To those who use Shikar Sticks

[skyjacker]

I need you to make me the lightest, strongest, non movingest way to get up a tree. I need it to weigh less than 2 pounds. I need it to be quiet. I need it to never break. I need it to smell good. And I need it NOW!

You forgot cheapest - "At that price it should do X, Y and Z"

 

[kyler1945]

You forgot cheapest - "At that price it should do X, Y and Z"

Shoot! It was number one on my list.

I'm right at 200lbs. I had shikars. I'm 6'3, and generate a lot of leverage when i climb. The flexed just like all of my other lightweight aluminum gear flexes when I'm pushing limits with it.

They also smelled like a machine shop, and the deer I killed last year didn't seem to mind.

 

[scott77]

i have 4 of them.....i noticed very little smell when i got them a few months back.

 

[stone1]

I need you to make me the lightest, strongest, non movingest way to get up a tree. I need it to weigh less than 2 pounds. I need it to be quiet. I need it to never break. I need it to smell good. And I need it NOW!

Sounds like climbing spurs.

 

[stone1]

Shoot! It was number one on my list.

I'm right at 200lbs. I had shikars. I'm 6'3, and generate a lot of leverage when i climb. The flexed just like all of my other lightweight aluminum gear flexes when I'm pushing limits with it.

They also smelled like a machine shop, and the deer I killed last year didn't seem to mind.

I think the key here is "I had shikars". They're twizzlers. Sticks should not bend.

 

[kyler1945]

So that step bent when you stepped off of it on to the step above it? And you weigh 200lbs? That's it?

 

[stone1]

So that step bent when you stepped off of it on to the step above it? And you weigh 200lbs? That's it?

The step bent is the top step.

 

[kyler1945]

Haha I believe your weight brotha!

I was just curious how simply stepping up from one step to the next would cause these to bend. There's probably thousands of sticks out there, with way bigger fellas using them, and first I've seen of one bent from normal use.

I don't like climbing sticks generally - don't read in to the "had" too much. It's not what you think.

Also, I'm here for constructive conversation about failures. I'm not here to just poke the bear. Unless the bear is shouting a lot.


So let's get detailed about how the stick failed. One stick set, you're standing on the top step, and you step on to the second step, and the first step bends from the force generated by you standing on it, and then reducing the force of standing on it by moving to the next step?

If so, why didn't it bend when you were just standing on it?

 

[bowhuntr09]

I just picked some up the classifieds and tested them out today;

Two things I noticed off the bat.

-These things flex like Twizzlers when you're on the top step and one foot is on the stick IE: stepping onto/ off the step.

-The shikars smell like the strongest grease known to man.

I assume the scent will die down over time but the flex is pretty substantial. I'm only 200lbs. I tighten the knob down by hand then rotate the standoff to level to increase torque like recommended.

Is this something other Shikar users have noticed? If so have you encountered any issues with these problems over time?

I have noticed it. It's the reason I'm considering selling mine. I bought them to try to get better packability than my Beast sticks and they have that in spades. I just don't like the flex.

 

[skyjacker]

How did you set the stick? Matt has a ton of videos showing how to set the stick. I see people on YouTube all the time pulling down from the top step to set them. That's the wrong way to set them. You have to pull the bottom away from the tree and down. The reason why is that the standoff are really sharp and will bite into the tree before the strap bottoms out. This may cause some bending to occur. Watch Mark set them by pulling out from the bottom. He stands on the top step and bounces, no flex. I think he weighs like 185 or something. I'm not saying they don't bend or flex, but there are thousands of sticks out there and very few reports of them being bent. Maybe people are not reporting them once they bend. Mine haven't bent though.

 

[skyjacker]

@enkriss You've owned almost every stick. What sticks do NOT flex at all?

 

[stone1]

How did you set the stick? Matt has a ton of videos showing how to set the stick. I see people on YouTube all the time pulling down from the top step to set them. That's the wrong way to set them. You have to pull the bottom away from the tree and down. The reason why is that the standoff are really sharp and will bite into the tree before the strap bottoms out. This may cause some bending to occur. Watch Mark set them by pulling out from the bottom. He stands on the top step and bounces, no flex. I think he weighs like 185 or something. I'm not saying they don't bend or flex, but there are thousands of sticks out there and very few reports of them being bent. Maybe people are not reporting them once they bend. Mine haven't bent though.

I’ve discussed with Matt how to set the stick prior to use. I believe my sticks were bent from the individual I bought them from. He said he used the scout and wasn’t aware it bent the stick, which I believe.

Regardless how you set the stick the stick flexes bad. I can make the top offset nearly move away from the tree with a certain angle of force. I’ve even had the bottom offset pull away from the tree when stepping into my cable aider.

All of these problems exist because the main post is too skinny. If Matt went with a 3/4 or 1” main post none of these issues would exist. Even if these sticks were 2lbs they would still be in a league of their own

 

[Sniper4hire]

Your response was that the smell eliminated them immediately for you. The smell. I simply pointed out the obvious, that the smell of your coffee breath, or how your insides processed last nights dinner, will be as much as, if not more detrimental (albeit sarcastically). If you boys gun hunt, how do you clean your firearms, by giving them a stern talking to? How's about you bow, how do you lubricate that? Hate to break it to you, but the deer smell those too, even if you don't.

Thanks for the scent lesson. I feel

@enkriss You've owned almost every stick. What sticks do NOT flex at all?

Sticks that are actually engineered correctly, then tested methodically dont flex.. all this crap you guys are using to shave your precious ounces are putting you in danger. These pole barn operations are knocking this crap out as fast as they can to get that extra sale in a nitch market and they are not engineering or testing these things properly.
You're buying crap and paying a king's ransom for it to boot.

 

[huntin_addict]

Thanks for the scent lesson. I feel

Sticks that are actually engineered correctly, then tested methodically dont flex.. all this crap you guys are using to shave your precious ounces are putting you in danger. These pole barn operations are knocking this crap out as fast as they can to get that extra sale in a nitch market and they are not engineering or testing these things properly.
You're buying crap and paying a king's ransom for it to boot.

So, point me towards a set of sticks that don't flex. I've owned quite a few, they all flex.

I'd advise that if you are that worried about a little flex, you never fly anywhere. If you think a little flex on those sticks is scary, you'd crap if you knew how much the wing on an aircraft flexes. Or driving, you should quit that too.

 

[SNIPERBBB]

Olive and avocado oils work just as well.

Sent from my SM-G960U using Tapatalk

I'd suggest food grade silicone oil.

 

[MIbowhunter49]

Well your cycle of loads and duration of loading will affect the fatigue over the life of the stick. This could lead to premature fracturing and failure. This is also dependent on how much strain you are putting on the stick each cycle.

There's math for calculating fatigue life, I don't remember what it was. But I do remember that it takes a hell of a lot of cycles to fatigue something if it's not super high stress (elastic deformation). It won't be fatigue that breaks a stick.

 

[MIbowhunter49]

So, point me towards a set of sticks that don't flex. I've owned quite a few, they all flex.

I'd advise that if you are that worried about a little flex, you never fly anywhere. If you think a little flex on those sticks is scary, you'd crap if you knew how much the wing on an aircraft flexes. Or driving, you should quit that too.

Agreed. Elastic deformation is not something to be afraid of, if you're no where near the yield point.

However, bent sticks would suggest you already exceeded the yield point.