Best way to secure a hawk helium 20” stick to the tree and move up, for one sticking? I have the standard versa button, with the stock webbed straps, and amsteel daisy chains. I have only one sticked once and got up the tree but it wasn’t pretty. I used the daisy chain amsteel. Best way to one stick with a versa button?
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One sticking with hawk helium.
- Thread starter bbarron
- Start date
I’ve got a stack of them and they’re set up all different ways. At the moment my favorite is the cam cleat, but an Amsteel USA wasn’t bad either(definitely the most secure if you’re hunting off it). Didn’t like the whoopie sling, might go back and try the daisy chain again. For the cam cleat I’ve been using a cheap climbing rope that’s somewhat stiff, maybe 8mm so it’s chunky(big change from Amsteel) but the stiffness makes it super easy to move up the tree. Not pretty but I’m liking it.
I started on a stock hawk stick with amsteel daisy chain. It sucked! I shortly switched to a cam cleat and it was night and day difference. To be honest, I wouldn’t one stick if I didn’t have a cam cleat.
The trick with any one-stick regardless of attachment method is to avoid burning energy when hanging from your tether and placing the stick. I started one-sticking with a 20" Hawk Helium stick and stock strap and can say it definitely works as long as you find a way to lean into the tree trunk and trust your rope so you're not fighting gravity to place the stick. I later switched to an EWO one-stick with a Monarch platform. Yes, a cam cleat speeds up the time it takes to place the stick... BUT where you'll really find movements become less taxing and more efficient, regardless of attachment method, is when you can pinch the stick between your tether and the tree trunk so both hands become free to work.
Unfortunately, there's not a great way to do this with a stock Hawk Helium stick, or any one stick for that matter, which doesn't have a platform, because the stick stands too shallow against the tree trunk. A stick with a platform projects far enough to create a nice angle to wedge the stick against the tree between the tether choke on the trunk above, and you below weighting the rope in your saddle.
Last season when my cam cleat broke (my fault, overtightened it using tools) I reinstalled a versa button on my one stick, used a rope and prusik attachment method, and it still worked almost as easily as a cam cleat, simply because I still wasn't fighting gravity by letting the rope pinch the platform against the tree.
Greg Staggs shows this well at about 4:30-5:00 in this video:
Unfortunately, there's not a great way to do this with a stock Hawk Helium stick, or any one stick for that matter, which doesn't have a platform, because the stick stands too shallow against the tree trunk. A stick with a platform projects far enough to create a nice angle to wedge the stick against the tree between the tether choke on the trunk above, and you below weighting the rope in your saddle.
Last season when my cam cleat broke (my fault, overtightened it using tools) I reinstalled a versa button on my one stick, used a rope and prusik attachment method, and it still worked almost as easily as a cam cleat, simply because I still wasn't fighting gravity by letting the rope pinch the platform against the tree.
Greg Staggs shows this well at about 4:30-5:00 in this video:
That said, don't think you need to buy a platform topper, a cam cleat, or anything other than what you already have. If you practice enough, any attachment method works. As you practice you'll learn how to lean into the rope more. To some degree everybody unconsciously fights the rope the first few climbs. You'll also learn the small details of spacing; how high to set the stick, where to place your tether, where to place your prusik, etc. All those things burn energy if done improperly. Keep practicing. Just make you set your stick very firmly each time and don't get sloppy trying to be fast, that's where accidents happen (which can be very serious in one-sticking).
The technique definitely takes some practice. A cam cleat is much, much easier, and allows you to get more height out of each move because of how you release it, especially compared to a versa button, but I don't think it's a magical perfect answer. That said, the EWO cam cleats look to be pretty reasonably priced and should install pretty easily on your Hawk.