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Cons to the "one-stick" method?

Nutterbuster said:
I've always scratched my head over one sticking. I can see using it to get a bit higher with a regular stick setup, but it looks like a royal PITA.

But some folks find the EZ Kut tedious, so I guess it's all about what you put effort into learning.
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once you figure it out its really just reaching down for your "next" stick vs pulling your next stick off your back/waist. plus I can leave 3-4 sticks at home ;)
 
sb220 said:
with the right setup you can climb a tree one-sticking just as fast as you can with a set of sticks and without any extra effort.

The con as redsquirrel said is the descent. The only timely way to descend is to rappel imo, so you gain a little weight and bulk back by having to carry rappel rope...but its not so bad if you can get smaller diameter canyon rope. Still its something I wish I didn't have to pack
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That's a great point. If I was concerned enough to carry 30"+ rappel rope I think I'd just carry an extra 2 sticks. A spine shot deer is the only reason I can think of that would qualify as an emergency.
 
I can really see the one stick method being preferred if I have a general area in mind to hunt but didn't have an exact tree picked out. Sometimes these type of hunts turn into more of a hike than a hunt. I very rarely pack in a climb on and a set of sticks without an exact tree in mind from previous scouting.

I greatly appreciate all the ideas and comments. It's certainly nice bouncing ideas off someone that has experience with a particular climbing method.
 
I have a general aversion to all things climbing sticks. I just don't like them. 1 stick was a way to carry as few of them as possible, and I liked it slightly more than 12 jim stepps. Once I put aiders on those and got down to 6, I hardly every carried the one stick. Maybe 2 hunts last year.

I am working on a concept that would combine 1 stick and platform. If I can get there on that, it may change my tune.
 
For me the biggest con would be a tree with a lot of limbs.
 
Cain said:
For me the biggest con would be a tree with a lot of limbs.
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Tree quickie with a little tape to quiet it...is basically a carabiner without the sideloading. Makes going around limbs with your tether about as quick as side loading a carabiner ;)
 
I've been practicing one stick and I'm now about as fast as my summit climber. Unfortunately I'm always a sweaty mess living in florida with the jungle like weather.
 
hauscaliber said:
I've been practicing one stick and I'm now about as fast as my summit climber. Unfortunately I'm always a sweaty mess living in florida with the jungle like weather.
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how many times do you have to place the stick to get to height?

Onesticking is all about making the most of your gains and keeping them when you tether.
one lonewolf stick with a double top step and 3 step aider. I modify the lw strap...removing the longer section with the loop and replace with an even longer piece of 1" tubular webbing with a larger tied loop. It enables me to reach down from a tethered postion above the stick to grab the top of it and twist the stick off the loop without actually touching the strap...so its basically saving my gains...just as if I was grabbing the next stick had I carried 4-5 of them

its also why going up is fast....you cant replicate the process going down, so you've got to rap
 
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I'm getting about 3-4 feet per placement of the stick going up. Coming down it's a little less. I like it because I'm staying tethered to the tree.
 
weekender21 said:
That's a great point. If I was concerned enough to carry 30"+ rappel rope I think I'd just carry an extra 2 sticks. A spine shot deer is the only reason I can think of that would qualify as an emergency.
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Having a heart attack would be another good reason to get out of a tree quick, Slice a body part open with a broadhead would be another. I can think of a ton of reasons.

Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk
 
hauscaliber said:
I'm getting about 3-4 feet per placement of the stick going up. Coming down it's a little less. I like it because I'm staying tethered to the tree.
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Its fine to come down like that but going up you should cut your time in half.

https://s15.postimg.cc/net0n2mgb/IMG_0938.jpg

that's what I mean by modifying your cam strap....the larger loop is necessary. The longer piece of webbing lets you get around bigger trees if you want. Use 1" tubular webbing from climbing shops (rei, etc) lw straps are made from 1" tubular webbing.

It allows you to pull up on the stick and twist it off without having to be at a level to actually disengage the cam. This video...
I made of me doing it was one of my first attempts at one sticking. Im only posting it to show what I mean by "twisting the stick off the strap from above it"

I had this idea about the larger loop around a versa button (which actually originated in thinking about a daisy chain strap on a platform), but with it I go from thinking one sticking looks pita, ill never try that...to wait, this works! Once your equipment is dialed in, practice is basically how fast can you climb a ladder and work your ropes, which practice does improve on. Only thing ill do other than this method from here on out is premade or spurs if I had some land

make the biggest gain you can up the tree for each stick placement and don't give it up, is what you need to figure out for 1 sticking
 
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I have dove off into the stepps and a knaider and swaider. I am excited about the system. I got the 8 step bag and 5 steps up and a 3 stepp ring for a platform.
 
weekender21 said:
Can "one sticking" be done with the conventional LW strap and buckle?
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yeah, but the stock LW strap loop is small...just big enough to work over the versa button. So you have to be able to at least reach it or the cam in order to loosen the strap, which means almost cutting each stick "gain" in half. You can do it. Its how one stick was born bigbear... but its slower and id rather just carry multiple sticks
 
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Drslyr said:
Where LEGAL the drilling the tree using grade 8 bolts is the easiest by far. Preseason you can prepare as many trees as you like. Then you only have to carry one pack of bolts and a hand drill to clean out frozen holes. Spurs might be easier, however I have never tried them so I cannot comment on them. One other thing. Everyone here seems to want to be stealthy and absolutely quiet in the woods. I cant tell you how many times ive been cordless drilling a new tree in season and have had deer come in to check out the sound of the drill. Its amazing. They are such curious animals. Did I just come up with a new deer call?
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I’m going to play around with a double Swaider for the bolts once I can get them sewn up.
I should be able to drop the numbers of bolts pretty well. I can’t decide if I feel comfortable doing a 3-step length Swaider with Knaider built in on those or not...


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I one sticked all of last season with a hawk helium that I put an aider and cam cleat on. It worked well enough, but I was losing progess going up the tree. sb220 sent me that video and it got so much better. I hang pretty well upside down to reach for my rope and then just pull it out of the cam cleat. I went from 7 moves to ~25' to 5. Huge difference.

In full transparency, I was using a 30' 9mm rope as my tether and loading a carabiner. I'd use a linesman's belt to keep me connected as I passed my long line over limbs. I was rappelling with an ATC backed up by an autoblock. If I dropped the stick (I never did) I'd just rappel down to it and start climbing again (in theory). I hated my damn rope getting stuck in the tree and brush when trying to pull it down.

This year I'm going to try 3 beast sticks. Sure it's a little heavier than 1 stick and 30' of rope/rappel gear but in terms of bulk, if you're carrying one stick, 3 isn't going to be much of a difference.
 
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