That’s pretty much what happened to me too with a bit of a twist. I was more trying to decide between a beast stand(bit to big), a lwcg .5 (was almost hit the check out button), a novix helo (was my choice settling a bit before the price increase) and then a lwcg .75 was gonna be the choice in the end. Helo was my choice at first as it had most of what I wanted and for $200-240 was the best option and savings even though I think the lwcg and beast stands have the overall best functional features then throw in the .5 only weights 5lbs and it’s almost unimaginable to me. Price of helo and a couple pounds would have been a winner but price hike now meant hell spend the extra and get the best. However I remembered using a small loc on in early 90’s and thought geez I’d like one of those again cuz they were much like the new lwcg’s. So I researched them and found them out of stock/discontinued. I hadn’t read the forums on them yet and hadn’t thought to even look honestly. Then got bored and started looking on Craigslist for tree stands thinking I might get lucky and find a steal as quality stands occasionally pop up in my area. Low and behold there was my old stand from the 90’s looking real good. Emailed guy and he was an older gentleman who is in process of moving and can’t climb trees anymore and I snagged it for $20!!! It’s in just about pristine shape other then a little rust on buckle but straps still usable however I believe I’ll be changing it out to a newer cam buckle before season. I’m also looking to make a few other mods like maybe adding some sort of diy stand off type thing for the bottom V. Hoping that may bite into tree a bit instead of the smooth surface that currently relies completely on pressure and weight on top of platform. I’ve used these stands before and have thrown it up a couple times since buying it and it’s very stable but might be a bit of and improvement if I can work it out. Also may try amsteel daisy chains for cable replacements in order to make small leveling adjustments for platform. Not sure if in the end I’ll do anything at all as it works pretty dam good now. If it’s just taking a couple bolts off and trying something to only put original thing back on thats fine it’s only my time. I really do like the stand as my trophy line mini sticks are made to seat onto each other and they are 1in tubes. Hey so happens the back tubes on the WindWalker just happen to be 1in tubes so with a small stagger and seating tight against top seat nuts held down with some gear ties for the moment totally silent. 4 sticks, 1-2 step aider, 1-1step aider and I’m comfortably up 18ft hunting. I have a brand new saddle so truthfully I envision myself using some sort of hybrid saddle set up with the stand. I had bought a wingman platform that I may turn into a one stick so I might have a loc on hang n hunt setup and a one stick setup but I have to try the one stick out before I decide. However $20 old school stand purchased off Craigslist is hell of a deal in end when I was prepared to spend $500-600 for a lwcg!!! Those lwcg’s .5/.75 and beast stands sure do look sexy though and boy I like shine new toys but I also LUV ”Old School” throw backs that just plain work much like my grand dads old 94 Winchester!!!
