If you haven’t seen @redsquirrel post on these check it out here http://saddlehunter.com/community/index.php?threads/eonpow-climbers.3810/page-3
I have always been interested in a climbing option like this for years, Reds thread inspired me to give them a try. So, I picked a set of these up off the classified. I have been back in Missouri for Thanksgiving so I have been using these and messing with them.
Like Red, out of the box there are some flaws.
The straps - how in the hell is the crap they send supposed to work?!?!
Adjustability - there is some, it could be better, but it is the main cause of the noise.
Noise - they are loud out of the box, they rattle and create a lot of noise.
Hardware - crappy hardware that was bent or cross threaded from the start.
Climbing - it is awkward with little to no adjustability. There is nothing to lock them in place so they they can change size as you climb, becoming to big or small for the tree your climbing.
After a few test climbs to help identify the problems it was time to modify them.
First thing to tackle was the noise and adjustability, these go hand in hand.
The “cleat” on the foot section, that sets in the inside of your foot, moved very freely and rattled around and had cheap hardware. I swapped out for better hardware and a locking nut on the bottom. I tightened it, to eliminate the rattle but still be able to adjust. I will add some stealth strips to this later.
The free sliding arm that wraps around the back of the tree, this is where most of the noise and all of the lack of adjustability was. I simply removed the arm from the foot section, drill a hole in the small section where the arm attached to the foot section, welded a 5/16 nut on it and added some plastic handled hardware to be able to ADJUST and LOCK the arm in place. This removed almost all noise and added adjustability.
At the very end of the arm they had some more crappy hardware to keep the arm from falling off. I wanted to swap this out, I went with a simple pin, so I could removed the 2 sections if I needed to pack them into a backpack but also to keep the arm from falling to the ground if adjusting up a tree.
The foot strap, like Red I wanted a heal and toe strap for them. I use 2 extra trail cam straps that I had for this. I used one strap per side, on the inside a ran a few hand stitches to the webbing. This was done to make sure that the buckles on my strap would alway be on the top of my foot for comfort, as well as being able to pull the straps away from the tree to tighten, so I could retighten if need going up the tree.
You will also see the paracord tied to the outside of each one. This is the safety rope, I attached this via a small carabiner to my leg straps on my kestrel, so that they are attached to me at all times.
Overall,
They are a viable option, I really liked them and felt safe using them. That said, at close 7 pounds they are not for everyone and every situation. I plan on ordering some stealth strips in Strata and wrapping at least the back of each arm that goes around the tree. This is where your noise will come from, contacting each other on the back of the tree while climbing. I also plan to make some type of spacer for them so I can stack them and strap them together with out them banging into each other.
Using them on limbed trees? It really depends on the tree, a few 3-4 large limbs are easily navigated. The worst were small off shoot limbs that are smaller around than a finger and only a few feet off the tree. They need to be cut. Also, a lot of limbs very close together can be tough to navigate.
Tree size? They will adjust from about 8” to 18” diameter tree. Someone like me that likes smaller trees, they will work well for.
Platform exchange? I tried this about every way I could think of, the best was to step above with one foot and then remove the climber, then stand on the platform while bringing the other foot above the platform. The climb down is the same thing in reverse.
Video? Coming soon, I lost all of my video of them before I made mods. I have video of the platform exchange, climbing to 18 ft vs muddy sticks and a review of all of the mods that I did to them.
Thanks,
Boswell
I have always been interested in a climbing option like this for years, Reds thread inspired me to give them a try. So, I picked a set of these up off the classified. I have been back in Missouri for Thanksgiving so I have been using these and messing with them.
Like Red, out of the box there are some flaws.
The straps - how in the hell is the crap they send supposed to work?!?!
Adjustability - there is some, it could be better, but it is the main cause of the noise.
Noise - they are loud out of the box, they rattle and create a lot of noise.
Hardware - crappy hardware that was bent or cross threaded from the start.
Climbing - it is awkward with little to no adjustability. There is nothing to lock them in place so they they can change size as you climb, becoming to big or small for the tree your climbing.
After a few test climbs to help identify the problems it was time to modify them.
First thing to tackle was the noise and adjustability, these go hand in hand.
The “cleat” on the foot section, that sets in the inside of your foot, moved very freely and rattled around and had cheap hardware. I swapped out for better hardware and a locking nut on the bottom. I tightened it, to eliminate the rattle but still be able to adjust. I will add some stealth strips to this later.
The free sliding arm that wraps around the back of the tree, this is where most of the noise and all of the lack of adjustability was. I simply removed the arm from the foot section, drill a hole in the small section where the arm attached to the foot section, welded a 5/16 nut on it and added some plastic handled hardware to be able to ADJUST and LOCK the arm in place. This removed almost all noise and added adjustability.
At the very end of the arm they had some more crappy hardware to keep the arm from falling off. I wanted to swap this out, I went with a simple pin, so I could removed the 2 sections if I needed to pack them into a backpack but also to keep the arm from falling to the ground if adjusting up a tree.
The foot strap, like Red I wanted a heal and toe strap for them. I use 2 extra trail cam straps that I had for this. I used one strap per side, on the inside a ran a few hand stitches to the webbing. This was done to make sure that the buckles on my strap would alway be on the top of my foot for comfort, as well as being able to pull the straps away from the tree to tighten, so I could retighten if need going up the tree.
You will also see the paracord tied to the outside of each one. This is the safety rope, I attached this via a small carabiner to my leg straps on my kestrel, so that they are attached to me at all times.
Overall,
They are a viable option, I really liked them and felt safe using them. That said, at close 7 pounds they are not for everyone and every situation. I plan on ordering some stealth strips in Strata and wrapping at least the back of each arm that goes around the tree. This is where your noise will come from, contacting each other on the back of the tree while climbing. I also plan to make some type of spacer for them so I can stack them and strap them together with out them banging into each other.
Using them on limbed trees? It really depends on the tree, a few 3-4 large limbs are easily navigated. The worst were small off shoot limbs that are smaller around than a finger and only a few feet off the tree. They need to be cut. Also, a lot of limbs very close together can be tough to navigate.
Tree size? They will adjust from about 8” to 18” diameter tree. Someone like me that likes smaller trees, they will work well for.
Platform exchange? I tried this about every way I could think of, the best was to step above with one foot and then remove the climber, then stand on the platform while bringing the other foot above the platform. The climb down is the same thing in reverse.
Video? Coming soon, I lost all of my video of them before I made mods. I have video of the platform exchange, climbing to 18 ft vs muddy sticks and a review of all of the mods that I did to them.
Thanks,
Boswell
.
