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XOP stick failure

Sgirdham

Sgirdham

New Member
Joined
Sep 19, 2017
Messages
18
Well this morning I experience a stick failure first hand. Luckily it was the bottom step on my 1st stick that failed while I was getting my next stick ready. I was wearing my linemans belt and only 3 ft off the ground but the experience has me pretty shook up and ticked off. I only had some bloody knuckles and a sore shoulder from the way I grabbed for anything I could when I felt the step give away. I have only used these sticks 4 times and never exceeded the weight capacity. I found a thread on Archery Talk that had others with failures with the same piece of the stand. They talked to xop recently and they claimed this is a new issue but I will be letting them know tomorrow that it's not an isolated incident. If anyone else here has had issues then I would assume you have let xop know. If this is a huge safety hazard I feel I wouldn't be doing right by the hunting community if I didn't push this issue. Anyone who has not experienced a failure should inspect their sticks and also refer to this Archery Talk thread.

http://www.archerytalk.com/vb/#/topics/5302899?page=6
60d95d1cd5cec41dff1399eea38e419e.jpg
3df9f9ed0dab0c03aa3d50e5a2a5b0a6.jpg



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no experience with xop sticks. could you show a good stick, to show how it is suppose to work/lock in place please

just not understanding what that broken thing is under the step is...obviously its the problem but don't understand what it is
 
I get it now...the bolt head recess was throwing me off. Was thinking that was a stick recess to keep it from twisting
 
Yes I'll post a good picture soon. That piece that broke is extruded aluminum and it is bolted at the top with the step. I have better modifications I could do but that wouldn't help the issue any way. They need to come up with something and send it out or issue me a full refund. I have zero confidence in their product and being confident in your setup a big part of hunting confidence


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yeah if youre going to design it like that, why not just bolt the beefy part to the batwing bolt, instead of relying on that 1/8" piece of aluminum going underneath the step.
Couldve squared it off versus that curve....recessed it to the stick, to keep it from twisting and used the batwing bolt to secure it

XOP better recall these
 
Last edited:
Sgirdham said:
Well this morning I experience a stick failure first hand. Luckily it was the bottom step on my 1st stick that failed while I was getting my next stick ready. I was wearing my linemans belt and only 3 ft off the ground but the experience has me pretty shook up and ticked off. I only had some bloody knuckles and a sore shoulder from the way I grabbed for anything I could when I felt the step give away. I have only used these sticks 4 times and never exceeded the weight capacity. I found a thread on Archery Talk that had others with failures with the same piece of the stand. They talked to xop recently and they claimed this is a new issue but I will be letting them know tomorrow that it's not an isolated incident. If anyone else here has had issues then I would assume you have let xop know. If this is a huge safety hazard I feel I wouldn't be doing right by the hunting community if I didn't push this issue. Anyone who has not experienced a failure should inspect their sticks and also refer to this Archery Talk thread.

http://www.archerytalk.com/vb/#/topics/5302899?page=6
60d95d1cd5cec41dff1399eea38e419e.jpg
3df9f9ed0dab0c03aa3d50e5a2a5b0a6.jpg



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Man glad you're alright! I never hookup until at top of my first stick, ( I hang the first 2 off the ground & then hang the other 2 off accessory loops , but I guess I need to rethink that.)
 
Bigterp said:
Man glad you're alright! I never hookup until at top of my first stick, ( I hang the first 2 off the ground & then hang the other 2 off accessory loops , but I guess I need to rethink that.)
Click to expand...

I have contemplated that style but I have been keeping my sticks locked together and have a sling on the stick I hang last. Then the platform in in my pack and the bow is the only thing on the pull rope. I'll be moving to something other than xop so it will be a new learning curve.


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Sgirdham said:
I have contemplated that style but I have been keeping my sticks locked together and have a sling on the stick I hang last. Then the platform in in my pack and the bow is the only thing on the pull rope. I'll be moving to something other than xop so it will be a new learning curve.
Mine are lone wolf but same principle. I have them all on a shoulder strap, unsnap at base of tree hang 2 clip other 2 at waist. Pack stays on my back & I clip bow to reel on my pack. Head up in one trip. Platform is strapped to pack at very top, almost behind my shoulder blades , I just reach back & grab it then set it. I'm still working out steps on either side of platform.............. but I can make it up smooth & quiet, plus not sweat to death climbing up & down the tree. But with what you posted, I think I might just clip in linemens belt as I hang second stick & head up. That would prob be a lot safer! Plus I'm a big dude so if something's gonna fail, I'm likely to find it........

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After sending my pictures to xop I was very impressed at how they handled it. Almost to the point of suspicion, maybe I could have soaked them for more but that's not how I am and I wasn't badly injured so I just went with it. They offered replacement sticks or full refund. Then came back and said if I'd rather have them just order me whatever brand of sticks to save time on the refund arriving. That was pretty cool. They also stated that they have upgraded those parts to something more substantial on the newer sticks. I hope this helps anyone else who may be experiencing these issues.


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Sgirdham said:
After sending my pictures to xop I was very impressed at how they handled it. Almost to the point of suspicion, maybe I could have soaked them for more but that's not how I am and I wasn't badly injured so I just went with it. They offered replacement sticks or full refund. Then came back and said if I'd rather have them just order me whatever brand of sticks to save time on the refund arriving. That was pretty cool. They also stated that they have upgraded those parts to something more substantial on the newer sticks. I hope this helps anyone else who may be experiencing these issues.


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Click to expand...
Wow, that's above & beyond for customer service! I'm impressed. So what did you go with??
 
I went with muddy pro sticks. I like the rope system and dual steps.


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MFD205 said:
Ham did you ever use the xop sticks again?
Click to expand...

Nope and I won’t be using them. XOP still hasn’t replied to me and my muddy sticks they ordered have been on backorder since this happened in October.


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This is no good!! This could have resulted in serious injuries or death!! I am glad your ok and would not let this issue go. Sometimes this is due to a batch of faulty materials or workmanship either in my opinion is inexcusable and I totally advocate stringent quality tests especially from a manufacturer that releases products to the general community.
 
The owner of xop use to own lonewolf treestands. I had a guy I work with had a lonewolf climbing stand bolts fail and he was stuck upside down. Luckily he freed himself. He was not wearing a safty harness and this happened many years ago. From what he told me the bolts were inferior grade . I have used lonewolf products for years with out issue. All it takes is an inferior part and the results can be life changing. I would definitely not let this go. You could be saving someone else from being injured or worse . Thank God you are alright.
 
I have a set. I will be inspecting them when I get home this evening. I haven't experienced any type of failure.

Glad you're okay. Thanks for sharing.
 
And for what it's worth, when I saw this from Shannon earlier this year, it got me thinking - believe it or not, many of the products available out there are not TMA Certified. While any equipment can fail, it takes a good bit of time and effort to get a product TMA Certified. Food for thought - you might want to check their list before making your next purchase folks. And this is not a slam on anyone; I just never really thought about it until I saw this. Those sticks are NOT certified. Before looking into this, I'd have thought most everything commercially available was certified. Go figure.
 
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