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Sticks vs Wild Edge Steps

jjroberts1977

Well-Known Member
SH Member
Joined
Nov 30, 2020
Messages
501
In terms of mobility and efficiency, who has experience with both? Which do you prefer and why?
 
I have spent a season with Helium's, long sticks, and they are super easy to use, at 6'2" and a single step aider I got to 20' easily with the 3 steps, bought a 4th to get my wife there as she hated the aiders. They are heavy, cumbersome, bump into things on the walk in. They get locked together and required modification to work as advertised. But simple to install and very easy to learn. I keep them around for off season work in the trees because you can go up and down so easily.

I started with the cheap Muddy stagger steps, that was an horrible year. These make the hawks seem light. They clinked when transporting them so lots of sheath tape. Easy to put up. But, narrow, I cannot put 2 feet to a level unless it is just my toes. My little wife gets both feet on each rung. We have been using these for pre-hung stands and they work great, being cheap is a good thing some times. My wife uses them for stand work on a regular basis.

I have some of the Primal V-Steps, the WEI knock off types on Amazon, they don't like to cam on easily, harder to adjust. Never ran them for a season as they keep seeming to need stretched. But once stretched and they cam on they are great. Tried to use them to new trees has not worked. I now use them for pre-hung trees. We also left 3 packs of them out last season as pre-hung ROS on some larger trees, no deer from those trees but they told us where we got our set up wrong.

I have the WEI Stepps. Still a little heavy, was toying with getting a Kydex holster for them as the bag digs into my neck on long walks. Took a few times to get the knot right, them I saw the video about common mistakes and realized I was making a few small errors that seemed trivial but they were what was causing my "problems". So, Not super easy, small learning curve. I always struggled with the knaider/swaider moving side to side, so I quit using them and just carried extra steps to reach my height, so heavy. They were around for a season, still have a place in my set ups, I am think about carrying 3 or 4 and using them to get up to my pre-hung sticks and ladders.

I used Bullman Steps last year, easy to use, but back to 1 foot per step, hurt my plantar and had trouble using them. Not sure if they hurt my plantar or not, kind of leary to try them again, but will practice with them this summer again. They show some promise.

Also I am about to start learning 2TC as we learned last year that having an emergency rappelling system is a good idea, so looking at more ways to get up the tree also.

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I owned the WE steps and liked them quite a bit. I’ve since sold them and have accumulated a couple sets of sticks for different reasons. I do miss the WE steps a little bit but for me I found them kind of cumbersome to set up and take down and try to keep stacked in the bag when using them. I had a set of 8 steps and I felt that they were kind of heavy, even tho sets of sticks can weigh up to what those did, the way sticks carry for me made it seem like it wasn’t as bad. I did like that the sticks could go easily into a backpack but again the weight in that way was more than I wanted to deal with i guess. Sticks are faster to set up for me than the steps were, although with practice you can get noticeably faster at it.

Though I have some sticks now and love them for their different purposes, I do toss around the idea of maybe getting a set of 5 or so WE steps again.

The ropes on the steps definitely need to stretch out on a tree for minimum 24 hours in order to work right IMO. If you get the steps definitely make sure that’s the first thing you do.


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Over the years ive owned we steps 3 separate times trying to like them but in the end i always went back to sticks. The steps are great for packability but like others have stated there was always a few steps that just wouldnt cam over right especially on hard oaks. Sticks nowadays are becoming lighter and more compact and are just plain Simple to use. The we steps do make one hell of a ros tho although again sometimes it was a little tricky to get it set up right.
 
I've had the three step LW sticks, mini Heliums, Shikars, and WE stepps.

WE Stepps advantage is packability and being able to carry 5 stepps with the perch and the aider all in a sling bag and slide through the woods without anything snagging. The issue with them I have found is that they are finicky to get tight on the tree. I've climbed with them many times and they almost always seem to want to pull away from the tree or slide down when climbing up with them. I used them on a preset last year and while they were kinda nice to leave since they aren't easy to spot they seemed to require re tightening before each use.

Sticks are just easier to use all around. You pick the ones you like and put them on the tree. Depending on the attachment method it can get to be a little finicky but they're easier to attach and with an aider or two you can get high enough for me. They don't pack as nice and neat but if you don't mind putting the sticks together at the tree the Shikars do pack up nice. The mini Heliums are cheap and heavier but they have the folding steps which help. I didn't hate the LW sticks but I like a double step.
 
For the WE step users, what would you say is your average climbing time? I'm new & this is the climbing method I've chosen. Only climbed a few times, but haven't put a clock on it yet.
 
I think it depends on how many steps. If I use five steps with the WE aider I'm probably at a realistic ten to fifteen minutes to standing on the perch on my top step. In winter clothes I'm slower. Much of climbing with the Stepps to me is getting them right on the first cam over. Fiddling with them adds time of course.
 
I have Full Length Lone Wolf Sticks, Beast Sticks, Cut-Down Lone Wolf Sticks, a One-Stick, and some WE Steps.

I’ve spent time with all of them, and they all have their advantages; however, I’ve settled on the WE Steps and a Knaider/Swaider.

K/S and 4 Steps, and your 20’ in no time with little effort. I highly recommend the Gripper/Grabber from Genesis 3D Printing. It makes packing them a lot easier and makes it very simple to take one off at a time as you go out the tree.


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I used stepps with kn/sw for a couple of seasons. Sometimes they were great and I zipped right up the tree, sometimes I just couldn’t seem to get a good solid cam. Those times were frustrating so I gave up on that method.

I’ve tried many different kinds of sticks, short and long, aiders, cayg aider, steps, etc. For efficiency AND mobility, I think it’s hard to beat one-sticking with a mini-stick with a rope cam cleat.
 
Hummm, that seems heavy compared to many sticks. They do seem like they will pack small but no weight savings.
 
5 steps weight 5 lbs and my 4 beast sticks weight 7.8 lbs. I have 10 steps I won’t use anymore
 
Last season I was lucky enough to try different setup with WE+Kn&Sw and also movable aiders, Hawks (full and cut), XOP minis, and Ameristeps Aluminum Rapid Rail. Now I'm doing 1 stick(or platform)/rappel for next season just because I want to be as light as possible and as high as possible. But to be honest, the Rapid Rail is what I would use all the time if I had my choice of sticks.

I felt most secured, safe, and comfortable using the Rapid Rail. This is all based on having a good pack that carry the weight well, that would negate the 3-5 lbs differences between whatever steps you like more. The WE were easy to pack and light, but I have grown to dislike the cam system. If I need to take more then 1 attempt to securely cam the WE steps (which I usually need to do), it does not save me more time than a buckle strap. People have use them successfully but the one thing they all agree on is there is a learning curve. With the limited time I have to dedicate to hunting in general, I rather take the extra weight in sticks for ease of use. 1 Stick is what I decided to go with because it actually didn't take that long to learn and I felt safe even if I make any mistake due to constant connection to tree.
 
I tried both climbing sticks and the wilde edge knaider swaider climbing method. Thiers alot more fiddle factor with wilde edge steps. My advice save yourself time a money and buy climbing sticks . I have a mini beast stick and started off doing the one stick climbing method beginning. Unless I have some type of disability in future I don't plan using multiple climbing sticks. I would buy mini sticks shorter the better.

The nice about saddle hunting at this point in time tree saddles and the accessories hold thier value really well so won't lose alot money if sell your stuff.
 
I like both for different situations.I like the WEI steps with the JX3. 5 steps with a 3 step aider get me over 20 ft with 2 steps at hunting level. With a saddle I like a 1 stick with 3 step aider. Ive modified the method due to my age. I repel down reguardless of method.
 
I do like WE steps but don’t care for how much longer they take me to set up in general. If they shift on me under weight I really don’t care for that. I’ve pretty much gone to sticks almost exclusively at this point. Where I do think WE steps really work well is on extremely crooked trees and trees that lean but don’t lean far enough to be dangerous. The tree I killed my first buck out of was like this and not sure I would have got up in it without WE steps. So I’m considering getting another set of steps for these occasions.


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I think the trees you hunt in are as important as your climbing method. Especially comparing sticks to steps. I hunt small creek bottoms with a lot of small, crooked trees and can't hunt very high because of a low canopy. The stepps worked great for me last year based off their small footprint. If I had a bunch of tall, straight trees then I might prefer sticks.
 
For the WE step users, what would you say is your average climbing time? I'm new & this is the climbing method I've chosen. Only climbed a few times, but haven't put a clock on it yet.
Just an observation about climbing time. If you are new to saddle hunting, please don't start bad habits, especially ones that will get you seriously hurt or killed. Climbing time means nothing. (I know of no benefit getting up in a tree in 2min vs 4min vs 15min) If you are in a hurry you will eventually make a mistake is the point here. If you need to be sitting in a tree at a certain time then get to the tree 15min early. Problem solved.
 
I have both WE and Hawk Heliums. I like them both for different reasons. The Hawks I take with me if I know the tree I will be setting up in, i.e. have scouted and planned the area I intend to hunt. The WE I take if I plan to scout my way in, because I may find a tree worth setting up in or I may take a ground position. The WE(s) are lighter and more compact, and the Hawks are easier to set up. With saddle hunting you will be doing both planned sits and scouting your way in.
 
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