Latitude carbon sticks follow up

[Dmathews87]

posted when latitude had their sale that i bought their sticks and gave a real quick and dirty on them Ive climbed with them a handful of times now and wanted to follow up as lot of people still have questions about them.

Bought em for the weight reduction and you really notice it...they are very light weight and stack very well. I bought aiders from custom amsteel products ( 3 step on 1st, 2 step on 2nd, one step on 3rd ) and im hitting 20' easy. attaching with the wings takes a little bit to get used but overall very simple and quick...i never saw any reason\or way the amsteel would be breaking these wings off). sticks do bite well to the tree and if you set the amsteel level with the tabs as recommended, the amount of drop you get from it setting was very minimal. I touched briefly on the foot room with the standoffs...for me coming from years of lone wolf sticks, it was the first thing i noticed when i climbed up, but to be clear at no time did i feel unsafe or like i was going to slip off the stick...its just there and you notice....climb a few times and you stop noticing. I put shock cord on bottoms to attach to a clip on my saddle and i can attach 2 to one clip which is nice. Also added the stealth strips and grip tape to tops. All in all, super impressed and i bought a tethrd predator to try this year (also loving) Super light weight setup that i hardly even know is on my back...

 

[Andrew920]

I used them all last season. They were great!

 

[Mopar1169]

Used mine all season as well. No complaints at all. I use 3 most the time with the latitude aiders on them.

 

[bfriendly]

Y’all make me want to give sticks a try again. That’s a sweet setup!

 

[fewgitive]

I like using a GC Single w Latitude SS or Tethrd 1 stick. Only have to get your foot in it one time and u go

 

[kalcoone]

I use 5 sticks with an aider only at the very bottom as I feel I will end up hurt using aiders. Bought these because of the weight, stacking and reasonable price.

 

[Alaska at Heart]

A friend purchased a complete Latitude saddle setup last summer, including the SS carbon sticks. When he first showed me his new gear, the carbon sticks looked kind of funky at first glance. So I waited to hear some feedback from him and he liked them a lot....using them with a single step Latitude aider on each. So mid-season I bought a set of 3 from Scheels, which I stealth stripped and added cord loops for my saddle clips during installation. They pack simply and carry well, plus setup easily on a given tree. During their Black Friday sale, I bought a 4rh to gain a bit more height. I have a couple single step Amsteel aiders, but honestly don't care for that "reaching" feeling and sway coming down in the dark after an evening hunt.

There are a few folks on varous archery websites who have taken on the mission of bad mouthing the Latitiude sticks as being "plastic" and unsafe, shwoing photos of the Amsteel connection tabs breaking off. So I contacted Latitude by email, which happens to be located about 14ish miles from our current home. They responded promptly and said there have been few issues and those are related to "user error", where the recommended tie-off method in their instructions and online video were not properly employed. Between field testing and actual hunts, I've used them at least 10x without any issues.

In our society, the consumer never does anything wrong....it is always the maker or sellers fault. Someone dumps hot coffee in their lap, gets burned and sues because hot coffee is hot. If you are that kind of person, these are probably not the climbing sticks for you. But if you can follow the maker's instructions and play it safe, they seem to be a good option from my personal experience....plus other above.

 

[Dmathews87]

side note for everyone who's iffy about aiders...you gotta start using a rappel\safety line even with these multiple sticks! It will change your life! I 100% agree that coming down with aiders is sketch city and i dont care for it, but using a rappel line eliminates that. I dont one stick very often but the one thing i took from it that i use every single time is the rappel line, i should have been doing it all these years...

 

[kalcoone]

side note for everyone who's iffy about aiders...you gotta start using a rappel\safety line even with these multiple sticks! It will change your life! I 100% agree that coming down with aiders is sketch city and i dont care for it, but using a rappel line eliminates that. I dont one stick very often but the one thing i took from it that i use every single time is the rappel line, i should have been doing it all these years...

Started doing the same towards the end of the season. There is a learning and trust curve to it though. I have a practice repel line set up in a tree in my yard to gain confidence and safety.

 

[Dmathews87]

Started doing the same towards the end of the season. There is a learning and trust curve to it though. I have a practice repel line set up in a tree in my yard to gain confidence and safety.

yeah i get it, there for sure is. keep up that practice. It helps to just use one safety line for tether and rappel (not 2 separate ropes) attach your pull up rope to your quick link right after you pull up your weapon so thats done and out the way.

 

[Seekbigger]

If using sticks I would learn to tie the maverick hitch and rappel down every hunt gathering my sticks on the way down, then I am comfortable using 2 or 3 step aiders on every stick to gain more height! No way I’m coming down aiders in the dark unless it’s an emergency and I am tethered in.