Agreed, I so badly wanted to love stepps. I even bought them twice. Finally got really dialed in & proficient with them , just never preferred them. Sticks w/ cayg aider or LW HC covers about everything. If you get to the top w/ sticks & still need another 10-50 ft you can 1 stick it on up.....I have both plus bolts and hand climber. I love the hand climber. If your going to set up trees where legal bolts is the way to go if not legal and you going to leave your stuff in the woods I would go with sticks because I'm use to them I guess. My hand climber though is so easy I guess it's not for everyone but OMG climbing method and platform in one and weighs just 4 pounds 2 ounces. How can you beat that?
I have used both for decades, sticks hands down, not even close for me personally. reasons, sticks are way easier to set up in total darkness and just safer IMO. I like a CAYG aider but I've had way too many mishaps with multiple step aiders. To date my CAYG I have not had a kick out. And 3 modified sticks are not a problem if one learns how to attach them properly to a backpack.
Perfect small lightweight rappel device? Figure 8. It can be used as a progress capture, but until you are very familiar it gets sketch. But if you take a figure 8, put the small side at 3oclock, pull a loop of rope from the back through the big loop, put that loop around the back of the small loop, then rotate DOWN, past 6 o'clock and when you get to 9 o'clock you stop your rope is now pressing on itself inside the figure 8. As long as you keep a touch of tension on it you are fine, if you let it go slack bad things happen.After a lot of experimentation, I've landed on 1-sticking up and rappelling down (just because it's a lot faster than 1-sticking back down). This is the fastest, simplest, and safest (most secure feeling to me) climb/descend method I've found so far. Thanks to @boyne bowhunter and others that pointed me in this direction. It's been a great help.
Carrying multiple sticks just seems too heavy and awkward for me, and hard/noisy to carry them up the tree on a climb.
I bought an 8-pack of WE steps earlier this year and liked them. But they really tear up the soft aspen trunks I climb. Plus lots of fiddling with the ropes and re-camming to get each step properly set. I'm sure more practice would help, but the steps dig out a lot of bark on soft trees. I had the same issue with the teeth on the climbing stand I used to use. I don't like ripping up trees, and a stick (while not perfect) seems to do the best job of this. I will probably end up selling my WE steps.
My stick is a 2-step modified Helium (23" between steps), a single webbing aider (23") attached to the bottom step, and rope mod with a cam cleat. One 30' rope with spliced eye on one end acts as tether AND rappel line. Girth hitch to tree. Hang saddle bridge to the line using a Madrock Safeguard, GriGri, or similar device that does triple duty as a bridge connection, tether adjuster (like a ropeman or prussic), AND rappel friction device. This eliminates a separate tether and linemans belt (and associated hardware), and separate hang connection & adjuster. You are always connected to the tree. Just have to pay attention to managing tether slack as you climb. A lightweight linemans belt can be carried and used if necessary to bypass branches. This is rare on aspens so I don't carry one anymore.
Now I'm searching for the perfect small lightweight inexpensive rappel device that I can also hang from on the tether, and use it as an adjuster. Any other devices out there that can do this (similar to Safeguard or GriGri)? Maybe the Black Diamond ATC Pilot with an autoblock prussic?
I had full length heliums modded with ropes/versa buttons that I used until last year. I bought some WE stepps this offseason and a knaider/swaider. Just used them for my first hunt on Friday and it only took 3 to get to 18ish feet at platform height and I'm only 5'5". Honestly I love the heliums but they're still annoying to pack in deep on public. I've thought about cutting them down but then I'd need additional steps and then there's still bulk. Why bother when the steps accomplish more and at less (with the k/s). I can see the complaints with the stepps people have mentioned on this thread but with enough practice I feel confident that the pros outweigh the cons. With being short, I was having to use some kind of aider or k/s with the heliums anyway so why not cut the bulk and weight? I do still own my heliums just in case I ever decide otherwise.
When I first tried them I was like "how the **** do the videos make this look so easy?!" but it just took some dialing in of the lengths of the straps and figuring out how to use the LB a little differently for me. Now that I've gotten that it feels so much better. I couldn't believe I was at hunting height just using 3 pounds of steps and my platform on FridayI never could get the Knaider/Swaider to be anywhere near as stable as my 2-step aiders for my cut down helium sticks. I will be moving to a 2-step dyneema CAYG aider this year with those sticks, so it will weigh basically nothing.
The Knaider/Swaider combo were awesome until I tried them on gnarly leaning trees with full gear on.... then, they became frickin death traps for me. I could definitely do just the Knaider, but that would require too many stepps for my liking.
................................................................................All climbing methods, platforms, saddle designs, and/or use of materials possibly mentioned in the post above are not peer reviewed for safety, and should only be used as an example of my own method. Do your own research and testing before becoming confident in any DIY solution to support your life.
-IkemanTx