Like you I've been lurking on this forum for awhile and finally registered. While I'm new here and to saddles, I'm not new to archery, or climbing sticks.
I actually have the sticks you are asking about in the 20" configuration. People will say they're over priced, they're carbon and not proven, they're too close to the tree and so on. We are very fortunate to have so many great options for sticks because it wasn't long ago that we basically had one choice.
Here is my take. They're light weight (14oz 20" stick), very quiet, have 3.5"s of clearance to the step (identical to my LW sticks) which to my size 13 boot is fine, they stack nicely together and are not offset providing additional length like most do when stacking, the step is flat across the top so when hanging my platform I'm on one leg with my foot across the whole length. The whole angled double step thing I will never understand. With the step being a polymer there is give to it (it flexes) to me this actually makes the step more comfortable. Some will say it makes them feel uneasy or like it is going to break. To me it's the difference between walking on concrete or a wood subfloor. One gives the other doesn't, and rarely does either break. I prefer the give and the flex of the polymer step. Did I mention they don't get near as cold as aluminum versions? As for being proven, carbon fiber is extremely strong in various applications so I don't see why it isn't as strong if not stronger than the aluminum sticks. The price, well yes they're a premium price but if I'm buying the set one time and using it for years as compared to trying every flavor of mid to even high priced aluminum sticks to hit the market in the same timeframe I'm actually ahead of the game. I wanted something different and something that hadn't been done. That was the main reason I tried them and I'm glad I did.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk