• The SH Membership has gone live. Only SH Members have access to post in the classifieds. All members can view the classifieds. Starting in 2020 only SH Members will be admitted to the annual hunting contest. Current members will need to follow these steps to upgrade: 1. Click on your username 2. Click on Account upgrades 3. Choose SH Member and purchase.
  • We've been working hard the past few weeks to come up with some big changes to our vendor policies to meet the changing needs of our community. Please see the new vendor rules here: Vendor Access Area Rules

Ok....Stupid idea to be tossed out there.......

P

Peterk1234

Well-Known Member
Joined
Oct 23, 2017
Messages
805
Location
Massachusetts
I started reading through the DIY climbing stick thread. Wow, we got some folks here with great ideas. Anyway, it got me thinking. Would it be useless to just take aluminum tubing, add some standoffs, and instead metal steps, just use a webbing loop at the top and bottom? Then, instead of versa buttons, cam cleats or buckles, just use a whoopie sling to fasten it. The top stand off would not be at the top of the stick, but 3/4 of the way up, so you could just loop the whoopie through it. Now that would be light and pretty compact. Pete
 
Man, that sure seems like a good idea if what I have in my head is what you are thinking!
 
Hmmm, just thinking out loud. how would you hold open the step? Wouldn’t you loose height? The bottom step seems like for sure? Maybe I’m not thinking exactly what you are saying but those thoughts come to mind.
Keep’em coming!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Peterk1234 said:
I started reading through the DIY climbing stick thread. Wow, we got some folks here with great ideas. Anyway, it got me thinking. Would it be useless to just take aluminum tubing, add some standoffs, and instead metal steps, just use a webbing loop at the top and bottom? Then, instead of versa buttons, cam cleats or buckles, just use a whoopie sling to fasten it. The top stand off would not be at the top of the stick, but 3/4 of the way up, so you could just loop the whoopie through it. Now that would be light and pretty compact. Pete
Click to expand...
Sounds light and compact. I would like to see it. Simplifies what you actually need.

Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk
 
This is a very, very, very bad depiction. I don't have any good software to draw with. It would be easy to make the top webbing stick out to the side so you do not have to fiddle with it. My thought is stiffening the "step part with tubing and just use a zip tie near the bottom against the tube. I think we could get away with just drilling a hole and just threading through some line (formed into a loop) that the webbing would be tied to. Basically, just bolts for the standoffs.

I love my steps, but I may make on of these just to see if it works. I need some thoughts though. What am I missing and what will fail? 8 feet of aluminum tubing is pretty cheap at the local big box.

The whoopie sling should work because once you lift up on the stick the tension is released and the sling is easily loosened.

Hmm, now that I am looking at my drawing, maybe bottom webbing is tied higher on the tube. Deals with the loss off height issue brought up by ImThere.

Stick.png
 
What if you did two loops of webbing on each side so you have dual steps like a regular stick. You could attach it to the stick a couple different ways. The bottom of the loop would need a stiffener in it like most of the aiders we use now.
 
flinginairos said:
What if you did two loops of webbing on each side so you have dual steps like a regular stick. You could attach it to the stick a couple different ways. The bottom of the loop would need a stiffener in it like most of the aiders we use now.
Click to expand...

Heck just do away with the bottom step and attach the aider? I don’t stay there long anyways. As long as I could step from the aider to the top stick?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
ImThere said:
Heck just do away with the bottom step and attach the aider? I don’t stay there long anyways. As long as I could step from the aider to the top stick?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Click to expand...

For the bottom step you sure could. For the rest of them you could do a single loop on the bottom and a double on the top since you'd be standing on it a bit longer to put on the next stick
 
ImThere said:
Heck just do away with the bottom step and attach the aider? I don’t stay there long anyways. As long as I could step from the aider to the top stick?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Click to expand...

Actually, some amsteel may be better. Certainly lighter :)

I have some cheap climbing sticks. I am going to add some loops to them first to see how they work.
 
This idea definitely has my gears turnin' :D I may try to throw something together later if I have time.
 
One step on a short stick with a six step aider. It would be under a pound and get you 7 feet per move. Like a WE step with an aider but easier to attach, slightly lighter, easy to pack. It is still nice to have one step on a stick which weights less than 1/4 pound so you can attach your next step. Three pounds 21 feet.

I really do not mind climbing those multi step aider... Just a lot of steps and maybe that prevents kick out.s

Or an adjustable aider and 5 feet per move.
 
Last edited:
Well, here is a pic of some amsteel loops for steps on a stick. 1/4 and 1/8 inch. 1/4 is is overkill. 1/8 inch with the webbing and tape is 250 grams.

20180313_131126.jpg
 
ImThere said:
I think my steps are 82 g.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Ya, my bad. I had it set to grains. It is 18 grams.

better set the scale back to grains. Grams could cause me significant issues the next time I use it :)
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Thats more like it. I was a little surprised by the weight myself. Lol


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
I'm with the guys on possibly liking eliminating a bottom step with a loop. Some problems I see are:
I found that whoopie slings suck for attaching sticks. In order to get it tight enough, it makes it really hard to get it off the stick.
The advantage of a stick is having something firm to stand on. I would definitely want something firm at the top of the stick. If I was going your route, I would probably try just attaching aiders to the tree.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top