I just posted a video on how I like to "No-Stick"climb using only a platform. Let me know what you think and if you can see any improvements I can make. Have fun and be safe out there!
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No-Stick Climbing
- Thread starter Steve_Eh
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- Oct 19, 2015
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Why unhook/rehook vs loosen slid strap up the tree?
I've tried that but I've found it's faster/easier to unclip on most trees and then I don't have to push off the tree to bring it between my legs. I can just sit with my legs encircling the tree
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- Oct 19, 2015
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Interesting I’m the opposite, can’t do the wet crotch tree squeeze so I stay off the tree with knee pads.
Alaska at Heart
Well-Known Member
I saw a similar platform climbing video this spring, but with the platform tied shut for a lower profile. The final step was on top of the folded platform and the video made it look pretty simple. So I attached my two-step Ultimaider on a LWCG Fix and took it to a local park to test out. Another difference was that video was using the main/rappel line as the ascending tether, so there was no need to carry two ropes and add one at the top. I quickly found that using a platform in that manner was NOT simple...it was much more difficult than my DIY Beast Gear one-stick rig. So I tried it with the platform open and it was just as awkward. How much practice did it take to become proficient using the platform attached aiders?
Ya, I've tried that in the past and the platform isn't stable at all. With most platforms, the distance off the tree makes the aider too far away from the trunk and the weight makes it cumbersome. I find it much easier to use an 8ft tether while climbing. I feel it is important to always have 2 ropes just in case I became gear bound, I could use the other rope like a foot loop if needed. Like I said in the video, One-Stick climbing is easier and faster, but this is super light and what I use if I am climbing under 16 ft or so. If I am climbing 20+, I bring my mini shikar one-stick as well.
I play around with no-sticking quite a bit. Have been for a few years.
Every time I get a new platform I put an aider on it and go out back and mess around with it...
Trying different attachment methods and all that stuff.
I'm mostly a one-sticker so that's definitely easier and faster than platform climbing for me.
2TCing always wins compared to no-sticking for me.
Every time I get a new platform I put an aider on it and go out back and mess around with it...
Trying different attachment methods and all that stuff.
I'm mostly a one-sticker so that's definitely easier and faster than platform climbing for me.
2TCing always wins compared to no-sticking for me.
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- Sep 13, 2018
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Just curious what attraction there is with all this…
With sticks that weigh less than a pound these days what’s the point of going through all this extra effort and risking safety? I hung up one sticking after getting treestyx. There was no more weight advantage. The juice just wasn’t worth the squeeze anymore for me...
With sticks that weigh less than a pound these days what’s the point of going through all this extra effort and risking safety? I hung up one sticking after getting treestyx. There was no more weight advantage. The juice just wasn’t worth the squeeze anymore for me...
BuffaloBill
Well-Known Member
I’d just bust out the climber with that tree.
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- Nov 1, 2018
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I’ve not found anything compelling enough to go back to a full set of sticks. I don’t like carrying them up the tree, I don’t like their potential to clank on stuff, and then the extra bulk. I also prefer to be tethered in despite never having an issue with sticks and a lineman’s belt. Plus your limited on height unless you rock aiders. I’m also cheap so the price is a deterrent for me.
2TC:
2TC:
- always connected to a tether, low slack.
- No height limit
- Requires some agility
- Very Low weight bulk
- Struggles on very large and very limby trees.
- Lots of tree contact (ropes and body) (wet or poison ivy)
- always connected, more slack
- No height limit
- some agility
- Low weight/bulk
- Low cost (not talking the franken-one-stick that work there way up to $300 with a platform)
- Lots of tree contact
- Lineman’s belt + kick out possible (not tethered to tree)
- Can be cumbersome/clanky carrying sticks up
- Lightweight sticks are expensive (relatively)
- Extra bulk
- Limited in height
- Convenient if not worrying about height.
- Fast, less touching against the tree (poison ivy/ wet tree etc)
Ballshooter
Well-Known Member
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- Dec 14, 2023
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- 705
I'll add to...grc0003's list
JRB hitch climbing:
=Always connected.
=Zero slack
=lite wieght.
=No sticks.
=limiting height to rope length but 40 feet will get you to any reasonable hunting height.
=Minimal tree contact.
=Little harder to go around limbs but with practice its not too bad. I just leap frog with the other end of my rope.. or use my backup 2TC system
=Low cost effective and very safe.
JRB hitch climbing:
=Always connected.
=Zero slack
=lite wieght.
=No sticks.
=limiting height to rope length but 40 feet will get you to any reasonable hunting height.
=Minimal tree contact.
=Little harder to go around limbs but with practice its not too bad. I just leap frog with the other end of my rope.. or use my backup 2TC system
=Low cost effective and very safe.
To learn any JRB stuff you need to watch a Lawrence of Arabia length movie 72 times to remember how to tie any of it.
My A.D.D. can't take such abuse...
My A.D.D. can't take such abuse...
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I bought a set of sticks about 5 years ago and tried them out in the back yard as soon as I got them.
Tried them out the next day.
I tried them out again a couple months later...
They have been laying out on the front porch ever since !
Swampwalker
Well-Known Member
Nor mine.To learn any JRB stuff you need to watch a Lawrence of the Arabia length movie 72 times to remember how to tie any of it.
My A.D.D. can't take such abuse...
Ballshooter
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Dec 14, 2023
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- 705
Most of the hitches are pretty easy to remember his website is amazing and full of good information. I like how he explains in great detail. I guess I am more of a nerd than I thought lol.To learn any JRB stuff you need to watch a Lawrence of the Arabia length movie 72 times to remember how to tie any of it.
My A.D.D. can't take such abuse...
- Joined
- Oct 19, 2015
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- 833
Devil’s advocate
- you can use a tether to climb up or down with multiple sticks same as with 2TC or one sticking
- with the weight, length, & stacking ability of high end sticks nothing bulky or clanky. Example - my 3 mini ones feels more like a dump pouch than sticks on my hip
- yes ridiculously expense but high end one sticks (solo) also ridiculously expense
- a stack of sticks and flat platform packs better than a one stick with attached platform
-no limit as you always have the ability to climb higher with last stick or even platform
- yes
- yes huge on wet trees
- most versatile climbing method
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- Nov 1, 2018
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Some fair retorts
I couldn’t possibly capture all the variations and comparisons one could make with all the options available today. I’ve tried some-you’ve tried many more! And I kept these as separate methods so these are if you were running one system only. Obviously those lines mix a lot more the more you add and subtract from your method(s).
For example, when I bring my non high dollar one-stick with no platform, I can also 2TC and SRT rope climb because I also bring a rappel rope and have everything I need to do so.
And I never said heavy! I said cumbersome and potential to make noise. 4 sticks is more than 2 ropes or 1 stick. It’s more to manage. Not that it’s wrong or hard or inefficient, it’s just different. You can mitigate that clanging to just about zero with stealth tape etc. and the new sticks self stacking problably makes deploying a breeze. Take steps for example, light packable, good on many trees, cumbersome to deploy/stow. Deploying 10 is more than deploying 3-4.
outside of one sticking you ain’t getting very high with those compact 3 mini stick without a 3 step aider or 3 (which would be the case for most guys I’d think)
Another couple things I will say positive for sticks is they are easier climb from a learning curve, and easier to follow the lean of the tree up. When you hang from 2TC or one stick you have to be diligent about staying high side or low side or it can play havoc on your climb. Sticks also do better on really tiny trees, if that’s the type you hunt sticks might be better. One sticking is doable and 2TC becomes close to impossible. Since you’re also likely not climbing small trees very high, sticks work great there too.
I may have to concede sticks being the most versatile single climbing method… I’m still considering it.
I climb the same way with a platform I made. It has a cam cleat on it. Only difference is when attaching the platform to the tree after the 1st climb, I push myself off tree and put my tether against platform holding it to the tree so both my hands are free to attach platform. Wrapped some electrical tape on it to cushion the tether and hold it on the center.
Weldabeast
Well-Known Member
Is the sladder not a viable option anymore?
Ive never owned a premade metal platform but when a buddy came over with a predator platform with multi step aider attached i thought it was rather difficult to climb the aider and splay out my knees to get around the platform to get on top.
I was in the 3 mini sticks and carry as you go multi step aider club. Stealth strips amsteel the whole 9 yards....I Don't climb super high and started carrying only 2. Weight was never an issue. My main gripes are the potential for sound and the packability.....I would get caught up in vines fairly regularly on the sticks and the occasional clank. To me the stick was mainly just an anchor point for my aider.
2tc makes a lot of sense to me but advancing a tether up a flaky pine tree is not my favorite and now I gotta move 2? Rope climbing is attractive if you can have preset cord but throw ball in the dark isn't for me and presets aren't really viable with my schedule and quota hunts on public land and I really don't won't to carry a pole to advance a tether. 1stick is pretty good but now I have more clank potential and more tether advancing. I also don't carry a backpack so packing a 1stick/sticks is an issue.
I know climbing with just linesman on an aider isn't the safest practice but it sure is sneaky and I'm ok with that risk
Ive never owned a premade metal platform but when a buddy came over with a predator platform with multi step aider attached i thought it was rather difficult to climb the aider and splay out my knees to get around the platform to get on top.
I was in the 3 mini sticks and carry as you go multi step aider club. Stealth strips amsteel the whole 9 yards....I Don't climb super high and started carrying only 2. Weight was never an issue. My main gripes are the potential for sound and the packability.....I would get caught up in vines fairly regularly on the sticks and the occasional clank. To me the stick was mainly just an anchor point for my aider.
2tc makes a lot of sense to me but advancing a tether up a flaky pine tree is not my favorite and now I gotta move 2? Rope climbing is attractive if you can have preset cord but throw ball in the dark isn't for me and presets aren't really viable with my schedule and quota hunts on public land and I really don't won't to carry a pole to advance a tether. 1stick is pretty good but now I have more clank potential and more tether advancing. I also don't carry a backpack so packing a 1stick/sticks is an issue.
I know climbing with just linesman on an aider isn't the safest practice but it sure is sneaky and I'm ok with that risk
Ya, a predator platform sticks out way to far from the tree. A Sub2 or XOP Invader aren't as "deep" of platforms and so you don't end up swinging in the air or having to splay your knees to far to climb