Not I. I couldn’t fully commit. I’ll be running 3 setups this year.
1 - Full on saddlehunter setup – This is for my long hauls, over a mile, and busting serious brush. Maybe 25% of my hunts, but importantly a lot of my key rut hunts. Either the Mantis or Meshtral with DIY platform similar to the Predator, with an MR popup pack and 3-4 Hawk Helium Sticks. Base weight here is about 16 pounds plus clothes and water/food.
2 - Hybrid hang-on setup. This will probably cover 75% of my hunts. Most of my hunts are within a half mile of the truck and I see no reason to stand on a platform the size of a shoebox when my 85 year old grandma could carry a normal size stand that far. Just picked up this XOP air raid, and the first thing I did was pop the seat off of it. Shaves a couple pounds but more importantly I couldn’t tolerate how the seat protruded past the platform. I had an Xstand, and it is a good stand, but the big difference with the Air Raid is I love that usable platform space close to the tree.
So two gamechangers here, first I popped that seat off and I’ll use a saddle when I need to relieve my legs. As a treestand hunter I always stood/leaned against the tree most of the time anyway. Second, I am going all-out with the suspension on this bad boy. I did the MOLLE mod years back before it was cool. It was way better than ridiculous mfg straps, but was never fully impressed with it. Here I harvested the suspension off my Kelty Cache hauler, and I haven’t finalized this yet, but on my first mockup it is AWESOME to carry. Huge upgrade over the MOLLE straps. Going to incorporate some type of backpad and work on getting the load lifters in better position, but this is tremendous so far.
Also deploying this with the Heliums, and it is crazy how compact it is for a treestand with a good size platform. I need to get it on the scales when I finish the suspension mods. I am thinking base weight, it is going to come in within a few pounds of my purist saddlehunter-approved setup. Hoping I can hit 19 lbs.
3 - Option 3 is trusty old Summit Climber. In the very crappiest of weather is when it gets called into the game. I find climbing sticks to be rather miserable when it is raining sideways and 33 degrees out, that kinda stuff. I am not a fair weather hunter. I’ve also spent a bunch of all day sits in this thing, and I’m not yet sure how a saddle is going to handle 12 hours, 5 days in a row. The climber is a comfort zone when things go to crap. I think as the years pass I will eventually sell it, but for now it still has that niche carved out in my lineup.
