a little weird feeling them "twist" at first, but a little playing around and making some practice shots and the yard convinced me that they should be perfectly functional.
My very first hunt with them was opening day of gun season at my lease. I missed opening morning thanks to somebody flaking on an appointment, which left me a little testy come that evening. I ended up taking my spurs, since I didn't really have a particular tree in mind on the property. Due to time constraints (I bought a house, and my dad has been trying to wrap up building a cabin) we did not plant food plots, so deer movement on the property isn't really the same as it has been in years past. I ended up bailing off in a bottom that bisects the property. I rather skinny pine tree was nicely positioned in between a swamp chestnut that was dropping acorns, and a creek crossing with fresh tracks in the sand. I shimmied up, and set the steps.
Those who climb pines know that the loose, flaky bark isn't conductive to a good setup for a ring of steps. However, by "bowing up" on the strap and then walking them down, I was able to get a good set quietly and in a timely manner. I deliberately took a position on the tree where I had one foot on an ameristep, and the other on a squirrel step. I hunted about 4 hours, and never could feel a difference underfoot. I didn't end up shooting anything, but my dad did shoot a yearling doe for the freezer.
I did a good bit of maneuvering in the tree that evening, and was unable to get the steps to make noise on the loose, flaky bark after the initial set. I believe the vet wrap on the back helps with that somewhat. Overall, I was extremely pleased.
Over the next week, I logged well over 40 hours on the steps. I can honestly say that they functioned just as well as the ameristeps, but were noticeably more compact. They felt good underfoot, even in my thin Muck Fieldblazers. I even wore crocs on one hunt, 'cause come on....
They had great traction. They didn't shift. They didn't make noise. They just did what they were supposed to do: hold my weight and allow me to swing 360 around the tree. I set up on trees as small around as my thigh, and so big that I had trouble reaching around them. One tree in particular had a rather nasty spot from where an old limb had self pruned and left a scar on the tree. I didn't see it in the dark, and had to set up right on it. It wasn't perfect, but I was able to maneuver around the tree when a doe showed up at last light. No shot, because a possum ran her off. No BS, a possum came walking down the creek I was hunting and she blew at him and ran. Talk about paranoid, public-land deer!
I kayaked. I waded. I busted brush. I carried them in my daypack, and for kicks I carried them in a fanny pack with my carbon fiber bolts on one hunt. The furthest I went with them was about 2.5 miles. They packed well, and hooked into my ziptie gear loops on the back of my kestrel they rode up the tree well. I set them in the dark, and I set them with cold fingers when the temps dropped down below freezing.
They. Just. Worked.
I know I've talked with a few folks about my rationale behind pursuing the perfect ring of steps, but I'll explain for those that are new. I started saddle hunting with ameristeps that I purchased on Craigslist before I even knew what a saddle was. It was far from perfect. Cambuckles weren't tight enough, and the steps slid all over the place and made one heckuva racket. Ratchet straps got them tight, but were bulky and fiddly if you didn't want to make a heckuva racket. Talking with redsquirrel and a few others led me to the IMMI buckle, which was a DRASTIC improvement, but I remained unsatisfied.
When Tethrd announced itself, I was excited. Still am, actually. Their gear is super-cool, and their team is even better. I couldn't convince myself to order the Mantis, but I had to have the Predator. I believed that a platform would be more comfortable, and I thought that the predator would be light enough and compact enough to suit my hunting style.
I received the predator, hunted with it several times, and sadly realized it wasn't for me. By the time I got it, I was hunting with a modified kestrel that weighed 1.5lbs, and carbon fiber bolts that weighed less than 1. My tether rolled up to the size of a coke can, and my linemans wasn't much bigger than a deck of cards. The predator was light, yes, but in comparision to the rest of my gear it seemed quite large. It definitely wasn't fitting in the small dayback or fannypack I was envisioning.
More importantly, it didn't allow me the flexibility I needed in the tree. With a ring of steps, you can climb one side of the tree, and position yourself on the opposite side if you wish. You can also adjust your standard, resting position on-the-fly. This is a huge advantage for me personally, since areas that I climb in the dark often look different than I imagined they would when I set up, and because deer often come from unexpected directions. Last year, for example, I was able to quickly shift my postion almost 180 degrees when two does ran perpendicularly across my left -hand side. When a nice rack buck followed their trail 2 hour later, I was setup for a perfect strong-side shot with 0 movement. This would have been next to impossible with a platform.
So I sold the predator, and went back to ameristeps. But they were just loose and dangly and awkward. I played around with several other options, and came up with some solid alternatives. Wild edge stepps are pretty common, and they offer rock-solid stability once setup. But they are best if used as both a climbing option and a platform; they don't play well with others. They're also a bit bulky and fiddly. I tried using my EZ-Kut drill and 5 bolts, but while this was perhaps the ultimate in packability, it was slow and tedious to drill 5 holes relatively level around the tree. I tried cranford screw ins, and they were a bit easier to set, but still nowhere near as quick and easy as a ring of steps. I'll just say that bullman steps and climb-paws are not my thing, and leave it at that.
I reached out the redsquirrel, and was made aware of the mystical Golden Buck Step. I wasted hours of my time (and a bit of my employers as well) trying to locate a matching set of 5. Alas, ole papa had apparently bought them all up, and wasn't sharing. I bought some other steps that have been discussed here, and they have all had a design flaw or two that made them not as good for a ring of steps as I would have liked.
I toyed with making my own, and even went so far as to get quotes from manufacturers and start making prototypes from wood, aluminum, plastic, and even an ill-fated attempt at DIY micarta. Dano reached out, this thread was created, and the rest you know.
Lots of good designs have been put out. Not all of them are reflected in the prototype that's sitting next to me. A lot of them are. I can honestly say that I've tried dang near everything, and spent way too much money in the process. None of the options have worked as well for me personally as the squirrel steps.
That's all I've got to say about that.
