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Novix Mini Stick Problems

ShawnE

ShawnE

Well-Known Member
Joined
Nov 5, 2016
Messages
257
Location
The Thumb, Michigan
Two hunts in with these Novix minis with EWO woven daisy chains and after last nights hunt I am about to ditch them. No matter how hard I try to get them tight enough and set down good and proper, the bottom bracket keeps wanting to kick out when I put pressure on the bottom step. It's terrifying and unsafe. After the evening hunt when I went to step on the top stick it proceeded to fall a couple feet down the tree. Good thing I was hunting with a buddy to help me out.

What the heck am I doing wrong? I love how light and portable these are but for the sake of safely coming back home to my wife I am about to switch back to my Muddy Pros in the background there.


Novix Minis.jpg
 
I had that issue some with my cut down hawk sticks when I used webbing daisy chain like that. I then switched to amsteel wrapped around the button and no issues and now I’m running amsteel daisy chain and still no issue. (The amsteel loops are closer and allow me to have the wrap around the tree tighter than the webbing did)
 
How are you setting the stick? Have you tried turning it to the side and attaching?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Here's my take on stick attachment methods and how well they secure a stick to the tree in ALL hunting situations. Rated from tightest to not so tight.
1. Cam buckle straps/ cam cleat
2. rope mod
3. daisy chains.

Sure, a daisy chain may get a stick tight enough sometimes, but I need that stick to get tight enough all the time.

Side note- @Jefferson10940 and I were discussing different brackets the other day and we think that rotating brackets seem to perform better with daisy chains than fixed brackets.
 
redsquirrel said:
Here's my take on stick attachment methods and how well they secure a stick to the tree in ALL hunting situations. Rated from tightest to not so tight.
1. Cam buckle straps/ cam cleat
2. rope mod
3. daisy chains.

Sure, a daisy chain may get a stick tight enough sometimes, but I need that stick to get tight enough all the time.

Side note- @Jefferson10940 and I were discussing different brackets the other day and we think that rotating brackets seem to perform better with daisy chains than fixed brackets.
Click to expand...
I moved away from versastraps for this very reason, it’s all good when it’s good. Catch your toe or nudge that stick vertically & it’s coming undone. Not the end of the world but, I’m inclined to eliminate holes in my game & that’s definitely one.
 
Had the same issue with my hawks with versa-straps. Like others have said it’s the straps not the stick. The buckle-less method works well for me
 
I tried Versa Straps and did not care for them. The Novix sticks with the stock buckles work fine for me. You could try the buckle less method with the stock straps.
 
I’ve been using the versa straps on my sticks for a full year but I’m only attaching one end through the loop and then wrapping it behind like a rope mod would be secured. They work great that way. Maybe give that a try if you haven’t yet. Otherwise, going back to the cam buckle would be a safe solution. Definitely no need to take unnecessary risk.
 
Bigterp said:
It’s not the sticks, but the straps. Those can be tricky to get set tight consistently & work better on some trees than others. They’re fine with the stock straps correct?
Click to expand...
I have not tried them with the stock straps. I hate metal so was never even planning on using them with the cam buckle strap to begin with.
 
redsquirrel said:
Here's my take on stick attachment methods and how well they secure a stick to the tree in ALL hunting situations. Rated from tightest to not so tight.
1. Cam buckle straps/ cam cleat
2. rope mod
3. daisy chains.

Sure, a daisy chain may get a stick tight enough sometimes, but I need that stick to get tight enough all the time.

Side note- @Jefferson10940 and I were discussing different brackets the other day and we think that rotating brackets seem to perform better with daisy chains than fixed brackets.
Click to expand...

Thanks for that break down. I was actually finding that the fact they were rotating was part of the problem last night too. The more they rotated the more they wanted to kick out and not hold tight.
 
Daisy chains are no bueno. Ditch those and go with something you can get tighter to the tree. Haven't seen Novix yet but might help to sharpen the brackets with a file also.
 
I have the EWO daisy chains and I really like them. I used them with both my 20" Heliums and my predator platform and they got plenty tight enough for me. I used the same method as the fella in the video where you turn the stick and then turn it back and never felt like they were going to come off or kick out.
 
Wlog said:
I’ve been using the versa straps on my sticks for a full year but I’m only attaching one end through the loop and then wrapping it behind like a rope mod would be secured. They work great that way. Maybe give that a try if you haven’t yet. Otherwise, going back to the cam buckle would be a safe solution. Definitely no need to take unnecessary risk.
Click to expand...
I tried the rope mod style with these like how you describe and its no better. Its a tad tighter but no where near what I would like.
 
tcmetrohunter said:
I have the EWO daisy chains and I really like them. I used them with both my 20" Heliums and my predator platform and they got plenty tight enough for me. I used the same method as the fella in the video where you turn the stick and then turn it back and never felt like they were going to come off or kick out.
Click to expand...
I will have to try that method as shown in the video. Thanks for the feedback!
 
elk yinzer said:
Daisy chains are no bueno. Ditch those and go with something you can get tighter to the tree. Haven't seen Novix yet but might help to sharpen the brackets with a file also.
Click to expand...
Believe me I am about too - I never have any problems getting the Muddy Pros tight or with kickouts. The V brackets on these Novix are nice and sharp so thats not the issue either.
 
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