Wild Edge Climb 7 ft. Per Step

[Flee]

I have not had any issues with the j hook. As with the knaider, if you have weight on it, you can't lift off. I have not had this happen yet but if the WE step is not locked on flat, there is a possibility of the hook sliding left or right. The same is true with a carabiner but the j hook may slip off and the carabiner would not. I have not decided on the j hook for certain but I wanted to try it and so far I prefer the ease of just setting the hook over the bar. I also plan to have a bungee to my lineman loop in the event I drop it or it does slip off.

Where did you get the j hook?

 

[Arkansas Deer Wacker]

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!

Great method, but the video gave me seizures. Lol, I am looking to try this later this month. Great idea...

 

[backstrap19]

Where did you get the j hook?

DanO!!! eastern woods outdoors. @DanO your business is considered life sustaining, correct?

 

[DanO]

DanO!!! eastern woods outdoors. @DanO your business is considered life sustaining, correct?

LOL - fortunately we are still 100% operational and will be able to remain running until we run out of stock. Just got my last orders for a bit from some of my dealers in California and Pennsylvania though. Also just received a decent order of Sterling rope so have plenty of rope for the foreseeable future. My employee and I live at the warehouse! Or the warehouse lives with us, lol.

 

[backstrap19]

LOL - fortunately we are still 100% operational and will be able to remain running until we run out of stock. Just got my last orders for a bit from some of my dealers in California and Pennsylvania though. Also just received a decent order of Sterling rope so have plenty of rope for the foreseeable future. My employee and I live at the warehouse! Or the warehouse lives with us, lol.

Well, I just wanted you to know that browsing eastern woods outdoors IS life sustaining to me.

 

[BJRoth2]

WI is organizing a saddle hunter meet up in June. I'm planning on attending/helping out and introducing this climbing concept to the group. Will let you know what kind of feedback I get.

Did you consider/tinker with amsteel rope at all? 1/4 inch would be plenty strong and less weight. And, I'm thinking that the j hook supplied with the JC knaider should be plenty deep to hook onto 1/4 inch amsteel. Thoughts?

Just ordered some amsteel from @DanO. I'll send some pics soon! The only reason I don't use a j hook is because I hook onto the lower v of the wild edge. When I clip in, I force my foot out from the tree and down into the wood of the bwaider and the biner tends to slide up and down the v of the wild edge until my leg is vertical. I'm afraid the j hook might slip off. I've seen @cradduck34's and the j hook does well on his.

 

[Liebadude]

Just ordered some amsteel from @DanO. I'll send some pics soon! The only reason I don't use a j hook is because I hook onto the lower v of the wild edge. When I clip in, I force my foot out from the tree and down into the wood of the bwaider and the biner tends to slide up and down the v of the wild edge until my leg is vertical. I'm afraid the j hook might slip off. I've seen @cradduck34's and the j hook does well on his.

We might be talking about 2 different things, not sure. I wasn't referencing the use of the j hook instead of the carabiner, but the j hook you are currently using as steps 1 & 3; hooking onto the loop of the wood step as step 1, then hooking onto the WE step as step 3.
Having said that, from the video, it appeared you are hooking onto the horizontal bar of the WE step with your j hook as step 3 in the process. Are you hooking onto the horizontal bar (not the v of the WE step)? If so, that's where your deeper j hook actually might be the better option for going with that instead of what is supplied with the JC knaider. I'll have to look at that more closely.

I guess that even in confusion, things can get clarified

Looking forward to the pics. Appreciate your sharing all of this and taking time to respond to q's. I have some 1/4" amsteel ordered. I already have some 1/8", but want that little extra strength for safety.

 

[BJRoth2]

We might be talking about 2 different things, not sure. I wasn't referencing the use of the j hook instead of the carabiner, but the j hook you are currently using as steps 1 & 3; hooking onto the loop of the wood step as step 1, then hooking onto the WE step as step 3.
Having said that, from the video, it appeared you are hooking onto the horizontal bar of the WE step with your j hook as step 3 in the process. Are you hooking onto the horizontal bar (not the v of the WE step)? If so, that's where your deeper j hook actually might be the better option for going with that instead of what is supplied with the JC knaider. I'll have to look at that more closely.

I guess that even in confusion, things can get clarified

Looking forward to the pics. Appreciate your sharing all of this and taking time to respond to q's. I have some 1/4" amsteel ordered. I already have some 1/8", but want that little extra strength for safety.

I misunderstood. I am using a bigger j hook on my knaider and i think it is much easier with the bigger j hook. When I use it on the wild edge step, the j hook part of the knaider is going onto the horizontal bar of the wild edge step. My carabiner goes on the v part. Sorry for the confusion!

 

[NYSFreezerMeat]

I repurposed the WE aider last weekend to make my bwaider, but wasn't able to test it out due to the weather. I'm not sure how I feel about the stretch (& slip) of the WE rope. Also, I felt like I noticed some flex of the S-hook last season and need to switch this out for an actual carabiner. Also looking forward to clipping in at the V with the expectation of greater stability on the ascend. As always, this forum continues to inform, spark innovation and remind us that we don't have to reinvent the wheel, just keep making it better.

 

[BJRoth2]

Thanks for the idea @Liebadude. Here is my amsteel boogie woogie aider (bwaider). 1/4 amsteel. 1100 paracord for the knaider loop at the moment for ground level testing until I decide what I want permanently. Bigger rope tends to be stiffer and hold the loop upright better. Also made the wood 1 inch longer (8.5 in.) to see if extending the knaider loop further out to the right will make it easier to find during descent. Overall much smaller and lighter than the one with the muddy rope. Haven't tested it yet but I'm loving the feel of it. Hopefully testing it today and will update with my results.

 

[Liebadude]

Thanks for the idea @Liebadude. Here is my amsteel boogie woogie aider (bwaider). 1/4 amsteel. 1100 paracord for the knaider loop at the moment for ground level testing until I decide what I want permanently. Bigger rope tends to be stiffer and hold the loop upright better. Also made the wood 1 inch longer (8.5 in.) to see if extending the knaider loop further out to the right will make it easier to find during descent. Overall much smaller and lighter than the one with the muddy rope. Haven't tested it yet but I'm loving the feel of it. Hopefully testing it today and will update with my results.

Got a chuckle out of your comment about extending the wood to 8.5". When I was sight testing the 1/4 amsteel at various heights to see how it held the loop, I figured a longer wood piece might be in order, so I cut mine at 8.75". However, I did not give thought to the greater length of the wood benefiting the knaider loop hook on process as well. Excellent point to consider, but can you elaborate on why the challenge exists for finding the knaider loop? I'm having a little trouble seeing the challenge there.
I made a couple of wood pieces to give me opportunity to test different hole placements of the bwaider and knaider rope to see what works best. If my design comes out different than what you have, I'll post pics.
Thanks again for sharing this great idea @BJRoth2 . Of all the climbing methods shared on this forum, this one works the best for me and I'm very appreciative that you took the time to post it bro!

 

[kidneystones_3000]

Nice aider you should sell them

 

[Liebadude]

Thanks for the idea @Liebadude. Here is my amsteel boogie woogie aider (bwaider). 1/4 amsteel. 1100 paracord for the knaider loop at the moment for ground level testing until I decide what I want permanently. Bigger rope tends to be stiffer and hold the loop upright better. Also made the wood 1 inch longer (8.5 in.) to see if extending the knaider loop further out to the right will make it easier to find during descent. Overall much smaller and lighter than the one with the muddy rope. Haven't tested it yet but I'm loving the feel of it. Hopefully testing it today and will update with my results.

If the knaider loop could stay more horizonal/perpendicular to the wood step, would that make it easier to use/find during descent, in your opinion? @movehuntir said he installed a u-bolt, which I think would make it easier to find on descent, but I don't care for the weight of a u-bolt myself. However, I like where he was going with it. I might have a lighter version that will accomplish the same. Will let you know if it works.

 

[BJRoth2]

Tried a few new ideas. First, I tried using a hawk helium stick strap for my main loop. This is about as small and light as you can get for the main loop. I love it. It wraps up smaller than the amsteel. The nice part about these straps is that they already have a sewn eye so you only need to tie one knot. The flat strap under the wood seems to create enough friction that you don't need knots to hold it in place.
Second idea was to help those who are having their bwaider spin during decent. When it spins, the knaider loop is against the tree and it takes extra effort and stability to flip it. Pictured below is the 360 bwaider. The knaider loops make an s through the wood block to allow for knaidering on both sides. @backstrap19 tested it and liked the ease of the 360. This is just a trial. For safety I'd probably make 2 independent knaider loops that link through the main strap for a back up. Keep building!

 

[BJRoth2]

If the knaider loop could stay more horizonal/perpendicular to the wood step, would that make it easier to use/find during descent, in your opinion? @movehuntir said he installed a u-bolt, which I think would make it easier to find on descent, but I don't care for the weight of a u-bolt myself. However, I like where he was going with it. I might have a lighter version that will accomplish the same. Will let you know if it works.

Stiff rope like Sterling HTP stays upright quite well.

 

[backstrap19]

Stiff rope like Sterling HTP stays upright quite well.

Nothing like some good, stiff, upright rope.

 

[backstrap19]

Tried a few new ideas. First, I tried using a hawk helium stick strap for my main loop. This is about as small and light as you can get for the main loop. I love it. It wraps up smaller than the amsteel. The nice part about these straps is that they already have a sewn eye so you only need to tie one knot. The flat strap under the wood seems to create enough friction that you don't need knots to hold it in place.
Second idea was to help those who are having their bwaider spin during decent. When it spins, the knaider loop is against the tree and it takes extra effort and stability to flip it. Pictured below is the 360 bwaider. The knaider loops make an s through the wood block to allow for knaidering on both sides. @backstrap19 tested it and liked the ease of the 360. This is just a trial. For safety I'd probably make 2 independent knaider loops that link through the main strap for a back up. Keep building!

Yes, I was a lucky field tester for the webbing version of the 360 bwaider. it was fantastic! first of all, it wraps up really small. it went in the back pocket of a pair of jeans easily. secondly, I loved not having to worry about which way my bwaider was oriented because of the knaider loops on both sides. I was originally using my "twig" ladder, and loved it, but i am about to undertake my own build of a 360 bwaider. I will return the prototype to @BJRoth2 and post some pics when i'm done. this system is legit, even for an old unflexible man like myself. I make my step distance shorter than some fellas here, and I do about 6' to 6'6 per each step. with 3 steps I have an 18 foot ability with low effort on my part. I'm looking forward to everyone else's bwaider builds!

 

[Dru--->89]

Yes, I was a lucky field tester for the webbing version of the 360 bwaider. it was fantastic! first of all, it wraps up really small. it went in the back pocket of a pair of jeans easily. secondly, I loved not having to worry about which way my bwaider was oriented because of the knaider loops on both sides. I was originally using my "twig" ladder, and loved it, but i am about to undertake my own build of a 360 bwaider. I will return the prototype to @BJRoth2 and post some pics when i'm done. this system is legit, even for an old unflexible man like myself. I make my step distance shorter than some fellas here, and I do about 6' to 6'6 per each step. with 3 steps I have an 18 foot ability with low effort on my part. I'm looking forward to everyone else's bwaider builds!

@backstrap19 sounds like you are really packing the wood in your jeans! Awesome to see success with this climbing method

 

[backstrap19]

Well, here is my first gen bwaider 360. I used tubular webbing, and beal cord for the knaider loops. Im pretty excited about this. It gets easier as you use it. I did the sewing with a speedy stitcher. Thanks to @BJRoth2 for the inspiration. Post up pics of your builds, anxious to see the ideas. I have my step from wood to knaider set at about 33 to 34 inches. Real easy for an old unflexible guy.

 

[NYSFreezerMeat]

I was a bit uncomfortable with the "roll" & "pitch" of the step when I hooked my knaider into the loop. For the second iteration, I incorporated a loop on each side above the step. No more roll, and the step stays horizontal while I put my weight into the knaider. I've added the ability to adjust length at the top in case the tree dictates inconsistent step placement, or layers limit my flexibility.

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