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Diy Sportsman and Beast Stick had a baby

20ftup

20ftup

Well-Known Member
Joined
Aug 18, 2017
Messages
430
I just finished up my diy climbing stick. I pretty much use diy sportsman design except I machined an angle into the steps after seeing the design and reason from the beast sticks. The versa button is riveted to the tubing with small tack welds as backup. They weigh 1.25 lbs without amsteel 1.4 with. Step spacing is 22.5 with 10 in wide steps. The only thing I would change ordering 1 3/4 instead of 1 1/2 so I could machine a sort of a boot catch at the end of steps. I tried to on this on one of these steps (bottom step in pic) but there was not enough material to incorporate it safely. Also a tip to getting them to stack tighter is to drill a hole in the tubing where the bolt for the standoff and steps contact stick below. Mine were hitting the tubing about 3/8 before my versa button.
2f6297ae90951504c26246bf1fe22d35.jpg



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This is what I hoped the Dano diy steps would be

That angle combined with a boot stop is exactly what I imagined


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Tapeworm said:
This is what I hoped the Dano diy steps would be

That angle combined with a boot stop is exactly what I imagined


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Click to expand...
Ask and you shall receive! V2 will be coming out shortly as its been in the works - will offer both straight and angled versions. Just had my machinist working on aluminum Ameristeps and tree brackets recently.

Good job @20ftup !
 
20ftup. I like your step profile better than mine. How tall is the step at the bolt area. Looks to be about and inch. Mine are 1 1/2". I could save a few ounces with your style. My sticks came out to 1.75 lbs (as they are pictured). I was hoping for 1.5lbs. Not sure how much weight the stealth strips added.


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DanO said:
Ask and you shall receive! V2 will be coming out shortly as its been in the works - will offer both straight and angled versions. Just had my machinist working on aluminum Ameristeps and tree brackets recently.

Good job @20ftup !
Click to expand...

Ur steps are awesome & I still planned on ordering once I have time to tinker

Too busy trying to kill deer right now

BUT I’m jumping on a set of V2 if got the angle

Thanks to all the work u and ur machinist have done to provide steps at an affordable price


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Squirrels said:
20ftup. I like your step profile better than mine. How tall is the step at the bolt area. Looks to be about and inch. Mine are 1 1/2". I could save a few ounces with your style. My sticks came out to 1.75 lbs (as they are pictured). I was hoping for 1.5lbs. Not sure how much weight the stealth strips added.


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Yes there 1 in high at the lowest point with 1 1/2 high material you end up with rough 7 degree angle


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Do you know the weight on one of your steps?
My steps are 3.9oz and my standoff are 3.4. Lone wolf standoffs are 2.5oz.


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Squirrels said:
Do you know the weight on one of your steps?
My steps are 3.9oz and my standoff are 3.4. Lone wolf standoffs are 2.5oz.


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No I did not weight the steps individually I didn’t want to get disappointed lol


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I'm chasing 1.25lb sticks. I'll get there eventually. I like my standoffs so I don't want to switch to the lone wolfs to save just under 2 Oz per stick.


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Squirrels said:
I'm chasing 1.25lb sticks. I'll get there eventually. I like my standoffs so I don't want to switch to the lone wolfs to save just under 2 Oz per stick.


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That’s my next project after rifle season I’m going to mill a solid block in the profile I want then saw them


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1.25 would be a dream. I'm wrapping up a conversion of API Hunt'n sticks using the hardware but swapping out tubes for 6061 1/16 24" sections from onlinemetals.com and 1/4 Amsteel ropes.

First two are done and pre Stealth Strips they weigh in at a disappointing 2.09 lbs each. That's better than the 24" chopped APIs with same rope mod at 2.59 lbs, but not the kind of weight savings I was going for given the expense and fuss.

For what I have into these I could buy at least two Beast sticks and on my way to a third. Granted, I'm two standoffs away from a fourth stick using extra API steps if I want it, but trying to set up a three stick system to keep weight & bulk down.

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Stacked with API carrying buckle. The scale says 6.24 lbs.

Still needs Stealth Strips and I plan to add a sewn 1-step aider to the bottom of each.

Was hoping for under six to get closer to my 5 WE step weight.
42e315929d4185db55db5d1e590be0eb.jpg


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Last edited:
TNSTAAFL said:
Stacked with API carrying buckle. The scale says 6.24 lbs.

Still needs Stealth Strips and I plan to add a sewn 1-step aider to the bottom of each.

Was hoping for under six to get closer to my 5 WE step weight.
42e315929d4185db55db5d1e590be0eb.jpg


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Click to expand...

Those steps look like there .5 thick that’s where a lot of the weight is.


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TNSTAAFL said:
1.25 would be a dream. I'm wrapping up a conversion of API Hunt'n sticks using the hardware but swapping out tubes for 6061 1/16 24" sections from onlinemetals.com and 1/4 Amsteel ropes.

First two are done and pre Stealth Strips they weigh in at a disappointing 2.09 lbs each. That's better than the 24" chopped APIs with same rope mod at 2.59 lbs, but not the kind of weight savings I was going for given the expense and fuss.

For what I have into these I could buy at least two Beast sticks and on my way to a third. Granted, I'm two standoffs away from a fourth stick using extra API steps if I want it, but trying to set up a three stick system to keep weight & bulk down.

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Click to expand...
Yeah, I did the math and decided to leave my cut APIs as-is. The weight savings was negligible switching tubes. Their hardware in and of itself is pretty heavy. Noticed the heft putting them together. I'm a cam buckle guy, so they are what they are. Right at 9lbs.

But they are convenient, which is in my mind the main advantage of sticks. I'll be hunting with mine tomorrow morning for a short sit before i have to meet a contractor at my house. I'll be wearing the saddle in, and just standing on the top step of the top stick. They carry well being short, and i can hit almost 20ft with a single aider.

Not the ultralite wet dream everybody is chasing, but for the money they are a good value.
 
I have lone wolf sticks - any chance i could purchase just the machine steps - love the "2 feet at same level" step
 
Wayne said:
I have lone wolf sticks - any chance i could purchase just the machine steps - love the "2 feet at same level" step
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Several people have sold double steps here in the past. I think @DanO is selling them now.
 
Nutterbuster said:
Yeah, I did the math and decided to leave my cut APIs as-is. The weight savings was negligible switching tubes. Their hardware in and of itself is pretty heavy. Noticed the heft putting them together. I'm a cam buckle guy, so they are what they are. Right at 9lbs.

Not the ultralite wet dream everybody is chasing, but for the money they are a good value.
Click to expand...

Excellent points that are now obvious to me after the fact. I guess it seems that my $75 API sale impulse buy has turned into a $150 mod job (Amsteel, 1/16 tube swap, etc) and now really needs to turn into a $230 complete stick build if/when I buy lighter step parts (using almost no original API parts).

Those Beast Sticks used to seem so expensive.



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