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Standoffs pulling away from tree

elk yinzer

elk yinzer

Well-Known Member
SH Member
Joined
Oct 23, 2017
Messages
2,925
Location
State College, PA
Posting this generally as it's something I've experienced multiple times with multiple platforms. My LW .5 is just about perfect, but maybe one out of every 10 setups that bracket will pull away and there will be an air gap between the tree and the offset bracket. Far as I can figure I don't see any correlation to anything I'm doing wrong or any specific tree features. It's still a functional platform in that manner, but squishy is the best description I can give it. I don't really care for it, not liking heights that squishy feeling gives me the tinglies the whole time.

Do yinz know what I'm talking about?

Am I doing something wrong?

Does a deeper offset bracket help? Which one should I get? I don't want to spend another chunk of money to upgrade a $500 stand, but it has to, because geometry, right?
 
Can you take a picture next time? The only thing that comes to mind is it isn't fully pushed down and set with weight applied. I use a mission I turned into a one stick mission. Some of the smaller diameter trees I climb I have to do a toe hook and then it is rock solid. Hope this helps. Squishy is not a good feels when at height.
 
I have this happen with my Predator sometimes. Usually for me the culprit is the strap being set at an angle to the centerline of the tree - if the tree is straight up and down, the strap isn't horizontal all the way around. I also have it happen when I put the strap on in a direction that I'm pulling away from myself to tighten it. I can fix this by running the strap the other way around the tree.

When I have this happening, I cam the platform down, and then raise it back up while tightening the strap. Of course, it's a pain in the rear since it doesn't show up until I'm actually on the platform, so I have to climb a couple steps down again. Seems like I have the worst problems with it on big pecan trees.
 
When I had the .5, it was a little squishy for me too. I hover around 170-175. I think it’s just a factor of the stand being so small and light and minimalist. There’s just not a lot of meat there to prevent most of the flexing IMO. Also I have usually felt like the cam buckle straps from LWCG do not hold as well as others. The slightly slick fabric of the strap doesn’t let the buckle bite as tight into it as it could. Thats what I noticed with mine anyway. I switched then to slightly older (at the time) Lone Wolf straps and they held much better for me.
 
I really think its when the teeth on the platform dig in deeper thus changing the angle at which the stick can be leveraged. So that makes the platform go deeper into the tree. Also, sometimes its the same for the rope or strap to slightly compress the bark and it starts to have more slop.
 
elk yinzer said:
Posting this generally as it's something I've experienced multiple times with multiple platforms. My LW .5 is just about perfect, but maybe one out of every 10 setups that bracket will pull away and there will be an air gap between the tree and the offset bracket. Far as I can figure I don't see any correlation to anything I'm doing wrong or any specific tree features. It's still a functional platform in that manner, but squishy is the best description I can give it. I don't really care for it, not liking heights that squishy feeling gives me the tinglies the whole time.

Do yinz know what I'm talking about?

Am I doing something wrong?

Does a deeper offset bracket help? Which one should I get? I don't want to spend another chunk of money to upgrade a $500 stand, but it has to, because geometry, right?
Click to expand...
Are you using the pull straps that came with the stand?

Lift the platform part fully up and make sure you get all the slack out of the strap while it runs perfectly level around the tree before camming the platform down.
 
This was always a strap/bark interface issue. Bark grabbing or not grabbing, leading to the strap being uneven, or loose and slide a little, or soft bark that compresses loosening the strap.

Like you, there were a handful of times it happened and it seemed like I didn’t do anything different.

Resetting it usually helped, but sometimes the tree was the tree.

Only 100% answer is a ratchet strap.



I’ve swapped to amsteel daisy/trucker and haven’t noticed it. But I’ve hunted out of a hang on 5-6 times in last 3 seasons combined.
 
The platform is biting while the stand is settling. Platform is not sliding to settle so the offset bracket is pulling away taking up the slack in your strap. Before stepping into the stand fold it and push down as hard as you could then unfold and step in.

A toe cam will also fix this but the stand will lift up and it will be tough to lift to the point it will drop in.
 
Like @enkriss i was going to suggest a toe-hook. My predator does this same thing when I don’t hook it. It’s maddening because my Trophyline and LW/novix stuff bites without any camming at all. But I absolutely have to toe hook my predator.
 
My .5 will do this also about 1 out of 5 trees. It's definitely just the strap isn't tight enough and requires more cam over. I just put my knee on my seat right above post and slightly toe hook the platform. Once the stand starts to slip down the tree, I stop toe hooking and push the platform back down. I never do a full motion of the platform while toe hooking. Just enough to get it to move.

It's always the bark on the tree that is the problem for me. Just can't squeeze the bark down enough to get the strap tight, with out the mechanical advantage of the toe hook. Takes less then 30 seconds to fix .

Sent from my SM-S901U using Tapatalk
 
@elk yinzer - if you are using both cam straps - this happens to me when using a treestand because the bottom strap is tighter than the top strap. With the bottom strap being tighter than the top strap, the offset bracket pulls away from the tree and creates the gap I get around the problem by tightening the top strap, “toe hooking” the stand with my hands (as I’m standing on my top stick), attaching the second strap, and then toe hooking again - all before getting on the platform for the first time. I’ve also had this happen with a saddle platform, and it’s usually because the cam strap isn’t aligned properly, the platform digs into the tree, or the bark is loose (shagbark hickory), as others mentioned.
 
I do use both straps, I really like to push off on my strong side to shoot behind me. I actually thread the bottom strap through the platform itself, not the post. Really locks it down. It doesn't seem to contribute to creating the gap, but obviously to fix it that way you have to loosen it first.

I figured toe hooking would help I really don't care for it though. I hate to put that much torque but I guess the machined can take a lot more than the cast ones.

I still want to find a slightly deeper standoff and try that first. If I can solve it without adding another step in the climbing process that would be great.

Usually it happens a couple times a season and I brush it off. Monday it happened in 2 of the 3 trees I climbed and I was kind of annoyed.
 
elk yinzer said:
I do use both straps, I really like to push off on my strong side to shoot behind me. I actually thread the bottom strap through the platform itself, not the post. Really locks it down. It doesn't seem to contribute to creating the gap, but obviously to fix it that way you have to loosen it first.

I figured toe hooking would help I really don't care for it though. I hate to put that much torque but I guess the machined can take a lot more than the cast ones.

I still want to find a slightly deeper standoff and try that first. If I can solve it without adding another step in the climbing process that would be great.

Usually it happens a couple times a season and I brush it off. Monday it happened in 2 of the 3 trees I climbed and I was kind of annoyed.
Click to expand...
Keep in mind, most of these manufacturers actually recommend toe hooking. It’s in their official videos. I actually learned the technique when I bought my first LW stand like, 10 years ago. the guy in the video said it was the best way to get the best connection. I wouldn’t worry about breaking it personally, and if you do then I wouldn’t trust that stand in the first place. Then, when you cash in on your warranty, just leave the part about toe hooking out of it and get a stand you can hook without fear.
I believe André and Cody recommend toe hooking in their own videos. Just saying.
As others have said, don’t lift the platform all the way on toe hooking. And before you get into the stand at all, flatten to the tree as much as possible on the first couple of cams/slacks.
 
DelaWhere_Arrow said:
Keep in mind, most of these manufacturers actually recommend toe hooking. It’s in their official videos. I actually learned the technique when I bought my first LW stand like, 10 years ago. the guy in the video said it was the best way to get the best connection. I wouldn’t worry about breaking it personally, and if you do then I wouldn’t trust that stand in the first place. Then, when you cash in on your warranty, just leave the part about toe hooking out of it and get a stand you can hook without fear.
I believe André and Cody recommend toe hooking in their own videos. Just saying.
As others have said, don’t lift the platform all the way on toe hooking. And before you get into the stand at all, flatten to the tree as much as possible on the first couple of cams/slacks.
Click to expand...
See the bolded. Why is this? Isn't that the way to get all the slack out?

You're attached to the tree via a tether or lineman's belt.

The platform isn't going to slide down the tree past the point where the slack will allow it. Is it???
 
kyler1945 said:
This was always a strap/bark interface issue. Bark grabbing or not grabbing, leading to the strap being uneven, or loose and slide a little, or soft bark that compresses loosening the strap.

Like you, there were a handful of times it happened and it seemed like I didn’t do anything different.

Resetting it usually helped, but sometimes the tree was the tree.

Only 100% answer is a ratchet strap.



I’ve swapped to amsteel daisy/trucker and haven’t noticed it. But I’ve hunted out of a hang on 5-6 times in last 3 seasons combined.
Click to expand...
Im a fan of Sam's windless tourniquet over à ratchet..it deserves the attention of à larger croud.
 
Center Punch said:
See the bolded. Why is this? Isn't that the way to get all the slack out?

You're attached to the tree via a tether or lineman's belt.

The platform isn't going to slide down the tree past the point where the slack will allow it. Is it???
Click to expand...
Just because if you lift the platform past, say, 45 degrees, you might take too much slack out and grip too hard before your platform gets all the way to the leveling bolt. So if you have the bolt set then get too much slack out your platform will be slightly upward compared to what you intended.
If you wanted to lift the platform all the way just make sure you trust how tight your straps already are.
 
DelaWhere_Arrow said:
Just because if you lift the platform past, say, 45 degrees, you might take too much slack out and grip too hard before your platform gets all the way to the leveling bolt. So if you have the bolt set then get too much slack out your platform will be slightly upward compared to what you intended.
If you wanted to lift the platform all the way just make sure you trust how tight your straps already are.
Click to expand...
Thanks for the explanation.

Cheers
 
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