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Wild Edge Climb 7 ft. Per Step

BJRoth2 said:

I wanted to get as much out of each of my W.E. Steps as possible. Each individual is restricted in their climbing by how high they can tie on a W.E. Step so I started with my max tieoff (about 7 ft 2 in) and worked backward. The knaider/swaider method worked great, but couldn't get me to my max tie off. A 5-step aider could get me to my max, but I didn't like climbing with the 5 step aiders. After quite a bit of trial and error, I came up with the Northwest PA Boogie Woogie Aider. It is a moveable aider that is able to be knaidered onto and stepped onto at the same time.

My steps go as follows...
1st step is with my knaider foot (right for me) knaidering onto the bottom loop of the NWPA boogie woogie aider.
2nd step is my free foot (left) onto the wooden base of the NWPA Boogie woogie aider.
3rd step is my knaider onto the W.E. Step.
4th step is my free foot onto the W.E. Step.

Those 4 steps get me to my max tie off pretty quickly. This method can get me standing at 21+ feet in about 2 minutes.
Like any DIY method, it is a work in progress, but it has worked well for me this past season. Hope this leads to more innovation. Happy Climbing!
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Atz slicker'n owl **** on a door knob
 
I'm curious how the u bolt will work. It should make the knaider grab easier to find. The flexibility of the rope/webbing adds a little forgiveness and stays in the knaider hook well. I'm also curious if the u bolt would be better served coming out the front or facing slightly downward and forward. @movehuntir I found that when I tied a knot in the aider about halfway between the rod and your biner, (make the triangle part shorter) the aider seems to be easier to use during the foot step. It may be just me, but it seemed to stabilize itself more than when i had the rope go from the step directly to the biner.
 
movehuntir said:
Thanks for the idea. I used what I had laying around and I'm very impressed. I made the step portion of the aider from a piece of 1.5" nylon rod. I substituted tubular webbing for the rope. I did find getting my foot on the aider was a bit of a reach (I'll be 63 in a couple of weeks). I intend to add a U-bolt to hook the knaider on to. That should make reaching a bit easier.
View attachment 23012
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awesome work! is the nylon rod solid, or hollow? also, i have been considering using a small diameter piece of sched 40 pvc pipe. is there any reason to not do that? i'm going to take @BJRoth2 advice and probably sew my triangle down a little closer to the step instead of going all the way to the biner. keep the pics and ideas flowing!
 
I installed the u-bolt last night. Too dark to give it a try on a tree. When I get daylight to try again I'll give the knot idea a go. The nylon is solid. It was an old dog fetch stick. In that length, you could probably support a truck with it. The PVC should work. I'd suggest running the rope/webbing thru the center
 
DaveT1963 said:
I echo the be safe comments. Been using Jim Stepps since they first came out. To this day i often grab a Stepp with a 4 step aider to check trail cameras. I agree with Nutterbuster - they work best as they were designed to be used. They also work great as a preset ROS IME.

However - If you use them long enough you will experience a kickout at some point and when a stepp goes, it goes quickly IME and you usually leave the stepp. Also, keep in mind this will work best on a straight limbless tree. Not trying to kill the idea, but everyone should put a lot of practice in, out in the woods on a variety of trees, before making this your primary system.
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You referring to a kick out of the aider or the step actually failing in some manner after camming tight?


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Never had one move after camming. It did get squirrelly once or twice when using aider, but I chalked it up to the learning curve.

What can you attribute to the step shifting/kicking out after camming? I’d think ropes not being stretched could be a factor or a loose cam over.


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movehuntir said:
I installed the u-bolt last night. Too dark to give it a try on a tree. When I get daylight to try again I'll give the knot idea a go. The nylon is solid. It was an old dog fetch stick. In that length, you could probably support a truck with it. The PVC should work. I'd suggest running the rope/webbing thru the center
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how did your u bolt work out?
 
I had a few minutes of daylight last night and gave it a try. My initial reaction is that the rope/web loop is quite a bit easier to hook with the knaider. I'll get more time to play with it this weekend. I am really liking the way the aider step works, though. I'm placing my foot beside the tree instead of toe on. Very secure,
 
I'd like to see how you are doing the foot beside the tree rathr than the traditional toe against. anytime I have been foot beside, I have kicked out. i'll also be anxious to hear more about the bolt vs rope loop. thanks for sharing.
 
iamcorey said:
Never had one move after camming. It did get squirrelly once or twice when using aider, but I chalked it up to the learning curve.

What can you attribute to the step shifting/kicking out after camming? I’d think ropes not being stretched could be a factor or a loose cam over.


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Various reasons. rough bark and the point slips into a grove, loose bark flakes off and one of the three contact points gives. I don't want to discourage you or anyone. I have been using Jim Stepps since they first came out decades ago and I have had kickouts. I know how to properly install them. Trust me, when you are coming down and you step on a step that kicks out it will send a few chills up the spine. When you add a multiple step aider it just increases risk. Just be careful and practice, practice, practice.
 
BJRoth2 said:
I'm curious how the u bolt will work. It should make the knaider grab easier to find. The flexibility of the rope/webbing adds a little forgiveness and stays in the knaider hook well. I'm also curious if the u bolt would be better served coming out the front or facing slightly downward and forward. @movehuntir I found that when I tied a knot in the aider about halfway between the rod and your biner, (make the triangle part shorter) the aider seems to be easier to use during the foot step. It may be just me, but it seemed to stabilize itself more than when i had the rope go from the step directly to the biner.
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I am having trouble with my hook on my knaider getting hung up when ascending, it doesn't want to let go for some reason! Help? Curious to know if the u-bolt will remedy this!
 
backstrap19 said:
awesome work! is the nylon rod solid, or hollow? also, i have been considering using a small diameter piece of sched 40 pvc pipe. is there any reason to not do that? i'm going to take @BJRoth2 advice and probably sew my triangle down a little closer to the step instead of going all the way to the biner. keep the pics and ideas flowing!
Click to expand...
I considered pvc but if you do use it you need to do something about the sharp edges on the ends because it will cut into your rope, but not sure about straps! Just saying if you use it be careful please!!
 
@Recurveaholic is your knaider hook getting caught and turning almost upside down after grabbing? If so, I had this happen when I switched to the bigger hook. The straps connected to my hook would slide down lightly due to gravity and then the hook would slightly lean forward occasionally getting caught on a step. I just used some tape to remedy this. I wedged the straps up into the hook as high as possible, then put some tape on them to hold them there. Haven't had a problem since.
 
BJRoth2 said:
@Recurveaholic is your knaider hook getting caught and turning almost upside down after grabbing? If so, I had this happen when I switched to the bigger hook. The straps connected to my hook would slide down lightly due to gravity and then the hook would slightly lean forward occasionally getting caught on a step. I just used some tape to remedy this. I wedged the straps up into the hook as high as possible, then put some tape on them to hold them there. Haven't had a problem since.
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That's exactly what it is doing thanks!
 
BJ, wondering whether you tried different drill hole set ups in the wood step before settling on the ones you have pictured. For example, I was thinking of making both the "step rope holes" toward the outer edge of the wood step, and have the knaider rope holes drilled inside of them. The idea of the holes laid out this way would be to make the connections more centered and possibly less prone to kick out. Thoughts?
 
I tried a few different variations. I started by just using the large rope loop under the wood to knaider. This made building it easy, but it was difficult for me to access with the knaider. I moved it off to the right and up just for easier access. It may help with kickouts to have it centered, but you'll more than likely whiff a time or two when trying to get the knaider into the loop under a boot. The knaider loop can be placed about anywhere for heading up the tree, its climbing down that requires some more strategic placement. If you left a little bit of slack in the large rope loop between the knots under the wood, you could knaider onto that going up for a nice centered approach, then use a smaller side loop for climbing down. Let me know how it goes!
 
Made one of these today out of a 6.5” piece of 1” alum tubing, 1” tubular webbing, and some 8mm accessory cord. Fits in 1 of the side pouches of my sys es hauler perfectly. Lots of sanding to get the alum smooth enough not to be abrasive against the webbing and rope. Will keep an eye on that. Works well. Thanks for sharing your idea.

83BF479A-7C31-4547-B050-A89215F873EB.jpeg45863D20-50C0-4B7B-A059-32C9C2A0BE10.jpeg
 
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