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Had My First Climb Today

D

dorvaan

New Member
SH Member
Joined
Jan 25, 2023
Messages
34
Location
Southwest, WI
So late last year I decided that I hate myself, so my son and I are taking up bow hunting.

Fast forward to today and I had my first climb using a Cruzr XC saddle and an EWO one stick with the ultimate platform. Before I went up, I spent some time on the ground just getting used to how the tether felt and getting a feel for rappelling with a Madrock. Here are things I learned that I feel the YouTube videos don't tell you:

First of all, the first climb is fairly easy. It's a little awkward at first because it's a new movement and you have to trust yourself and the equipment.

The first time I moved my stick was a little nerve wracking. Saying I was scared is probably going too far. But it was a strange feeling for sure. I 100% felt more comfortable using my linesmen belt in the transition of moving my tether higher. I've seen so many people in videos do their moves without the belt. That's certainly not something that I feel like I'll ever be comfortable with doing. Having the belt cinch me into the tree made all the difference for me.

I also had to adjust my location on the tree with the first move. I hadn't taken into account the slight lean as it went up and I could definitely feel gravity winning as I struggled to keep myself from slightly swinging around the tree. So on the first move of the stick I adjusted and life was much better.

When I started to come down, despite all the warnings I've read and all the times I've heard it in videos, I almost forgot to hook up my pull line before going back down. I had already removed my stick, clipped it to the saddle and was starting to pull the Madrock when I realized that I hadn't hooked it up. There's just so many things you're trying to process and be sure to do, all at once. Fortunately, I didn't forget in the end. What I DID forget however, is to remove my tether lock. I used a 3D printed clip on one that I made. It must hold pretty well because I had to pull HARD to finally get it to pop off from the ground.

Overall, I was in the tree for about 1.25 hours. I basically just sat up there and moved to a few different positions. I was worried about comfort and I can say that it was not uncomfortable in any way. I ended with my feet at about 10-11 feet off the ground, as the tree forked there and was no longer anywhere near straight

I'm looking forward to getting out more and more as it warms up.
 
dorvaan said:
So late last year I decided that I hate myself, so my son and I are taking up bow hunting.

Fast forward to today and I had my first climb using a Cruzr XC saddle and an EWO one stick with the ultimate platform. Before I went up, I spent some time on the ground just getting used to how the tether felt and getting a feel for rappelling with a Madrock. Here are things I learned that I feel the YouTube videos don't tell you:

First of all, the first climb is fairly easy. It's a little awkward at first because it's a new movement and you have to trust yourself and the equipment.

The first time I moved my stick was a little nerve wracking. Saying I was scared is probably going too far. But it was a strange feeling for sure. I 100% felt more comfortable using my linesmen belt in the transition of moving my tether higher. I've seen so many people in videos do their moves without the belt. That's certainly not something that I feel like I'll ever be comfortable with doing. Having the belt cinch me into the tree made all the difference for me.

I also had to adjust my location on the tree with the first move. I hadn't taken into account the slight lean as it went up and I could definitely feel gravity winning as I struggled to keep myself from slightly swinging around the tree. So on the first move of the stick I adjusted and life was much better.

When I started to come down, despite all the warnings I've read and all the times I've heard it in videos, I almost forgot to hook up my pull line before going back down. I had already removed my stick, clipped it to the saddle and was starting to pull the Madrock when I realized that I hadn't hooked it up. There's just so many things you're trying to process and be sure to do, all at once. Fortunately, I didn't forget in the end. What I DID forget however, is to remove my tether lock. I used a 3D printed clip on one that I made. It must hold pretty well because I had to pull HARD to finally get it to pop off from the ground.

Overall, I was in the tree for about 1.25 hours. I basically just sat up there and moved to a few different positions. I was worried about comfort and I can say that it was not uncomfortable in any way. I ended with my feet at about 10-11 feet off the ground, as the tree forked there and was no longer anywhere near straight

I'm looking forward to getting out more and more as it warms up.
Click to expand...
Well done. Slow, steady and safe is the best way to go.
 
So that was your first time at any kind of height in the saddle & one sticking?? Definitely everyone gets that pucker beginning to saddle hunt. Stay safe, check all your connection points. 2-3 times before weighting them. You’ll develop familiarity with your gear & it will become second nature. Btw congrats on figuring out bow hunting with your son, will be an awesome endeavor!!!!!
 
Bigterp said:
So that was your first time at any kind of height in the saddle & one sticking?? Definitely everyone gets that pucker beginning to saddle hunt. Stay safe, check all your connection points. 2-3 times before weighting them. You’ll develop familiarity with your gear & it will become second nature. Btw congrats on figuring out bow hunting with your son, will be an awesome endeavor!!!!!
Click to expand...

That was my first time climbing of any sort at all. I've never even used a tree stand. So yeah, it was quite the pucker. Haha I was certainly checking the connections. It took a long time to trust that it was safe to take the linesmen belt off and let the tether support me. I'm anxiously awaiting it becoming more second nature for me.


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Congrats man! After a few more sessions you will start trusting your gear and will stop straining all the time. Then you can really relax and it’s easy! I’m running the exact same setup and it’s awesome.
 
It's funny that you posted this, I climbed using my new EWO Ultimate One Stick for the first time yesterday too. I have been climbing trees in tree stands for nearly 40 years but I don't think I have ever enjoyed it as much as I did yesterday. That first move was a little worrisome but after that it was great and rappelling is just too much fun. I didn't spend much time in the saddle because I am still waiting on mine to come in and I'm using my nephews XOP saddle and I get some pretty good hip pinch with it. But for the first time I would call it an overwhelming success.
 
Dyehard said:
It's funny that you posted this, I climbed using my new EWO Ultimate One Stick for the first time yesterday too. I have been climbing trees in tree stands for nearly 40 years but I don't think I have ever enjoyed it as much as I did yesterday. That first move was a little worrisome but after that it was great and rappelling is just too much fun. I didn't spend much time in the saddle because I am still waiting on mine to come in and I'm using my nephews XOP saddle and I get some pretty good hip pinch with it. But for the first time I would call it an overwhelming success.
Click to expand...
It's definitely a blast. I'm looking forward to doing it more.
 
Woohoo! I’ve forgotten both. I started lowering my bow before descending just so I’d have to hook the cord to something. Do you have a giant gear tie on top of your stick? Congratulations!
 
bfriendly said:
Woohoo! I’ve forgotten both. I started lowering my bow before descending just so I’d have to hook the cord to something. Do you have a giant gear tie on top of your stick? Congratulations!
Click to expand...
No gear tie. I'm using a 3D printed tether locker that I found on Thingiverse. It seems to do the job pretty well.
 
I think @overspined is probably concerned with slack in the tether as you step up. That is why I quit one sticking,no good way to eliminate it.
I also don't like linemans belts. It is better than nothing but I wouldn't want to slip using one.
Another concern is keeping your fingers outside of the tether when advancing in case you slip and catch your own fingers when the tether cinches. Happened to somebody on here...
To each their own,but one sticking has its risks.
 
Bowmanmike said:
I think @overspined is probably concerned with slack in the tether as you step up. That is why I quit one sticking,no good way to eliminate it.
I also don't like linemans belts. It is better than nothing but I wouldn't want to slip using one.
Another concern is keeping your fingers outside of the tether when advancing in case you slip and catch your own fingers when the tether cinches. Happened to somebody on here...
To each their own,but one sticking has its risks.
Click to expand...

That all makes sense. That was honestly the most nerve wracking part. I had my linesmen belt so so cinched down to the tree that I don't think it would have been possible to fall. Obviously it would have still been possible, but I was trying to minimize my risk as much as I could.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
dorvaan said:
That all makes sense. That was honestly the most nerve wracking part. I had my linesmen belt so so cinched down to the tree that I don't think it would have been possible to fall. Obviously it would have still been possible, but I was trying to minimize my risk as much as I could.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Yup,you can try to minimize the risks,but they are still there.Lots of people are one sticking.

Rope climbing is where it is at for me. I love the JRB method because I can let go of everything at any point and I won't be going anywhere.
But we all have to decide what works for us and what out priorities are.
I just want you to be aware.
 
Congratulations on your climb! Practice and awareness of safe practices will serve you well!

Maybe one of us can locate one of the many prior
Threads that discuss the potential risks of “one sticking” and having slack in the tether, as well as the many ways that people have developed to minimize those risks. So that this thread doesn’t need to rehash all those conversations.
 
You guys know you can set up a tree with 550 so if you want to hunt the same tree again you can just pull your rappelling rope up the tree then climb without causing any slack.
 
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