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Hawk helium mini sticks straps...defective??

S

Shortdraw

New Member
Joined
May 3, 2018
Messages
38
I mostly lurk on this forum and haven't posted a lot but I feel the need to bring this to the attention of other helium stick users. I recently purchased a 4-pack of Helium minis from Mack's. As with some others, the package arrived sloppily taped together with parts rattling inside and sure enough, I had to get some replacement nuts because some were lost. OK, that part comes with the price point and, and since it is 2020, I guess that is supposed to be acceptable. Today I took them out to climb a tree and see how they performed. When I weighted the step with all of my immense, Herculean 160 lbs, the strap slipped. I thought it was me so I reset and...did it again. So I thought maybe it was just one strap (after all the packaging didn't indicate pride in production so why would the actual construction?). Well, that step's strap slipped as well. These things aren't safe...period. If the same has not happened to you, that indicates inconsistencies in production. If this is happening to others, then it is consistent, but not in a good way.

For a little background, I have the three step Heliums that I bought a couple of years ago. Have not had this problem. I have some of the old Lone Wolf steps that never failed me either. And as far as climbing stuff, I'm a fit 59 year old that started rock climbing when I was 19 so I'm used to screwing around up in the air. This sort of crappy production would simply not be tolerated in the climbing/mountaineering world and I would encourage all of you to not tolerate it either. Yes, I'll contact Hawk (or, rather, their parent company) and I'm sure I'll get some story on par with their packaging. But I am telling all of you about this so someone doesn't get hurt. Hopefully it was a bad batch of either the webbing (which by the way is so remarkably cheap looking I can't believe their lawyers would let them use it!) or the cam. Regardless, I don't want to hear about someone going in deep, trying to set something up and getting hurt. I'm going to replace the straps with some from another brand (any recommendations?) but I encourage all of you that bought some of the minis this year to give a hard inspection before heading out this fall. Stay safe.
 
I'm not sure what you mean when you say the strap slipped. Did it slip on the tree, or was it slipping through the cam buckle?
 
Im guessing since youve had them before, you did it right. But are you positive that the strap was fed properly? I know i fed my helium strap improperly and they do not hold any weight.

Either way thank you for the information, always glad to see people warning others of the dangers of any defective equipment or potential risks so as a community we can all stay safe
 
I'll do the due diligence and make sure they were fed properly from the factory but wow, if not, just one more quality control issue. But I'll check tonight or tomorrow.
 
Double check that the strap is threaded properly (I have messed that up myself) and report back.
 
CZMark said:
Double check that the strap is threaded properly (I have messed that up myself) and report back.
Click to expand...
Good morning. I haven't put the sticks back on a tree yet but I did hook them up and put a foot in the loop. FWIW the angles are steeper with my foot in the loop rather than around a tree. Not sure if that's a factor or not. Still one of them slipped through the cam. I'll mark it and try the other three on a tree when I have a moment later today.
 
I've never used sticks, so I've been practicing using my helium sticks once a day for the past 4 days, tree in my yard is only 15 feet, so only been using three sticks at a time. But I have not seen this behavior, no slippage. I don't like the sticks all that much, with the slag and missing parts and the way they stack. But at the price point, it's hard to beat. I have ordered amsteel to make some daisy chains, so I won't be using the straps much longer, but I have not seen slippage with my straps.

One time as I was coming down as soon as I hit the buckle release the strap fell right off the button. But that only happened once.
 
I'm not 100% certain on this but it seems to me that every issue with these sticks I've heard about was bought from Macks (slipping strap, slag, steps being drilled incorrectly). Has anyone had any of these issues with Helium sticks bought elsewhere?
 
I got a set from Mack's and they are fine. The parts box had opened inside the main box but all the parts were accounted for. I didn't even open the bag with the straps because I already had amsteel daisy chains from my other sticks that I will be using.
 
Gator said:
I'm not 100% certain on this but it seems to me that every issue with these sticks I've heard about was bought from Macks (slipping strap, slag, steps being drilled incorrectly). Has anyone had any of these issues with Helium sticks bought elsewhere?
Click to expand...
Mine are from Camofire. Slag, holes drilled wrong on 2 steps, hard suction cups, buttons with hang nails (instead of being slick, get hung up on Amsteel fibers). Never even unpacked the straps.

But at 2 lbs and $25 a stick, it still beats everything else on the market.
 
My Hawk Helium sticks are full length but I did put a versa button from Lonewolf on them along with a Lonewolf strapes.
 
can you post a pic of the strap and stick so we can all see the issue you are having? maybe we can help more that way
 
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