LWCG stand setups

[samu]

Samu, I do cam the stand. Most of the time i can cam it by hand while attaching the USA ultimate line. Sometimes I need to do a little toe hook/cam of the stand. I don't find that part any different though than using the original cam straps. The USA ultimate line has a fiddle factor and probably a little less efficient than the cam straps....but they are super lightweight and make no noise (big deal to me). I like not having to pack or wrap the cam buckles around the stand. I just keep the usa ultimates in the bag on the seat of the stand.

I have a set of original muddy pro stick with the cam cleats. They just stay on a perm location now. But I did like the cam cleats. Honestly, at least for use on the shikars, I love the daisy chain. and button. Again light weight and no noise. I have used just one of the shikars to one stick many times and still like the daisy chain. I guess it works well for me. I feel like out of all the stick attachment methods the daisy chain is super quick and easy. But that might be because the shikars grab the tree really well? Ive never had a kickout with them.

Yeah, you cant beat the shikars if you are packing them. I will keep them deployed if im going to carry them and usually carry them if the walk is under 3/4 of mile. Anything more than that, I will fold them up and put them on my pack. It really doesnt take much to deploy and fold them up...but like you alluded to....it is more fiddle steps when trying to be quiet. That is one reason, I ordered the tethrd's. I thought If i was going to carry the shikars deployed, maybe I should just try the one sticks and save a few pounds.

You should check out the adjustable versa aiders...no hooks just a little amsteel loop. As you can see in the video, they go right over the knob and button on the shikars. Most of the time the pull off automatically while climbing too. I keep the elastic tether tight and they rarely get caught on anything. With my bad knees, I really like how pulling up on the versa aider also helps pull my leg up. I can set my sticks up so each move is just a tad under 8ft. Im using the 20" version of the sticks.

Now that I canceled my order for the tethrds, This thread has me thinking about trying the .75 or even the 1.0 version of the lwcg stand.

I see the camming of the stand got cut out and got me confused. I got real excited about the USA+truckers hitch, did something similar and went to try out and Ambush platform buried the rope into bark of a scotch pine when I hopped onto it. We have lot of pine trees so that's not going to be much use at least with the platform. Might be able to use one for a bottom strap of a stand though.

I could replace the hooks with amsteel loops on my foot loops for same effect. Individual shock cords might also help, I just tried running a continuous piece behind my neck. The saddle has the frontal area bit crowded with material but I'll be using a RC harness with a stand so that might work better. I have a suspicion my saddle will be dedicated to onesticking in early season.

I just ordered the 1.0 last week. Should have it here in week or two since LWCG doesn't ship directly outside US. Still thinking about that 0.75 but in the end I came to conclusion it would suck a lot to feel cramped on a stand every sit than being slightly limited where I can place it on the rare occasion. Weight difference is so minimal it didn't matter at all. I'll cut 3x more by going with RC harness over a saddle.

I have daisy chains on the two unmodified sticks, tried DIY-USA on the other first and made another daisy after first climb. But I like onesticking a lot. Basically only got the extra sticks to deal with wet and frozen trees. One thing I'm not lacking with this setup is options. Might even have one too many.

 

[halltrail]

It looks like you have some edits. Without cuts how long do you think your process is from tree base to setup with layers? Assuming you layer as soon as you get in your stand no cool down period.

CGIbear, great question. Yes, that video is definitely edited. I have timed my self, but it included time to setup camera gear and that takes up a good bit of my time (up to 15min). I will have to do a better timing next time Im out. Right now, I have Covid for the first time. (Hence, why Im all over this forum right now lol).

If I were to make an educated guess at the moment, being careful to be quiet: I think it takes me about 8 mins on the ground to get ready to climb once I decide on a tree if Im carrying my sticks deployed. So, take off bag, pull out stand, close bag back up, put on the versa aiders, get out the rappel line. I wear my dryad harness in and linesman is attached to that. Tie off the bag to rappel line and bow/gun with a separate line. (pray they dont get tangled -lol).
The actual climb is probably the shortest part like maybe 5 mins. Setting the stand with the USA ultimates is still a little fiddly for me...but not having to deal with cam buckles is worth it to me. Id bet i spend about 4-5 mins getting the stand right and set on tree.

I have my HYS strap in the small diy bag on the stand, so I set that up pull up bow and hang it off of HYS, I put linesman rope around the tree to hang my bag, pull up the bag. I like being able to use the ropeman to adjust the height of my bag.

So, i normally would then setup up camera gear (such a pain in the butt) and that is also my cool down pd. So skipping to putting on layers....not all that fast on the little .5 lwcg. But my legs get the full zip incinerators or full zip stratus. Which makes things much easier for me. I have to pull out a puffy jacket from my bag, put it on, then pull the jacket off bag and put it on...gloves, mask, hat.

I bet im probably close to 30mins or more to setup without camera gear. Im trying to keep it real here. It takes me awhile for sure...but I do go slow to be quiet. One thing I do, is once my bow is up with me, I slow everything way down and consider myself ready to shoot if needed. Once I have bow in tree, Im in hunting mode...I move slow, I scan the area often with bino's or thermal. Just finish up with clothing and stuff really slow.

How are you setting up these days?

 

[halltrail]

Seems like a nice set up, albeit a lot of gear. Looks like it would make for great all day sits. I’d have to guess he’s at 30-45 mins from taking pack off to being ready to hunt in the tree.

well, dang, you got it about right in two lines...lol. I wrote a book. What gear would you get rid of? Im always looking for improvement. I know, I don't have to rappel. So I can and do sometimes leave the 35ft rope and grigri home, but I still need a short tether in its place. I could save myself 6.5lbs by not filming. But I do like doing the filming.

 

[halltrail]

I see the camming of the stand got cut out and got me confused. I got real excited about the USA+truckers hitch, did something similar and went to try out and Ambush platform buried the rope into bark of a scotch pine when I hopped onto it. We have lot of pine trees so that's not going to be much use at least with the platform. Might be able to use one for a bottom strap of a stand though.

I could replace the hooks with amsteel loops on my foot loops for same effect. Individual shock cords might also help, I just tried running a continuous piece behind my neck. The saddle has the frontal area bit crowded with material but I'll be using a RC harness with a stand so that might work better. I have a suspicion my saddle will be dedicated to onesticking in early season.

I just ordered the 1.0 last week. Should have it here in week or two since LWCG doesn't ship directly outside US. Still thinking about that 0.75 but in the end I came to conclusion it would suck a lot to feel cramped on a stand every sit than being slightly limited where I can place it on the rare occasion. Weight difference is so minimal it didn't matter at all. I'll cut 3x more by going with RC harness over a saddle.

I have daisy chains on the two unmodified sticks, tried DIY-USA on the other first and made another daisy after first climb. But I like onesticking a lot. Basically only got the extra sticks to deal with wet and frozen trees. One thing I'm not lacking with this setup is options. Might even have one too many.

I like filming, so I may just have to do a full video of a hunt. I really like seeing people's setups in a real hunting situation. But people get bored of watching the video...if you dont keep it moving. But for this site a full video would seem appropriate. Just to show the full story. Id like to hear what you think about the 1.0 I agree the weight isnt a big deal. Just wonder about packing it in. Although, the OG lonewolf assault was my mobile stand not long ago. The biggest thing I hate about the cam straps was having to manage the straps..they were bulky to pack away and a pain to wrap and unwrap...to me anyways.

That is crazy, the amsteel burried in the soft pine. Yeah, maybe just use as a lower strap.

 

[gcr0003]

I like filming, so I may just have to do a full video of a hunt. I really like seeing people's setups in a real hunting situation. But people get bored of watching the video...if you dont keep it moving. But for this site a full video would seem appropriate. Just to show the full story. Id like to hear what you think about the 1.0 I agree the weight isnt a big deal. Just wonder about packing it in. Although, the OG lonewolf assault was my mobile stand not long ago. The biggest thing I hate about the cam straps was having to manage the straps..they were bulky to pack away and a pain to wrap and unwrap...to me anyways.

That is crazy, the amsteel burried in the soft pine. Yeah, maybe just use as a lower strap.

I thought you struck a good balance of showing your complete set up in about 10 mins from boat to filming/hunting without boring us with 30+ mins of footage.

If you’re boating in and setting up close you don’t need to be concerned with weight, but weight and bulk are usually my concerns. I don’t see you brush busting or getting in tight anywhere with your set up but you also don’t have to! I see you’re hunting with a rifle and it’s late season so everything is more opened up. I think you got a decent all day rifle set up, but like I said probably pretty heavy and bulky especially with the camera gear. What’s the weight of this set up? Probably pushing 40 lbs?

I’d agree no need really for the rappel gear and mechanicals if climbing with sticks unless you using the rope as a pull up rope which is what I’ll do. It is redundant and could get you to the ground quickly if you were hangin from it constantly but it’s also noisy and extra stuff you don’t really need, one more thing to pack up etc.

 

[Cbigbear]

CGIbear, great question. Yes, that video is definitely edited. I have timed my self, but it included time to setup camera gear and that takes up a good bit of my time (up to 15min). I will have to do a better timing next time Im out. Right now, I have Covid for the first time. (Hence, why Im all over this forum right now lol).

If I were to make an educated guess at the moment, being careful to be quiet: I think it takes me about 8 mins on the ground to get ready to climb once I decide on a tree if Im carrying my sticks deployed. So, take off bag, pull out stand, close bag back up, put on the versa aiders, get out the rappel line. I wear my dryad harness in and linesman is attached to that. Tie off the bag to rappel line and bow/gun with a separate line. (pray they dont get tangled -lol).
The actual climb is probably the shortest part like maybe 5 mins. Setting the stand with the USA ultimates is still a little fiddly for me...but not having to deal with cam buckles is worth it to me. Id bet i spend about 4-5 mins getting the stand right and set on tree.

I have my HYS strap in the small diy bag on the stand, so I set that up pull up bow and hang it off of HYS, I put linesman rope around the tree to hang my bag, pull up the bag. I like being able to use the ropeman to adjust the height of my bag.

So, i normally would then setup up camera gear (such a pain in the butt) and that is also my cool down pd. So skipping to putting on layers....not all that fast on the little .5 lwcg. But my legs get the full zip incinerators or full zip stratus. Which makes things much easier for me. I have to pull out a puffy jacket from my bag, put it on, then pull the jacket off bag and put it on...gloves, mask, hat.

I bet im probably close to 30mins or more to setup without camera gear. Im trying to keep it real here. It takes me awhile for sure...but I do go slow to be quiet. One thing I do, is once my bow is up with me, I slow everything way down and consider myself ready to shoot if needed. Once I have bow in tree, Im in hunting mode...I move slow, I scan the area often with bino's or thermal. Just finish up with clothing and stuff really slow.

How are you setting up these days?

I’m running a similar setup - retrograde, 3 Tethrd ones, & rch. I’m not 100% satisfied with my system yet (guess I never am) & will be working on it this offseason. Currently biking in a lot so depending on distance, I either put stand inside my Kifaru Stryker load shelf, sticks on handlebars, & bow to outside bag or stand & sticks outside bag and bow slung over my neck riding on my arms. When I park the bike no matter how I start I go to stand with stick nested on via Talons to outside bag & bow in hand.

Once at my tree I drop the bow, pull the sticks, set first stick, & put the other two on my right side via adjustable Talon on the waist belt Molle. I climb using a 48” climbing sling as movable aider. My sticks have 7/64 daisy chains so I can run dynalock stock, as daisy chains, or as trucker hitch tree decides method. Once on my third stick I girth hitch my climbing sling (aider) around the tree or branch & hang my pack. Then unclip the stand & hang it. I started the season with a diy PSA but went back to a cam buckle. Rope packs great but too much fiddle factor when setting. Once on the stand I fish up the bow with a gear reel, remove quiver & install in stand bracket, hang my bow on the pack with a hero clip (use that to fish up the bow too), pull layers out bag & get dressed. Once dressed knock arrow & move my bow to the seat mounted bow holder.

Going down I lower bow, reel back up & then lower pack. I tried rappelling for awhile but again to much fiddle factor with ropes so just climb down now.

Right now my method is 5-10 minutes from base to hunting, but has more movement & chance for noise than I like.

I want to get a pack system that has a compartment against the frame for layers, a bottomless, top opening 2nd compartment for the stand, & padded panel that clips over stand for my bow. I want to get to pulling each stick as I climb vs moving to my side. I also want stand removal without taking the pack off.

 

[halltrail]

I thought you struck a good balance of showing your complete set up in about 10 mins from boat to filming/hunting without boring us with 30+ mins of footage.

If you’re boating in and setting up close you don’t need to be concerned with weight, but weight and bulk are usually my concerns. I don’t see you brush busting or getting in tight anywhere with your set up but you also don’t have to! I see you’re hunting with a rifle and it’s late season so everything is more opened up. I think you got a decent all day rifle set up, but like I said probably pretty heavy and bulky especially with the camera gear. What’s the weight of this set up? Probably pushing 40 lbs?

I’d agree no need really for the rappel gear and mechanicals if climbing with sticks unless you using the rope as a pull up rope which is what I’ll do. It is redundant and could get you to the ground quickly if you were hangin from it constantly but it’s also noisy and extra stuff you don’t really need, one more thing to pack up etc.

Ill weigh the setup here soon. As i get older, weight is my main concern. I just had to have a l4 l5 back fusion this past June. Right knee replacement is next. I've weighted this setup before and cant remember. I don't think it was more that 32 lbs. though.. My outer layers are bulky but light. Also, why I use the 5lb kuiu 3600 instead of my 9lbs kifaru or 7.5lbs sitka cargo (great bag for in tree hunting-but a little heavy-best organization of any bag I use).

Boating in is not something I do all the time, maybe 10% of my hunting. I do like the adventure of it though. The area I was in is opened up right now...before December though, you can barely walk much less crawl back there. I cut out the video of me getting stuck in the briars or briars pulling off my hat and gopro lol.

Rappel rope as a pull up and Rappelling is easier on my knees for descending is the only reason i've been doing here lately.

You mentioned all day hunt. This is what I use for my normal 3-4 hour bow hunts. But I still need that level of clothing to stay warm. I see a lot of guys dont seem to need as much layering as I do.

 

[GeoFish]

well, dang, you got it about right in two lines...lol. I wrote a book. What gear would you get rid of? Im always looking for improvement. I know, I don't have to rappel. So I can and do sometimes leave the 35ft rope and grigri home, but I still need a short tether in its place. I could save myself 6.5lbs by not filming. But I do like doing the filming.

You can try coming down without rappeling. But I had difficulty using two aiders coming down. Trying to hook the aider loop on the stick and getting the aiders caught on the stick steps. Let us know how it works for you after covid. Hope you are feeling better soon.

 

[halltrail]

I’m running a similar setup - retrograde, 3 Tethrd ones, & rch. I’m not 100% satisfied with my system yet (guess I never am) & will be working on it this offseason. Currently biking in a lot so depending on distance, I either put stand inside my Kifaru Stryker load shelf, sticks on handlebars, & bow to outside bag or stand & sticks outside bag and bow slung over my neck riding on my arms. When I park the bike no matter how I start I go to stand with stick nested on via Talons to outside bag & bow in hand.

Once at my tree I drop the bow, pull the sticks, set first stick, & put the other two on my right side via adjustable Talon on the waist belt Molle. I climb using a 48” climbing sling as movable aider. My sticks have 7/64 daisy chains so I can run dynalock stock, as daisy chains, or as trucker hitch tree decides method. Once on my third stick I girth hitch my climbing sling (aider) around the tree or branch & hang my pack. Then unclip the stand & hang it. I started the season with a diy PSA but went back to a cam buckle. Rope packs great but too much fiddle factor when setting. Once on the stand I fish up the bow with a gear reel, remove quiver & install in stand bracket, hang my bow on the pack with a hero clip (use that to fish up the bow too), pull layers out bag & get dressed. Once dressed knock arrow & move my bow to the seat mounted bow holder.

Going down I lower bow, reel back up & then lower pack. I tried rappelling for awhile but again to much fiddle factor with ropes so just climb down now.

Right now my method is 5-10 minutes from base to hunting, but has more movement & chance for noise than I like.

I want to get a pack system that has a compartment against the frame for layers, a bottomless, top opening 2nd compartment for the stand, & padded panel that clips over stand for my bow. I want to get to pulling each stick as I climb vs moving to my side. I also want stand removal without taking the pack off.

ok, yeah very similar, although you seem to be a lot faster than I am. I had not thought about using the hero as a retrieve hook. It works well? Id be afraid I couldn't hook the bow or bag.

 

[Cbigbear]

ok, yeah very similar, although you seem to be a lot faster than I am. I had not thought about using the hero as a retrieve hook. It works well? Id be afraid I couldn't hook the bow or bag.

I was using a grapple but lost it so had to improvise. The hero works well enough & it has a double function to hang my bow when facing the tree so it gets the win. The key is to place your bow fletching down so you get ground clearance to catch the string or cam. I’ve been fishing for 10 yrs & haven’t climb down yet to hook up, but in high winds it does get challenging.

I find it’s the little things that increase efficiency which equals time.

 

[halltrail]

GCR0003, good guess on the weight bud. Im 40lbs w/out the sticks on the pack. Those winter layers coat, bibs, mid layer, gloves, hat, and neck gaiter weigh in at 8.8lbs. The Camera/lens combo in cube pack is 6.4lbs. LWCG Pocket arm with rope mod is 1.8 lbs. I also had a external camera monitor and battery in their at 2lbs. So I could save a lot of weight if i didn't film and hunted in base layers lol. I do have a smaller much lighter camera I use on the longer hikes (sony zv1) saves a good 6.5lbs because i dont use the external monitor w that camera. I also do tend to use my Cruzer xc saddle on longer hikes in....just depends.

 

[Anobody]

Ok so I finally made a threaded bow peg for the lwcg stand.

8/32 bolt with nylon lock nut and sleeve with wrap.

Money !!!!









key press test

 

[Pic1]

Something for the .5 guys with 22" post. The stand didn't work out for me, and this isn't a brand new idea but I thought I'd share as I liked it better than a standard QR pin. Which it seems most are using to restore the pack frame configuration on stands with the long post.

Better because the pin actually locks and has a tether should you potentially drop the pin at hunting height. The tether will also prevent you from misplacing the pin.

The pin didn't fit the 1/4" hole in post quite as snug as I would have liked but it fits pretty well and certainly serves the purpose. I went with a longer pin (6mm x 30mm) because once inserted for the seated position you need to be sure to pull the pin back a little to prevent the push button housing from interfering with the seat frame when sitting and cause damage to the button housing. Pin is SS, button housing is machined or cast aluminum.

If you desire a seat angle less than perpendicular to the post you'll need to leave the pin removed or may potentially bend or damage the pin. Which would be cause for a bad day. I like a 90 deg seat, so it worked fine installed for sitting.

The tether anchor hole (likely 6mm) is a little too small to fit the 1/4" seat adjustment bolt but you potentially run the risk of fetching the SS anchor on a drill bit and damaging the tether if you were to attempt to drill to proper size. I used a tapered machinists round file to make it slightly larger and it left a clean hole which accommodated the 1/4"-20 hex bolt.

This is something LWCG could have/should have provided, as they did provide the hole in the post, but that would have been ~another $10/stand.

 

[Pic1]

Pin in pack frame position.

 

[Pic1]

Pin in seated position.

 

[samu]

Shikars pack quite nicely with two PU straps

 

[Bowtech12]

Just curious
Seems like you guys wouldn’t really need a saddle for this set up. The stand cables would get in your way if you were to use it as a saddle platform

 

[Plebe]

Just curious
Seems like you guys wouldn’t really need a saddle for this set up. The stand cables would get in your way if you were to use it as a saddle platform

They don’t get in my way. Maybe they’ll get in your way, you’ll have to try it.

 

[GeoFish]

Just curious
Seems like you guys wouldn’t really need a saddle for this set up. The stand cables would get in your way if you were to use it as a saddle platform

The question of using a saddle depends. If the tree has some lean, I like to set the platform on the high side. So depending on which side I expect to see deer I face the tree or use the stand in the conventional way.
With a big platform and a typical Size tree, I can shoot 360 without leaning off the side of the platform, no side pressure.

 

[elk yinzer]

It's quite easy and no additional movement in any material sense to step over the cables to cruise around the backside. For me anyway. I do use a lower strap for stability.

The greater hindrance to my saddle mobility is I tend to run a really short tether and bridge. I lean in basically an upright position and I just find both more comfortable. But I do that in a cableless saddle stand too.

So really the .5 gives me more mobility space in that sense because I'll run my tether a little longer to usually stand more toward the end of the platform.

But it also just has more flexibility in case the direction a tree makes me face isn't saddle style ideal.