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For those using climbing stand platforms

Scott F

Scott F

Well-Known Member
Joined
Feb 15, 2015
Messages
766
Location
Tampa, Florida
Been thinking...

I have used my Treehopper 20HC as a climber/platform and it honestly works great and is wicked stable on the tree. The only challenging part of this is most likely similar to any small platform climber which is that your upper body is very close to the tree that you are climbing, making it a challenge to lift your knees to advance the base. In a conventional climber, the upper portion of the stand enables you to be slightly away from the tree so it is easier to lift your knees, not so when it is only your tether you are pulling on.
This isn't really problematic at all, it just prohibits you from advancing in large movements, I sort of just take many smaller moves relative to my only experience with a climber (Ol' Man) where I could easily jump 2' or even more per move.

Unless I come up with an upper climber portion (have some ideas to play with later) I need to create efficiencies with climbing using my tether and have an idea I need folks to shoot holes in.

Using a tether works, but it is slow and can cause noise on pines or other shaggy-barked trees because it squeezes the tree and is cumbersome to loosen even with straps on the tether. I am wondering if using a quasi-heavy lineman's belt with a tree squeeze would help me climb, then put my tether on at height? My thought is that a 11mm lineman rope will be easier (quicker) to loosen and the tree squeeze will make it safer, should the climber base slip. If you had a strap sewn with a series of openings like what some folks use for attaching sticks you could use the center portions as the tree squeeze and leave some tag protruding from the ends to grab and pull when you need to loosen it to climb.

If you hold these ends and pull towards you it should be relatively easy to loosen the hold on the tree and 11mm rope is plenty heavy enough to 'flip' it up the tree rather than what it looks like advancing your tether up the tree (like pushing a wet noodle up a hill). The next challenge is how do you adjust this system for length without leaving too much slack in the system? Will using (2x) arborist rings on the squeeze work and still use a Ropeman on the lineman belt?

Someone smarter than me needs to help a brother out...
 
Don't you need to hang from the tether to advance the platform up? I don't invision using the tree squeeze to be that comfortable/ideal to hang from. Maybe I'm missing something.
 
I use the lone wolf hand climber as platform and climber bottom. Here's a few things I do to climb more quietly & efficiently.

1) when advancing the platform, use palms against the tree to maintain distance away from tree.
2) advance the platform in small hops, avoid dragging it up.
3) after advancing tether, settle weight into it slowly. On some trees this step can be really loud if you go too quickly.

HTH
 
sureshotscott said:
I use the lone wolf hand climber as platform and climber bottom. Here's a few things I do to climb more quietly & efficiently.

1) when advancing the platform, use palms against the tree to maintain distance away from tree.
2) advance the platform in small hops, avoid dragging it up.
3) after advancing tether, settle weight into it slowly. On some trees this step can be really loud if you go too quickly.

HTH
Click to expand...
Yup, this is exactly what I do. It works great and I never knew how comfortable it was to stand on a platform at height especially with soft-soled rubber boots. Everything is a give-and-take between efficiency and comfort or between speed and noise.
 
Whatever you do, have a plan for if and when the platform falls.

I climbed with a platform like that a few times. I rappel down afterwards and thank goodness for that. My platform fell to the bottom of the tree one time. The platforms don’t handle side pressure at all either, so have a plan for securing it to the tree once you’re at hunting height.

But again, have a plan for getting down when you’re Platform falls.


Semper Fi,
Mike
 
ShooterMike said:
Whatever you do, have a plan for if and when the platform falls.

I climbed with a platform like that a few times. I rappel down afterwards and thank goodness for that. My platform fell to the bottom of the tree one time. The platforms don’t handle side pressure at all either, so have a plan for securing it to the tree once you’re at hunting height.

But again, have a plan for getting down when you’re Platform falls.


Semper Fi,
Mike
Click to expand...
Good call.

I have a length of cord drilled through the underside of the platform which is tied to my saddle before I even step up onto the platform at ground level. It is impossible to pull on the cord without leveraging the stand 'up'.

I also always carry a foot loop ti use as a 2TC to climb down; I pray I never have to use it.
Hahaha

Sent from my SM-S102DL using Tapatalk
 
Scott F said:
Good call.

I have a length of cord drilled through the underside of the platform which is tied to my saddle before I even step up onto the platform at ground level. It is impossible to pull on the cord without leveraging the stand 'up'.

I also always carry a foot loop ti use as a 2TC to climb down; I pray I never have to use it.
Hahaha

Sent from my SM-S102DL using Tapatalk
Click to expand...

Good plan.


Semper Fi,
Mike
 
Scott,

Have you ever tried to use your platform like you were one-sticking? I bought a LWCG seat/hand climber several years ago and, like you, struggled with the climb while tethered in. My solution was to put a single step aider on the platform, put the platform at a height where I can get my foot in the aider at ground height, and then, with my tether above the climber, climb onto the HC. Once on the HC, I tighten the tether a bit for safety and then advance the tether. So, my first move gets me close to 5 feet. For my next move, I like to have my tether loop/knot to one side of the tree (usually my left), then just put weight on the tether and hang. I find that if I try to maximize height of my tether and reduce slack, it can be hard to then reach down to grab the HC, but you will have to figure this part out for you. When this happens to me, I still have my HC tied to me, on my right side, so I can manage to get it up to my hand as I reach down, but sometimes this makes the stand go catawhompass (stand angle tilts and/or stand gets off angle with the tree) and I may have to finagle with it to get it set up properly again. I have used this method for a couple years now and prefer it over advancing the HC only with my feet. I do get more height per average move, but I find that if I try to maximize height per move that I make more noise and probably loose time trying to get the HC set level again. I do have foot loops on my HC too, as I usually rappel down. Try this with your Treehopper, you might come to prefer it over the foot advance.

Hugh
 
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