- Joined
- Feb 4, 2021
- Messages
- 5,049
Ok so I am more of a ROS guy. I’ve bought and tried platforms but usually there is something I don’t like about them… I tried the hawk tree seat back in the day for a platform. It was big and heavy, couldn’t handle side pressure at all without a second lower strap on it, I ended up keeping it in the tree at the house for practice shooting… Then tried the Predator platform and I thought that was gonna be my end all go to. It is still the lightest most packable platform I have ever used. It was pretty good on side pressure but no matter what I did, the top bracket never stayed against the tree and it flexed a lot and on some trees kicked out when side loaded. Less than one season on it, it cracked where the adjuster screw was so I retired it. My wife still uses hers and loves it. Then I tried the ambush. It was huge. It cam’d over really tight but the teeth were a pain and it flexed a lot. Then I got a ridge runner from someone on here. It was large like the hawk seat but pretty light. Camming it was a little different but once you weight it, it stayed in there tree really really well. It didn’t pack down all that great and honestly I wish it was a little deeper (size 14 shoe). Overall it’s been my go to on the hunts where I actually take a platform instead of my squirrel steps… I bought the fix just to try it out since the size and listed weight was definitely in the range I wanted. It packs down very very well. I’m 225 and it handled side pressure from me better than any platform I have ever used. The edges aren’t rounded but they are not sharp either. It has done zero damage to my strap and I wrapped it and walked half a mile before we found the tree we ended up playing in. The top bracket stays against the tree even when I lean outward on an extreme angle. The hook is perfect to hang from the rear mollie of my saddle and that’s how I walked out to the tree (wearing it the whole time). The post is tight enough that it takes deliberate action to pull it open. I can’t speak to the integrated steps because I don’t have them however the little slanted step on the post is perfect to use for pivoting. This platform has changed my mind about platform use (although I’ll still be adding a couple slotted squirrel steps to my set up for weak side shots to walk the tree). I can’t wait for this season to really put in the hours on it. Oh and did I mention how awesome it looks? The fix for the win!