Update:
I ended up ordering the Latitude Carbon SS sticks from Mack's Prairie Wings on Friday and received them on Monday! Excellent service from MPW.
I have climbed with them for the past two days. I climbed the sticks with and without the use of aiders (2 step aider on bottom stick and single step on top 2 sticks). Here is my subjective review:
Pros:
* Weight. They do actually weigh 19oz per stick.
* No moving parts. I like not having to fold/unfold steps.
* Come with quality Amsteel ropes.
* Innately quieter than metallic sticks. They do have more of a dead sound when bumped together, akin to that of plastic rattling antlers.
* Simple and secure attachment method.
* Stack flat together.
* 5 Year Warranty.
* Made in the USA.
Cons:
They’re plastic. I know they put “carbon” in the name and mention “carbon fiber”, but if you’ve ever owned something that is 100% carbon fiber and grab one of these sticks, you will immediately notice that they are mostly plastic. I’m not saying they lack structural integrity, but if you’re expecting a carbon fiber “feel”, you will be disappointed.
The Amsteel they come with is only 6’ 6” worth. All other climbing sticks I’ve bought have come with 8’ of rope/strap/Amsteel. The 1’ 6” shortage of rope does force you to be more stringent in your tree selection. Obviously, you can replace the ropes with longer ones. Note: I’ve read in a few places that Latitude chose this length so that when you wind the Amsteel up on the stick, it’s exactly enough to secure the tag in on the attachment wing, with no excess flopping around. I don’t know that this reasoning is 100% accurate, but can confirm the Amsteel DOES wrap up that way on the sticks.
Standoff. The standoff is a purported 3.5”, but it didn’t feel like that much. I climbed these in tennis shoes and in my rubber hunting boots. I never felt like I was going to “slip off” but definitely had less foot contact/engagement than I do with my Skeletors.
Last, and maybe most importantly to me, is the amount of spine flexion I experienced when standing on the top step. The twisting in the spine of the stick between the attachment wings and top step was significant, causing the top step to pull off the tree at least 1”, up to 1.5”. There are several reviews on YouTube where you can witness the top step doing this. The stick never moved from its position on the tree, but the top step would pull away from the tree depending which side of the step (left of right) I was distributing my weight onto. I re-tied the step multiple times to make sure it was seated evenly/flush on the tree and I experienced this much flexion no matter what. I weigh 210lbs in street clothes and probably had 7 or 8 lbs of saddle gear strapped on me when I did this test. Perhaps someone who was significantly (20lbs or more) lighter than me wouldn’t experience this?? Again, the sticks bit into the tree wonderfully and I NEVER experienced any kickout. The bottom step was rock solid and never moved.
Final Decision / TL;DR
They aren’t for me. I was looking to reduce the weight of my climbing sticks, but I don’t like the way the Carbon SS sticks feel when I’m standing on the top step. Less standoff and too much movement when I’m standing on the top step of the stick. I am going to keep running my Skeletors for now and may look into trying the Tethrd One Sticks in the future.
I ended up ordering the Latitude Carbon SS sticks from Mack's Prairie Wings on Friday and received them on Monday! Excellent service from MPW.
I have climbed with them for the past two days. I climbed the sticks with and without the use of aiders (2 step aider on bottom stick and single step on top 2 sticks). Here is my subjective review:
Pros:
* Weight. They do actually weigh 19oz per stick.
* No moving parts. I like not having to fold/unfold steps.
* Come with quality Amsteel ropes.
* Innately quieter than metallic sticks. They do have more of a dead sound when bumped together, akin to that of plastic rattling antlers.
* Simple and secure attachment method.
* Stack flat together.
* 5 Year Warranty.
* Made in the USA.
Cons:
They’re plastic. I know they put “carbon” in the name and mention “carbon fiber”, but if you’ve ever owned something that is 100% carbon fiber and grab one of these sticks, you will immediately notice that they are mostly plastic. I’m not saying they lack structural integrity, but if you’re expecting a carbon fiber “feel”, you will be disappointed.
The Amsteel they come with is only 6’ 6” worth. All other climbing sticks I’ve bought have come with 8’ of rope/strap/Amsteel. The 1’ 6” shortage of rope does force you to be more stringent in your tree selection. Obviously, you can replace the ropes with longer ones. Note: I’ve read in a few places that Latitude chose this length so that when you wind the Amsteel up on the stick, it’s exactly enough to secure the tag in on the attachment wing, with no excess flopping around. I don’t know that this reasoning is 100% accurate, but can confirm the Amsteel DOES wrap up that way on the sticks.
Standoff. The standoff is a purported 3.5”, but it didn’t feel like that much. I climbed these in tennis shoes and in my rubber hunting boots. I never felt like I was going to “slip off” but definitely had less foot contact/engagement than I do with my Skeletors.
Last, and maybe most importantly to me, is the amount of spine flexion I experienced when standing on the top step. The twisting in the spine of the stick between the attachment wings and top step was significant, causing the top step to pull off the tree at least 1”, up to 1.5”. There are several reviews on YouTube where you can witness the top step doing this. The stick never moved from its position on the tree, but the top step would pull away from the tree depending which side of the step (left of right) I was distributing my weight onto. I re-tied the step multiple times to make sure it was seated evenly/flush on the tree and I experienced this much flexion no matter what. I weigh 210lbs in street clothes and probably had 7 or 8 lbs of saddle gear strapped on me when I did this test. Perhaps someone who was significantly (20lbs or more) lighter than me wouldn’t experience this?? Again, the sticks bit into the tree wonderfully and I NEVER experienced any kickout. The bottom step was rock solid and never moved.
Final Decision / TL;DR
They aren’t for me. I was looking to reduce the weight of my climbing sticks, but I don’t like the way the Carbon SS sticks feel when I’m standing on the top step. Less standoff and too much movement when I’m standing on the top step of the stick. I am going to keep running my Skeletors for now and may look into trying the Tethrd One Sticks in the future.
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