I hear what you are saying about climbing down with aiders. Thats the reason I rappel no matter whether I am using sticks, one sticking, Primal steps or SRT. My tether/rappel rope is always attached to the tree and it makes coming down much safer and easier. I just stop the rappel when needed and remove whatever I need to remove and keep on going down. The weight difference between carrying a tether and 40' of 8mm 0r 9mm rope is negligable for me. The other reason I rappel is that if I were to have a stick or a step come loose I can still get back to the ground. If I am only using a tether and a piece of hardware comes loose or fails I might be stuck at tether hieght . Everybody is different, just my two cents.