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DIY 2 step CAYG Aider(rookie mistakes were made)

DanielB89

DanielB89

Well-Known Member
Joined
Nov 17, 2017
Messages
1,381
Location
Monroe, LA
I am not the best with a step by step diy, so just bear with me.
I wanted to share a little DIY I just completed. Overall, I am not upset with my first attempt.
I also failed to take a few pictures along the way, but I do have the finished product.


I am using the strongest 1" webbing I could find online and gutterman 40 thread. All connections were stitched with at least a 4" zig zag pattern with as many passes as possible and then boxed in and backstitched to lock it all in. Thread injector is a Singer 401A.

On the CAYG aider I used for the past 2 years I had a 22" step from aider to bottom step. I wanted to add another step below it to do away with (my typical) 4st stick. I wanted to carry 3 sticks and hunt higher than in previous years.

My stick is a Leverage stick I cut down from 32" to 24" stick and made it two steps in stead of three. So the aider will be looped over the top stand off with both straps running in front of the bottom step. As I step up from the aider to the bottom step, I throw the aider around my neck, stepping on the top stick and repeating the process.

I started with about 120" of webbing and made a huge loop. The length isn't that important as long as it's long enough to have 2 steps below.
 
59dc1baa77344a227dfec9557d836297.jpg



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When I finished my loop I had 37" between the bottom step of stick and the bottom of loop. I had planned on just splitting the difference and turning that into roughly 2 - 18" steps.

So I took the time to measure it all out, precisely stitched at the 18" mark.

That's where my mistake was made; I didn't account for the sag of the step which made the step about 2" shorter than I originally planned.

Although it wasn't exactly what I planned, it worked out better than I thought it would. I know it to be true that the closer I get to the climbing stick while using the aider, the more sturdy it gets. So, in theory, the furthest step being the shortest should help with minimalizing kickouts, or at least it does in theory. haha.
 
I then finished it up with a little orange webbing on top of the middle step.

I will make adjustments on the next one, but I am pleased with my first aider.
 
Looking good man. It’s definitely a trial and error going down the diy road but it’s fun. How you liking the leverage sticks.


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Turkeyslayer7 said:
Looking good man. It’s definitely a trial and error going down the diy road but it’s fun. How you liking the leverage sticks.


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Youre exactly right. IT's not that the DIY's are hard to do, there are just things you wont think to do until you've made the mistake. haha.

At one point I had 16 leverage sticks and have always loved them. I have bought and traded a lot of sticks over the years but I have always kept them. Over the years I have had one mishaps with them where a step broke on me(due to having too much slack in my linemans belt and applying pressure in instead of down), but other than that, nothing has happened with them.
 
I got ya, I have a set of the minis that I don’t use very often but have kept anyway. I’ve actually had the same thing happen last year with one of my hawk helium’s last year while I was climbing down. Luckily it was the last step but still stinks.


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Turkeyslayer7 said:
I got ya, I have a set of the minis that I don’t use very often but have kept anyway. I’ve actually had the same thing happen last year with one of my hawk helium’s last year while I was climbing down. Luckily it was the last step but still stinks.


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Click to expand...

mine was also on the last step. I believe it happened because it was a split trunk which took almost all of my linemans belt anyway, so when I leaned back it just started going and when it caught the step broke. Nothing hurt, but lessons learned. I have a set of mini's and regulars I kept with a few extra steps after I cut the long ones down. I actually built this aider with those in mind. With my 24" sticks I can get about 17' with 3 sticks if I stretch them comfortably; which is around 8 pounds.

All 4 of my mini's weight right at 6 pounds. So I can pick up a 4th stick AND lose about 2 pounds. I am hoping to be able to use just 3 steps with my mini's and get as high. I am debating on either creating a second loop below the top to keep it as a 2 step aider that I can use on both steps, or I am going to add a third step on the bottom which would also allow me to use it on both steps. I think I am leaning towards the 3rd step as that'll still allow me to get the same height out of my shorter sticks as I am with my longer sticks.

I'll go ahead and apologize ahead of time if that did not make sense. haha.
 
Here’s a drawing of it. Forgive me skills(or lack of) haha.

dd4710dda335d4b54d1b849ac12d17ec.jpg



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