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1 sticking setups

Anyone using versa button with USA amsteel hitch? If so what's your thoughts?
 
I use the ultimate usa on my platform and it holds tight but it's a little hard to get undone. Perfect for a platform but not a one stick set up
 
I believe it is referred to as the "pro" series? Looks like they solved the way to loosen with one hand?
 
JASmith said:
I believe it is referred to as the "pro" series? Looks like they solved the way to loosen with one hand?
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It uses 2 opposing schwabisch hitches with a tender between I believe. There is a lot going on there. Might work. Haven’t tried that one. Tried the OG USA and forget about that thing.

Another option might be to try a WLR hitch. That hitch can moved under load. I bought a Wild line lineman’s belt with one on and it’s a pretty sweet hitch.
 
Any kinda hitch increases the minimum diameter of tree you can climb, you gotta account for the length of the hitch cord. Cripes two opposing hitches I would imagine pretty significantly. The cleats work well enough I just can't see any reason to reinvent the proverbial wheel, but saddlegearheads gonna do gearhead things I guess #keeptinkering.
 
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I wouldn't 1-stick with anything but a cam cleat on my stick... that alone makes it so much more efficient and allows me to get extra distance with every move. otherwise it wouldn't be worth it to me.
 
The usa I use is a pro series. Forgot the name, I made mine. It uses one swabisch in the middle and a prussic on the end and it gets really tight but it's kind of a hassle to get undone. Can be done with one hand but easier to use 2.
Agree with the cam cleat. This is the way
 
I need to start keeping a checklist with me. I've one sticked 5 times this season:

1st time I forgot to connect my retrieval rope
2nd time I dropped my plaftform on my last move
3rd time went fine
4th time I forgot the unattach my tether clip so I left the rope in the tree for next day
5th time (return to 4th tree) I remembered everything but still had a heck of a time retreiving my rope and ultimately ended up forgetting my retrieval line on the ground (i think) when I left

Other than almost always having to climb the tree an extra time I like the concept. I have a cut down hawk helium w/ HSP platform w/ a two step aider and I don't love it. It doesn't bite real well and creaks in the cold. The two step aider is right. It's not a bad starter setup to see if you like the concept without breaking the bank. I only use it when I have a long walk and know there are fairly straight and small trees where I'm going. Rope retrieval is by far my worst enemy when it comes to one sticking. If i can get passed that it may become my primary method.
 
THill202 said:
I need to start keeping a checklist with me. I've one sticked 5 times this season:

1st time I forgot to connect my retrieval rope
2nd time I dropped my plaftform on my last move
3rd time went fine
4th time I forgot the unattach my tether clip so I left the rope in the tree for next day
5th time (return to 4th tree) I remembered everything but still had a heck of a time retreiving my rope and ultimately ended up forgetting my retrieval line on the ground (i think) when I left

Other than almost always having to climb the tree an extra time I like the concept. I have a cut down hawk helium w/ HSP platform w/ a two step aider and I don't love it. It doesn't bite real well and creaks in the cold. The two step aider is right. It's not a bad starter setup to see if you like the concept without breaking the bank. I only use it when I have a long walk and know there are fairly straight and small trees where I'm going. Rope retrieval is by far my worst enemy when it comes to one sticking. If i can get passed that it may become my primary method.
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My retrieval rope is also my pull up rope for bow and to help make sure i dont forget to connect it to my rappel line, i will either go ahead and connect it after pulling my bow up so its there or i will clip it into my hys strap right below where my quicklink so its there in my face.
 
Timberdonkey_059 said:
I wouldn't 1-stick with anything but a cam cleat on my stick... that alone makes it so much more efficient and allows me to get extra distance with every move. otherwise it wouldn't be worth it to me.
Click to expand...
What is your aider length & distance per move?
 
Here's my setup:
  • EWO Ultimate One-Stick
    • 2-step Amsteel aider: 15" spacing
    • full-bury Amsteel rope
    • Cam cleat
  • 40' 8mm RescTech with a sewn eye on one end + EWO 22" sewn eye-to-eye hitch cord and Kong oval steel quicklink
  • 40' orange dynaglide throwline for bow pull-up and rope retrieval + black diamond "mini" wiregate carabiner
  • 8mm RescTech lineman's rope + 20" Cruzr sewn eye-to-eye hitch cord
  • A second tether: OpLux with a sewn continuous prusik loop and a carabiner in a sewn loop
  • Black Diamond figure-8 belay device for rappel
  • A 120cm Mammut dyneema sling
  • Climbing-rated carabiners for everything (Black Diamond and Wild Country)
  • A loop of elastic shock cord with a plastic carabiner that I put in a prusik around my rappel/tether rope to keep it taut against the tree as I climb
I use those small Ottolini key-chain things and a length of 550 cord to tend my hitches, and that works well.

I use friction hitches for everything: lineman's rope uses a Michaocan hitch, and I run a Cosmo hitch on the tether/rappel line. I leave a prusik on my second-tether since I don't really adjust that under tension.

Getting up is pretty standard. I tied a loop into the end of the dynaglide line with a figure-8, feed it through the limbs of my bow and put a girth hitch in it around my stabilizer. I clip the little carabiner onto my saddle somewhere for the climb. I start out with the top of the stick at about head-height. I advance my tether as I climb, one-hand tending as I'm on the aider until I get onto the lower step, then moving the tether up along the trunk until I'm on the top step. The shockcord on rope just holds it firm against the tree so it doesn't slip down as I move. I climb back down to the lower step to move the stick, though, which I've found makes it easy to handle the stick to move and I still get to ~25' in 3 movements after the initial placement.

When I get to hunting-height, I put a HYS strap on the tree, attach my pack to it with an old Kong carabiner, and then open up the hero-clip I use as a bow-holder; I haul the bow up, take off the quiver and attach it to the HYS strap, and hang the bow on the hero clip. I take the carabiner from the dynaglide rope and attach that to the eye on the rappel rope. I disconnect my lineman's rope and stow it in a pouch. I disconnect the shockcord from the rope and put that in a pouch. I get my binos, range finder, and calls out of my pack and hang them. Once I hit legal light, I nock an arrow and attach my release (I use a thumb release to hunt) and I'm hunting.

To get back down, put everything away, reattach my quiver, lower my bow, then I re-attach my lineman's rope, pull it so I'm basically snug up against the tree. I put a little bit of slack in my tether and put the figure eight in into a bite of rope above the hitch: I use the sling (doubled over twice) with two carabiners to attach the figure 8 to my bridge. Now I toss down the slack of the rope and I lower myself down onto the lower step, disconnect and stow my lineman's rope and rappel down another foot or so. I grab my stick and I usually wrap it up right there: bunch up the aider as best I can and wrap the rope around it. I usually hold it across my chest while I rappel the rest of the way down. Once on the ground, disconnect from the rope, put the sling+biners and figure 8 away, and depending on the tree I either take the hitch and tender off the rope or I don't (if it's a telephone pole and the rope is coming straight down, I don't bother; if I know I'm going to have to pull the tag end of the rope through the quicklink, I do). I get the rope down, and figure-8 up the dynaglide line and put that away in a zippered pocket on a pouch, then I reattach the hitch and tender to my rappel/tether rope if necessary, put the shockcord prusik back on it, and figure-8 my rope and stow it in a pouch. I attach the stick to my pack, grab my bow, and head out. I had back to the truck completely ready to hunt again, and in basically the same configuration as I came from the truck.

I've found this setup can work for an all-day hang.
 
Cbigbear said:
What is your aider length & distance per move?
Click to expand...

I would have to measure honestly. I use an amsteel 2 step aider but not sure on step distance or overall length. Also not sure on each move distance but I know that each time I set my tether as high as possible so I can reset the stick as high as possible and when I reach down to detach the stick, I would not be able to reach a button or any other sort of stick attachment. What I do only works because I can grab the tag end of the rope off the top of the stick platform and "yank" it out of the cam cleat.
 
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