Been getting a lot of PMs when I post anything in reference the old halfsie, so I figured I would do a thorough review. Yinz may know what I think of unboxings (absolutely despise them) and I've now put this thing through the ringer enough that its earned a good honest review.
In summary, it's a perfect compromise between a saddle plaftorm and a treestand. Put another way, it is a Loc-On Windwalker, but (nearly) perfected. I spent a good 150-200 hours in the thing. I anticipated going in I would rotate it with my Klemz platform a fair amount. Nope, I used the 1/2 every hunt except one this season. Not even sure I'm even going to keep my Klemz around at this point.
We'll get some housekeeping out of the way.
Yes, I'm aware it's expensive. Maybe even along the lines of the infamous Yeti-Gucci pricing model. It's my money, I'll spend mine how I want and you spend yours the same. C'est la vie.
Yes, I'm aware there is drama involved with this company. I'm just a a consumer folks. They brought a quality product to market, I purchased it. Simple transaction, save your virtue signaling. I don't know the individuals involved personally but if I did it could be different.
With that book closed....
Little background info, I spent 17 years using exclusively climber, followed by 1 year "hang and hunt" and then for the past 3 years been saddle hunting mostly from a DIY Klemz Platform with some time in the Tethyrd Predator. That is to say, I've been mobile hunting all my life. I've been through a ton of gear the past 5 years really on quite an expensive bender to find what is perfect for me (which isn't going to be for everyone) I'm not much of the gear tinkerer as a means unto itself. I just hadn't settled on a platform yet.
Basically, I've been yearning for this stand for a few years. Size - it's perfect. Nailed it. Most of the smaller treestands are still too wide and suck at snagging brush while hiking in.
There are essentially two gripes I have with cable-less saddle platforms. First, they just aren't roomy enough. Yes you can stand up on them, pivot, and execute the weakside shot. Call me clumsy I guess. It's doable but not repeatable. By the time you expand a platform footprint large enough to actually stand and pivot to shoot, it now weighs as much as a treestand.
Second, is the tremendously wasted utility by forgoing the dual purpose use of this shaped rigid object as a backpack frame. For instance I carried my roughly 5 pound platform in a MR popup weighing 4ish pounds = we're now at 9 pounds total. Now, I know that setup isn't designed to be gunning for blue ribbons at the Weight Weenie World Fair. So why not put a good backpack suspension on a much larger platform at the same or less weight? Just makes too much sense I guess.
I will also say, I'm not a big "comfort" guy. My gear decisions are based on effectiveness and efficiency. And I very much live by the K.I.S.S. philosophy. I hunt some places that frankly suck to get to, and the ease of getting in deep and through thick brush necessitates some sacrifices with regards to comfort. If I want to be comfortable, I'll sit at home on my couch. But certainly no part of this system causes discomfort to me and I think is a good balance of comfort while hiking, comfort in the stand, and utility to kill stuff effectively.
Is it a treestand? Is it a saddle platform? I don't know. Both I guess.
I know I exclusively used it paired with my saddle. Roughly 90% of my time is split between leaning in the saddle and just standing on the platform with very minimal slack in my tether. I like to face mostly where I expect to see deer. Sometimes that's facing the tree, sometimes it's not. More on that in a bit.
I lean in the saddle a lot but I really like just being able to stand up. I have a standing desk at work. I guess I'm just a stander.
But one important reason why is so many trees dictate where you have to set up and then I might expect deer movement at my 6 oclock. A standard small saddle platform, that situation sucks and ends a long hunt with a very sore neck.
I would not personally use this a "standard" treestand, that is, with a rear-tethered harness. To me it's too small for that, it truly shines as a hybrid saddle platform because the saddle maximizes the small real estate of the platform and lends itself to the many different shooting options of a saddle.
Regarding slack in the tether, I can stand on the platform and shoot comfortably 360 degrees no problem without requiring any additional tether length. To shoot 3-6 o'clock, I can either go over the bridge or get my back really tight to the tree and spin strong side with the tether under my armpit. I generally prefer the latter feeling it is a little less movement and a little less prone to getting crossed up and stuck. While rut hunting, I got into a few of those fusterclucks where I had deer all around me and had no problem pivoting quickly. I feel I am much more responsive to those quick adjustments.
A second cam strap is required due to the horizontal pressure to execute typical saddle shots. I prefer a small cam strap that I actually thread through the base of the platform. It seems a little stickier to the tree that way than using the bottom versabutton. Obiously that is out of spec and you want to be careful you have the stand good and locked in when threading that second strap because the platform isn't engineered to be a fulcrum, and if you do it improperly it can become just that using a lower strap.
I might have sat on the seat an hour or two all season. The seat post is low and the seat itself is small. Very unsurprisingly this is not comparable to sitting on a lazy boy. Not super comfortable, but not terrible either. It's about the height of a 5 gallon bucket for reference. I never sat much in stands anyway. There are certain situations lacking cover where sitting like a statue puts you in the best position to kill deer, and I would be most definitely be able to survive doing that in this stand for a few hours at a time.
You can flip the seat cover over and sit in the saddle using the backside of the seat as your knee rest. For my height (6 feet) the seat post is the perfect height to lend itself to that configuration. That's how I usually rest when I need a break from standing and leaning. That is plenty comfortable as a break from standing, but again, I'm not a sitter by any means.
The only thing I didn't like about it are the sharp edges caused by the machining process. I've already worn out one cam strap where it contacts the sharp edge of the seat post. I need to grind down the seat post edge where it rests. At the price point of being the highest retail production stand I know of, I do expect that all such issues would be addressed, but to get through an entire review with one minor flaw isn't half bad.
Really the only thing I modified besides some light paracord wrapping to silence, is that I stole the suspension off a Kelty Cache Hauler. The stock carrying straps, as with lesser stands, flat out suck. With my DIY suspension it carries just as comfortably as my MR Popup. It could maybe use a little lift, but the stand is too short to accommodate any the way I attached the suspension. I used yoga mat material as a back pad as my prior experience with treestand harness/suspension mods sorely lacked that back padding aspect. I need to find a solution in padding that is better with sweat management as my back would be soaked after a long hike.
That was a lot of keyboard jibber jabber, here are some photos:
In my view, the youtube jibber jabbers are like watching paint dry, but I did a quick no-budget production for those so inclined:
In summary, it's a perfect compromise between a saddle plaftorm and a treestand. Put another way, it is a Loc-On Windwalker, but (nearly) perfected. I spent a good 150-200 hours in the thing. I anticipated going in I would rotate it with my Klemz platform a fair amount. Nope, I used the 1/2 every hunt except one this season. Not even sure I'm even going to keep my Klemz around at this point.
We'll get some housekeeping out of the way.
Yes, I'm aware it's expensive. Maybe even along the lines of the infamous Yeti-Gucci pricing model. It's my money, I'll spend mine how I want and you spend yours the same. C'est la vie.
Yes, I'm aware there is drama involved with this company. I'm just a a consumer folks. They brought a quality product to market, I purchased it. Simple transaction, save your virtue signaling. I don't know the individuals involved personally but if I did it could be different.
With that book closed....
Little background info, I spent 17 years using exclusively climber, followed by 1 year "hang and hunt" and then for the past 3 years been saddle hunting mostly from a DIY Klemz Platform with some time in the Tethyrd Predator. That is to say, I've been mobile hunting all my life. I've been through a ton of gear the past 5 years really on quite an expensive bender to find what is perfect for me (which isn't going to be for everyone) I'm not much of the gear tinkerer as a means unto itself. I just hadn't settled on a platform yet.
Basically, I've been yearning for this stand for a few years. Size - it's perfect. Nailed it. Most of the smaller treestands are still too wide and suck at snagging brush while hiking in.
There are essentially two gripes I have with cable-less saddle platforms. First, they just aren't roomy enough. Yes you can stand up on them, pivot, and execute the weakside shot. Call me clumsy I guess. It's doable but not repeatable. By the time you expand a platform footprint large enough to actually stand and pivot to shoot, it now weighs as much as a treestand.
Second, is the tremendously wasted utility by forgoing the dual purpose use of this shaped rigid object as a backpack frame. For instance I carried my roughly 5 pound platform in a MR popup weighing 4ish pounds = we're now at 9 pounds total. Now, I know that setup isn't designed to be gunning for blue ribbons at the Weight Weenie World Fair. So why not put a good backpack suspension on a much larger platform at the same or less weight? Just makes too much sense I guess.
I will also say, I'm not a big "comfort" guy. My gear decisions are based on effectiveness and efficiency. And I very much live by the K.I.S.S. philosophy. I hunt some places that frankly suck to get to, and the ease of getting in deep and through thick brush necessitates some sacrifices with regards to comfort. If I want to be comfortable, I'll sit at home on my couch. But certainly no part of this system causes discomfort to me and I think is a good balance of comfort while hiking, comfort in the stand, and utility to kill stuff effectively.
Is it a treestand? Is it a saddle platform? I don't know. Both I guess.
I know I exclusively used it paired with my saddle. Roughly 90% of my time is split between leaning in the saddle and just standing on the platform with very minimal slack in my tether. I like to face mostly where I expect to see deer. Sometimes that's facing the tree, sometimes it's not. More on that in a bit.
I lean in the saddle a lot but I really like just being able to stand up. I have a standing desk at work. I guess I'm just a stander.
But one important reason why is so many trees dictate where you have to set up and then I might expect deer movement at my 6 oclock. A standard small saddle platform, that situation sucks and ends a long hunt with a very sore neck.
I would not personally use this a "standard" treestand, that is, with a rear-tethered harness. To me it's too small for that, it truly shines as a hybrid saddle platform because the saddle maximizes the small real estate of the platform and lends itself to the many different shooting options of a saddle.
Regarding slack in the tether, I can stand on the platform and shoot comfortably 360 degrees no problem without requiring any additional tether length. To shoot 3-6 o'clock, I can either go over the bridge or get my back really tight to the tree and spin strong side with the tether under my armpit. I generally prefer the latter feeling it is a little less movement and a little less prone to getting crossed up and stuck. While rut hunting, I got into a few of those fusterclucks where I had deer all around me and had no problem pivoting quickly. I feel I am much more responsive to those quick adjustments.
A second cam strap is required due to the horizontal pressure to execute typical saddle shots. I prefer a small cam strap that I actually thread through the base of the platform. It seems a little stickier to the tree that way than using the bottom versabutton. Obiously that is out of spec and you want to be careful you have the stand good and locked in when threading that second strap because the platform isn't engineered to be a fulcrum, and if you do it improperly it can become just that using a lower strap.
I might have sat on the seat an hour or two all season. The seat post is low and the seat itself is small. Very unsurprisingly this is not comparable to sitting on a lazy boy. Not super comfortable, but not terrible either. It's about the height of a 5 gallon bucket for reference. I never sat much in stands anyway. There are certain situations lacking cover where sitting like a statue puts you in the best position to kill deer, and I would be most definitely be able to survive doing that in this stand for a few hours at a time.
You can flip the seat cover over and sit in the saddle using the backside of the seat as your knee rest. For my height (6 feet) the seat post is the perfect height to lend itself to that configuration. That's how I usually rest when I need a break from standing and leaning. That is plenty comfortable as a break from standing, but again, I'm not a sitter by any means.
The only thing I didn't like about it are the sharp edges caused by the machining process. I've already worn out one cam strap where it contacts the sharp edge of the seat post. I need to grind down the seat post edge where it rests. At the price point of being the highest retail production stand I know of, I do expect that all such issues would be addressed, but to get through an entire review with one minor flaw isn't half bad.
Really the only thing I modified besides some light paracord wrapping to silence, is that I stole the suspension off a Kelty Cache Hauler. The stock carrying straps, as with lesser stands, flat out suck. With my DIY suspension it carries just as comfortably as my MR Popup. It could maybe use a little lift, but the stand is too short to accommodate any the way I attached the suspension. I used yoga mat material as a back pad as my prior experience with treestand harness/suspension mods sorely lacked that back padding aspect. I need to find a solution in padding that is better with sweat management as my back would be soaked after a long hike.
That was a lot of keyboard jibber jabber, here are some photos:
In my view, the youtube jibber jabbers are like watching paint dry, but I did a quick no-budget production for those so inclined:
Last edited:
