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Etriers

g2outdoors said:
Aiders are a great tool. They do require extra caution and time, however.

Go slow, pay attention, use a good Lineman belt. You'll be fine.
Click to expand...
You can make the same statement about spurs or just about any climbing method

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I haven't seen anyone using this setup so I thought I'd throw it out there.

I've been using this setup for the last 15 years or so with a treesuit. Couple of aiders hung off ameristeps. Of course I have on a linesman's belt on the way up and down. I put my boot toe against the tree and I've never had any scary moments. If I'm hanging off a food source tree like a white oak, instead of 10 yards out from it on another tree, sometimes I grab the bottom aider on my way up just so it's not hanging there like a scent wick for any deer that come straight in to the tree.

Honestly, I can't imagine carrying sticks again!

Aider.jpg

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Southbow said:
I haven't seen anyone using this setup so I thought I'd throw it out there.

I've been using this setup for the last 15 years or so with a treesuit. Couple of aiders hung off ameristeps. Of course I have on a linesman's belt on the way up and down. I put my boot toe against the tree and I've never had any scary moments. If I'm hanging off a food source tree like a white oak, instead of 10 yards out from it on another tree, sometimes I grab the bottom aider on my way up just so it's not hanging there like a scent wick for any deer that come straight in to the tree.

Honestly, I can't imagine carrying sticks again!

View attachment 2474

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Do you have a link for these
 
I've actually been playing around with hanging these off a Jim's Steppladder. Seems to work fine and it holds better than the Ameristrap. I've had a few issues with straps slipping on the tree, nothing dangerous, just aggravating.

Last year I added the buckle Red uses to my top strap and that helps but I got an Ernie's platform and will use one or two Steppladders on either side of the platform. Might as well hang the aider off one of them.
 
Just put a single etrier on a lone wolf stick. Really digging that setup. Might add one to 2nd and 3rd sticks too. I don't know how you guys can hang those sticks with 3 step etriers. I'm 6'2" and have trouble camming the sticks down tight enough if I put them up too high.
 
d_rek said:
Just put a single etrier on a lone wolf stick. Really digging that setup. Might add one to 2nd and 3rd sticks too. I don't know how you guys can hang those sticks with 3 step etriers. I'm 6'2" and have trouble camming the sticks down tight enough if I put them up too high.
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I guess that is why I like muddy sticks they can down easy


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D-rek - I make sure the LW strap is parallel to the ground and snug it up good. The stick wont sag all that much, if at all.
I am 6' and can consistently get my top step on the stick at 8' if I am on level ground. If I try to get it higher I have to dance around and make too much noise - aint worth it for another couple inches.

This year is a two-stick year for me, each wih an aider.
I do lile the longer aider on a strap on stick idea, but these LW sticks are just too stable for me to experiment with right now.

I am a simpleton though, because of that I am really excited about using a Wild Edge stepp platform - I usually just used my top step on my sticks as one of my platform steps.

Pretty easy to get a pair of these hung at the same level after watching the videos. I may buy more soon; I am liking them a lot.

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Scott F said:
D-rek - I make sure the LW strap is parallel to the ground and snug it up good. The stick wont sag all that much, if at all.
I am 6' and can consistently get my top step on the stick at 8' if I am on level ground. If I try to get it higher I have to dance around and make too much noise - aint worth it for another couple inches.

This year is a two-stick year for me, each wih an aider.
I do lile the longer aider on a strap on stick idea, but these LW sticks are just too stable for me to experiment with right now.

I am a simpleton though, because of that I am really excited about using a Wild Edge stepp platform - I usually just used my top step on my sticks as one of my platform steps.

Pretty easy to get a pair of these hung at the same level after watching the videos. I may buy more soon; I am liking them a lot.

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Click to expand...
That's a really good setup. I add a 3rd stick to get me to 20'. I really wish I could get away with 2. I wouldn't climb any other way. All I'd need is a couple Ameristeps or Stepp ladders at the top for my platform.

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I'll give it a shot. I've got about 30ft of tubular webbing to play with yet.


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Nice. I've experimented with aiders directly on the cam strap without a step.
It can be sketchy on crooked trees and with big boots
Southbow said:
I haven't seen anyone using this setup so I thought I'd throw it out there.

I've been using this setup for the last 15 years or so with a treesuit. Couple of aiders hung off ameristeps. Of course I have on a linesman's belt on the way up and down. I put my boot toe against the tree and I've never had any scary moments. If I'm hanging off a food source tree like a white oak, instead of 10 yards out from it on another tree, sometimes I grab the bottom aider on my way up just so it's not hanging there like a scent wick for any deer that come straight in to the tree.

Honestly, I can't imagine carrying sticks again!

View attachment 2474

view
Click to expand...
 
Scott F said:
D-rek - I make sure the LW strap is parallel to the ground and snug it up good. The stick wont sag all that much, if at all.
I am 6' and can consistently get my top step on the stick at 8' if I am on level ground. If I try to get it higher I have to dance around and make too much noise - aint worth it for another couple inches.

This year is a two-stick year for me, each wih an aider.
I do lile the longer aider on a strap on stick idea, but these LW sticks are just too stable for me to experiment with right now.

I am a simpleton though, because of that I am really excited about using a Wild Edge stepp platform - I usually just used my top step on my sticks as one of my platform steps.

Pretty easy to get a pair of these hung at the same level after watching the videos. I may buy more soon; I am liking them a lot.

Sent from my SM-S820L using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
So are you planning to use the top of your sticks and two stepp ladders as your platform? Have you climbed with the stepp ladder? I'm afraid of them being slow to climb with.
 
valerio024 - I used to use the top step of my LW stick as my center platform step but not this season.
This year I intend on just using (2x) stepp ladder steps as my platform, basically one for each foot separated by a few inches depending on the tree diameter that I am hunting from. I like smaller diameter trees but the stepp ladder system seems to work best with at least a 'medium' sized tree or larger.

I can get my top step of my second LW stick up to about 15-16', assuming that I install my stepp ladder platform another 16" or so above that, I expect to have my feet right around the 18' mark above the ground (give or take a foot). That is plenty high enough for me.

I am not a dedicated 'trophy' hunter so I am not as self-disciplined as some others as it pertains to nosebleed heights in a tree. Without hesitation I'd shoot the largest buck in the state if it walked past, but I'd happily shoot first tasty doe. I just need to shape the conditions for my success and I feel comfortable doing this somewhere above 15' and this system will enable me to do so.
 
Ok so here's my etrier mod for this season.

6aec2899f2c3210d7df5fcfd9ab010ce.jpg


One 2-step etrier and two 1-step etriers. I have a fourth stick but ran out of tubular webbing. I will order some more webbing and add a third 1-step etrier to my fourth stick.

I used 1" polyester tubular webbing from strapworks.com and added 12" piece of 9mm accessory cord inside the tube so the stirrup would hold its form when not under pressure.

I went with 2-step versus a three step because after tying up the three step I found I couldn't hang my climbing stick high enough to get the bottom stirrup off the ground. And I am 6'2" with long limbs. The 2-step felt perfect for me.

While alternating between hard and soft steps can be tricky I found if you take your time and go slow climbing is no more difficult with the etriers than without them. The hardest part for me is the bottom stick etrier and fishing your foot through the bottom stirrup. Other than that I didn't run into any issues when climbing.

This setup effectively adds about 64" of climbing height. With a 3rd one step etrier I should be able to add another 16" of height and bump that height upto 78", or just over 6ft.

Previously with my 4 unmodded sticks I was able to get to 18-20ft of height. I should be able to get well over 20ft easy with this setup.


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Nice!

Quick question for you - are you going to leave them attached to your sticks during your walk in?

I (currently) am thinking about removing them prior to walking in/out of the woods, and just hitch'm up when I get to my tree. Takes only seconds and may stop me from getting hung up on my way to the tree I intend to hunt from.

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Scott F said:
Nice!

Quick question for you - are you going to leave them attached to your sticks during your walk in?

I (currently) am thinking about removing them prior to walking in/out of the woods, and just hitch'm up when I get to my tree. Takes only seconds and may stop me from getting hung up on my way to the tree I intend to hunt from.

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Click to expand...

Yes they'll stay attached. My attachment loop isn't large enough to attach without removing the v bracket. Plus I use a universal carry strap to lash everything together which keeps all of the webbing from dangling and loose.


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