seat climbers and tree huggers

[BobinTN]

OK guys. I am 57 years old and 35 lbs overweight. I have been climbing with a lone wolf seat strapped to my feet for 12 years or so. I just hug the tree (going up and down) with my arms and work my feet. I would say it is 4 times faster and way easier/simpler than doing all this sit and climb stuff with tethers/harnesses. Am I missing something?

 

[Plinker22]

Sounds like you have a great technique. Keep at it!
And, welcome (I am East TN).

On second thought, how do you handle limbs?
Also, do you tether in at the top?
Any safety on your way up?

 

[mattsteg]

I guess my questions would be safety, and dealing with branches. I didn't climb a tree without limbs below hunting height more than maybe once or twice all season. And I think the one I can think of was too big for a climber.

It's also not clear what all you're comparing to.

 

[rutjr]

I'm going to keep my eyes open for a lone wolf seat this year.

 

[joel0711]

Plinker22 I'm in e.tn. too----Kingston area

 

[sureshotscott]

You're doing this climb untethered? You're just hugging the tree to move your Lone Wolf seat?

 

[Kurt]

OK guys. I am 57 years old and 35 lbs overweight. I have been climbing with a lone wolf seat strapped to my feet for 12 years or so. I just hug the tree (going up and down) with my arms and work my feet. I would say it is 4 times faster and way easier/simpler than doing all this sit and climb stuff with tethers/harnesses. Am I missing something?

Sounds like all your missing is a little safety, and maybe a little reduced tree selection?

 

[EricS]

That’s how they did it in the old days with the loggy bayou climbers. I wouldn’t want to do it with the lone wolf. It’s really not that slow with the tether. Definitely safer with a tether even if you still choose to bear hug to climb.

 

[BobinTN]

No tether while climbing. Linesman belt line draped over my arms around tree. I hunt with a tether. This is just about climbing up and down. Lots of guys use climbing sticks with just the linesman belt/line;
Treesuit climbing method.

 

[EricS]

Your not using the same lone wolf climber seat most of us are. Yours seems much easier to climb with regardless of bear hugging the tree or using tether. my lone wolf climber top is actually a xop but it has a soft rubber belt around the tree. The newer lone wolfs have the same belt.

 

[mattsteg]

No tether while climbing. Linesman belt line draped over my arms around tree. I hunt with a tether. This is just about climbing up and down. Lots of guys use climbing sticks with just the linesman belt/line;
Treesuit climbing method.

With that much slack, and no branches on the tree, would the lineman's belt even catch or prevent a dall? Normally you would want it as snug as possible but your method doesn't really accommodate this.

But the biggest issue for me is still dealing with branches and odd-sized trees.

 

[BobinTN]

I have not taken a fall while climbing, so I do not know. I have sort of always assumed that it would snag and pull me into the tree.

I have an old lone wolf v-bar seat. I also have the newer seat. I tried climbing with that and it was not as easy. There has been some ideas I have picked up from this site. Putting tubing over the cable is one. The other looks like the placement of zip ties to keep the seat from closing. I have not tried them yet. My old v-bar is getting quite old.

The limb thing is something I have avoided. My area of TN there always seem to be a right sized non-limbed tree close enough to where I want to be.

 

[mattsteg]

I have not taken a fall while climbing, so I do not know. I have sort of always assumed that it would snag and pull me into the tree.

I have an old lone wolf v-bar seat. I also have the newer seat. I tried climbing with that and it was not as easy. There has been some ideas I have picked up from this site. Putting tubing over the cable is one. The other looks like the placement of zip ties to keep the seat from closing. I have not tried them yet. My old v-bar is getting quite old.

The limb thing is something I have avoided. My area of TN there always seem to be a right sized non-limbed tree close enough to where I want to be.

I think that there's a reasonable chance that it wouldn't catch right away, especially at the top of your stroke, and a reasonable chance you'd catch yourself with a giant hug anyway, or at least enough to slide under semi-control. Overall it looks like a really efficient method, but one which wouldn't work in most of the areas I hunt (branches and/or bigger trees).

 

[EricS]

On trees that a lone wolf climber will work on I would think you have a good chance of hugging the tree all the way down if something happened. The newer lone wolfs aren’t that bad to move around a limb but I wouldn’t want to do several. I have a five step aider I have considered using with the climber to get past groups of limbs. The main reason the hand climber hasn’t become my go to for going in blind is tree selection. One of the main reasons I switched to a saddle was to get away from having to pick trees based on ability to climb. When you’re going in blind you never know what the tree you pick will look like.