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Minimalist Pioneer Steps- my 1st thoughts

raisins said:
I bought 2 Pioneer steps and did it. It works great. I'll probably do it with the Pioneer steps next year. I'm just not in the mood to spend the money and make all those daisy chains (I can't reuse my tree hopper ones due to the overhand knots getting very tight....I don't even wanna think about picking them apart with a fid or something). User @GeoFish did the same as me but I believe he use a buckle from DanO and EWO and he terminates by wrapping around it instead of the step itself.

I hunted with the trucker hitched steps all last year. They are incredibly secure. I never had one shift, slide around, or sag down a tree. I feel they are more secure than most sticks, unless maybe you trucker hitch a stick and the stick has really good standoffs. I'm glad it is catching on.
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Soon as my buckles get here I’ll be giving it a try.
raisins said:
PS...I would definitely round the edges inside the Pioneer step slot. I think they would start to cut the daisy chain after some hunts. I used a sanding head on a dremel.
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I went over all of them with a file. I think before the final assembly i'll do that with a dremel.
 
GeoFish said:
The thicker bury stops the step from sliding.
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Nice tight spacing on those links. I was lazy and went with a 4" distance. Making those takes me forever compared to most people, for some reason.
 
Flyerzfan10 said:
Yes, that's the one. Good video!
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Haha....my first stab at youtube stardom, thanks! I'm a rightie and decided to run the phone camera with my right and do the step one handed with my left (bad idea). On the tree and when practiced after a few hunts, I can do a step in about 1 or 2 minute.
 
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raisins said:
Haha....my first stab at youtube stardom, thanks! I'm a rightie and decided to run the phone camera with my right and do the step one handed with my left (bad idea). On the tree and when practiced after a few hunts, I can do a step in about 1 minute.
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LOL... it still gets the point acrossed. I always use bolts but i see this as a much quicker option with less effort for sure.
 
raisins said:
Nice tight spacing on those links. I was lazy and went with a 4" distance. Making those takes me forever compared to most people, for some reason.
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Are you using a fid? I was always a fan of a folded over wire until,I gave the fid a legitimate shot. Fid is WAY faster once you get used to it.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
 
mtsrunner said:
Are you using a fid? I was always a fan of a folded over wire until,I gave the fid a legitimate shot. Fid is WAY faster once you get used to it.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
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Yeah, purple aluminum knitting needle from Wally world cut to 4" length. I'm just OCD about link length and having the 2 sides of the link nice and even so my daisy chain doesn't pouch out. Probably takes me 30 minutes to do an 8 foot chain with 4" spacing.
 
raisins said:
Yeah, purple aluminum knitting needle from Wally world cut to 4" length. I'm just OCD about link length and having the 2 sides of the link nice and even so my daisy chain doesn't pouch out. Probably takes me 30 minutes to do an 8 foot chain with 4" spacing.
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I wouldn’t call that super slow for an 8’ chain. I make mine with 3” spacing and it takes me about 25 minutes.
 
So i got 6 daisy’s made up with the buckle like bullman makes them. Only thing i did differently is not making brummels the whole length up to the large loop at the end. When i watched his video and saw how loose he ran them when attached to the tree i was concerned they would move. I attached them like he does and they are solid. I also used a truckers hitch and they are solid. Either way i think I’m going to really like this setup. They are very comfortable to step on also.
 
What is the main reason for tying an overhand knot in the daisy chain as was done in the video? The strap version doesn't have a way to keep the steps from moving so I can't imagine that's the reason. The only benefit I can think of is to keep the step from falling off the daisy chain (Or vice versa) when you're taking them on or off. Being that the knot could potentially weaken the amsteel a bit, do you guys think its better to just not put it in?
 
Sanad said:
What is the main reason for tying an overhand knot in the daisy chain as was done in the video? The strap version doesn't have a way to keep the steps from moving so I can't imagine that's the reason. The only benefit I can think of is to keep the step from falling off the daisy chain (Or vice versa) when you're taking them on or off. Being that the knot could potentially weaken the amsteel a bit, do you guys think its better to just not put it in?
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They can slide around the tree on strap or daisy chain, especially if the step isn't super tight. I know when I developed my own system before these came out, that I tied overhand knots on each side of the step. It would be harder to tie a knot on webbing. But Bullman did it for his own reasons.
 
raisins said:
They can slide around the tree on strap or daisy chain, especially if the step isn't super tight. I know when I developed my own system before these came out, that I tied overhand knots on each side of the step. It would be harder to tie a knot on webbing. But Bullman did it for his own reasons.
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When were you having this issue of the steps sliding around the tree? You mean it was happening as you were stepping up on them?
 
I attached mine the same way as they are in the Bullman video. They sag sometimes since you can't get them super tight with that attachment method but they don't move at all. I was actually surprised that they didn't.
 
Has anyone tried attaching these with a small whoopie sling like a cranford rope step? Place the AA buckle on one end and just attach your loop to that? A whoopie would be way easier to make than a daisy chain. Any thoughts on this?
 
How well do the steps hold on the tree with the daisy chain? When I tried daisy chains on sticks, I hated it…. I don’t picture it being much different, but thought I’d ask.
 
Mschmeiske said:
How well do the steps hold on the tree with the daisy chain? When I tried daisy chains on sticks, I hated it…. I don’t picture it being much different, but thought I’d ask.
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Not bad. They do move a little but if you position them right ..... say 5 o'clock and 7 o'clock (looking down at your feet) and step on them with your instep they are pretty stable.
 
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