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Aiders in the dark

Chickenhawk

Chickenhawk

Active Member
Joined
May 9, 2018
Messages
128
Thinking bout purchasing a set of tree steps, also getting an aider with it. Anyone with experience with type of set up let me know what you think about descending after dark. Easy to see or not? Thanks


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Would not suggest "glow in the dark" anything, maybe that was a joke.

In many cases, there is enough ambient light to see what you're doing. When there's not, safety trumps everything. I use a headlamp that outputs red light; that color is supposed to be low-impact WRT deer and their vision.
 
I put a small strip of reflective tape on lots of my hunting things.
A headlamp makes them really stand out but I dont have the tape on my aiders or stepps/sticks.

I haul my gear up after I climb so my pack and bow haul loop both have two strips of red reflective tape about 5" apart. My haul rope hook has a small strip of white reflective tape on the backside of the hook so it is easy to link them up when I reach my hunting height.

If you use a quality headlamp it isnt necessary to put it on the stepps/sticks/aiders because, well, you can see them in the light. Things about 20-25' away are much harder to see!

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Chickenhawk said:
Anyone with experience with type of set up let me know what you think about descending after dark. Easy to see or not?
Thanks
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Click to expand...

I have no experience with aiders but from all the pictures, videos posted here, to me they look like an accident waiting to happen. The way I look at it, is my safety worth saving carrying an additional pound or two? But then again, I'm an old man, not a young man. :relieved: Of course making good decisions helped me get to be an old man... lol.
 
[QUOTE="Chickenhawk, post: 108117
I rappel down. It feels very secure to be tied into the tree all the way down. I rappel to a step or stick, take it off, rappel to the next, repeat till I’m on the ground. Then pull my rope out of the tree.

I use an aider going up but I find them challenging to use when climbing down. I use a 5 step aider and I have a heck of a time feeling the loops with my feet (usually wearing muck boots) in the dark,



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk[/QUOTE]
 
3 modified helium sticks, one removable aider gets me to 20-21 foot easily. By using the water irrigation tubing it really is not hard at all to get my foot in the loop. Also, by having it hook on to the top of my stick it is easy to pull it up and put my foot in for leaning trees.

I used this system exclusively last year and really have no plans on changing. I will still buy a set of Dan Infalt's sticks when they come out just because I want to support him and they are really nice.... but my current stick setup I have been using for 5 years now and they work on every tree I have ever climbed. At just a tad over 6 pounds, and attached to my pack, they are super easy to carry and get through the brush. And having climber literally 1000s of trees with them, I can use them in total darkness by feel and without making a lot of motion or noise (yes I practice this as well).

Totally happy with my set-up at this point. Could I get creative and shave off a pound -perhaps? but as I have said many times, the easiest and most productive weight savings for me has been the real estate just north of my belt.... down 35#s this season and still room for another 10 before Oct 1st.
 
DaveT1963 said:
3 modified helium sticks, one removable aider gets me to 20-21 foot easily. By using the water irrigation tubing it really is not hard at all to get my foot in the loop. Also, by having it hook on to the top of my stick it is easy to pull it up and put my foot in for leaning trees.

I used this system exclusively last year and really have no plans on changing. I will still buy a set of Dan Infalt's sticks when they come out just because I want to support him and they are really nice.... but my current stick setup I have been using for 5 years now and they work on every tree I have ever climbed. At just a tad over 6 pounds, and attached to my pack, they are super easy to carry and get through the brush. And having climber literally 1000s of trees with them, I can use them in total darkness by feel and without making a lot of motion or noise (yes I practice this as well).

Totally happy with my set-up at this point. Could I get creative and shave off a pound -perhaps? but as I have said many times, the easiest and most productive weight savings for me has been the real estate just north of my belt.... down 35#s this season and still room for another 10 before Oct 1st.
Click to expand...

Do you put the aider over the top of the stick and let it rest on the bracket?
 
DaveT1963 said:
3 modified helium sticks, one removable aider gets me to 20-21 foot easily. By using the water irrigation tubing it really is not hard at all to get my foot in the loop. Also, by having it hook on to the top of my stick it is easy to pull it up and put my foot in for leaning trees.

I used this system exclusively last year and really have no plans on changing. I will still buy a set of Dan Infalt's sticks when they come out just because I want to support him and they are really nice.... but my current stick setup I have been using for 5 years now and they work on every tree I have ever climbed. At just a tad over 6 pounds, and attached to my pack, they are super easy to carry and get through the brush. And having climber literally 1000s of trees with them, I can use them in total darkness by feel and without making a lot of motion or noise (yes I practice this as well).

Totally happy with my set-up at this point. Could I get creative and shave off a pound -perhaps? but as I have said many times, the easiest and most productive weight savings for me has been the real estate just north of my belt.... down 35#s this season and still room for another 10 before Oct 1st.
Click to expand...
@DaveT1963 I tried climbing a tree using a friend's muddy pro sticks and I used a method you showed in your hawk helium video. Using one aider and moving it up with you as you advance. It was genius. I'm glad you shared it in your video
I put the Muddy Pro stick as high as I could reach. The top steps fold down so I put the aider I use (https://www.outdoorgearlab.com/reviews/climbing/aider/yates-big-wall-ladder) over the top step then folded it down. That locked the aider in place and I could easily climb up it to the first step where I could take the aider off the top step, put the aider over my shoulder, install the next stick as high as I could reach and repeat. One aider and maybe 7.5- 8 feet per stick. I liked it so much I ordered a set of muddy pro sticks. It would be easy enough to use the aider going down in the dark but I will just rappel.
 
Adamcincy said:
@DaveT1963 I tried climbing a tree using a friend's muddy pro sticks and I used a method you showed in your hawk helium video. Using one aider and moving it up with you as you advance. It was genius. I'm glad you shared it in your video
I put the Muddy Pro stick as high as I could reach. The top steps fold down so I put the aider I use (https://www.outdoorgearlab.com/reviews/climbing/aider/yates-big-wall-ladder) over the top step then folded it down. That locked the aider in place and I could easily climb up it to the first step where I could take the aider off the top step, put the aider over my shoulder, install the next stick as high as I could reach and repeat. One aider and maybe 7.5- 8 feet per stick. I liked it so much I ordered a set of muddy pro sticks. It would be easy enough to use the aider going down in the dark but I will just rappel.
Click to expand...

I plan on making an updated video soon - I really don't see why anyone is using multiple aiders anymore. The advantage is less weight, less things to carry, and more importantly, in the dark, by having it hang on your top steps, you can pull is up and put your foot in the loop and lower it done rather then trying to fish you foot into a loop hanging from bottom steps. So much easier/safer IMO. I can get to 21 foot easily with right at 6 pounds of sticks/aider.... and if I want to go higher I can easily one stick it from there..... and so far I have not found a single tree that I wanted to hunt that I could not use my sticks/aider in - other methods were heavier and there were trees that I could not get up easily in the dark using other climbing methods (leaners and multiple trunk/branches).

Spurs might be easier and lighter but they are illegal on most public land and I personally believe they pose greater risk on hard/smooth barked or icy trees - but I can't say that for sure as I haven't used them.
 
Adamcincy said:
@DaveT1963 I tried climbing a tree using a friend's muddy pro sticks and I used a method you showed in your hawk helium video. Using one aider and moving it up with you as you advance. It was genius. I'm glad you shared it in your video
I put the Muddy Pro stick as high as I could reach. The top steps fold down so I put the aider I use (https://www.outdoorgearlab.com/reviews/climbing/aider/yates-big-wall-ladder) over the top step then folded it down. That locked the aider in place and I could easily climb up it to the first step where I could take the aider off the top step, put the aider over my shoulder, install the next stick as high as I could reach and repeat. One aider and maybe 7.5- 8 feet per stick. I liked it so much I ordered a set of muddy pro sticks. It would be easy enough to use the aider going down in the dark but I will just rappel.
Click to expand...
I doubt your getting 7.5 feet per stick with the Muddy Pros . Assuming the single aider loop is placed equidistant from the ground and bottom step, the aider loop would have to be 35 inches off the ground. That is a big step.

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BassBoysLLP said:
I doubt your getting 7.5 feet per stick with the Muddy Pros . Assuming the single aider loop is placed equidistant from the ground and bottom step, the aider loop would have to be 35 inches off the ground. That is a big step.

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Click to expand...

The aider he linked is a 6 step aider.
 
Adamcincy said:
@DaveT1963 I tried climbing a tree using a friend's muddy pro sticks and I used a method you showed in your hawk helium video. Using one aider and moving it up with you as you advance. It was genius. I'm glad you shared it in your video
I put the Muddy Pro stick as high as I could reach. The top steps fold down so I put the aider I use (https://www.outdoorgearlab.com/reviews/climbing/aider/yates-big-wall-ladder) over the top step then folded it down. That locked the aider in place and I could easily climb up it to the first step where I could take the aider off the top step, put the aider over my shoulder, install the next stick as high as I could reach and repeat. One aider and maybe 7.5- 8 feet per stick. I liked it so much I ordered a set of muddy pro sticks. It would be easy enough to use the aider going down in the dark but I will just rappel.
Click to expand...
Doing the same method just with my RS aider I am getting about the same height as Dave. My aider makes a huge difference for me and my short legs!
 
BassBoysLLP said:
I doubt your getting 7.5 feet per stick with the Muddy Pros . Assuming the single aider loop is placed equidistant from the ground and bottom step, the aider loop would have to be 35 inches off the ground. That is a big step.

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Click to expand...


7.5' per stick I would think would be tough with a single loop. I have a double loop and it is stretching that first step to get that height. More comfortable/realistic is a little over 6.5' per stick. Which still gets me to 20' , and more often than not I find 15' is enough and don't even use the aider on the third stick much of the time.

I like 20" steps. I played around with 22" and even 24" and just couldn't get as comfortable with them in bulky clothes.

Capture -5.JPG
 
I easily get 6 with a single loop that hangs 24 inch below stick and my 22 inch heliums and can stretch it to 6.5 foot per stick if I want to.
 
After reading this thread I am going to try the single loop aider. I have been researching methods for a while and just can't see myself using a multistep aider and I didn't want anything hanging from my sticks for the reasons highlighted by DaveT1963 in his video. I am already at 5 feet to the top of my first stick, so I should be able to reach 7 feet easily. By my estimates, I should only need it on 2 sticks (of 3) to get to 20ft +/- with my platform. Thanks for the info guys.
 
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The other thing I should note with my double loop system is that quite often I am only using the double loop on the first stick. From there I can set the 2nd/3rd/4th sticks at a height so as to only use one step of the aider, and it works great. Being that I am often miles back in BFE and half the time my wife doesn't even know where I am, I tend to be overly cautious climbing and like to minimize the risk as much as possible. But I still have that two step aider to get me an extra couple feet off the first stick, and if I really want to stretch it out I have that option. Best of both worlds in my view.
 
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