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What is the best climbing method for mobile hunting?

There are hundreds, if not thousands of ways to climb a tree. It all comes down to finding a method that you like and one that fits your budget. ;) Two years ago, I spent way too much money trying out most of the known climbing methods. It was fun and a little expensive, but I was able to find a method that I liked and settled into it. :cool:

I went with an SRT method for climbing and rappel down. It's lighter than carrying all the gear, packs and still not feeling as comfortable as I do now. My entire rig only weighs about 18# and is a breeze to setup.
 
DOMMA said:
I'm thinking the same.

I struggled with one-sticking even after hours of practice. At least 3X I had issues getting the rappel line out of the tree, especially in the dark. I also did not like the 3-4 ft of slack introduced into the tether during each move; something I never considered when I was young.

The climbing platform seems simple as I used a Lone Wolf Assault climber for years in the past.
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Why are you allowing 3-4' of slack in your attachment to the main/rappel line? Presuming you are using either a mechanical ascender such as a Ropeman/Kong or a friction hitch (I use a JRB Longhorn Agile), you simply move it up to maintain constant tension as you ascend. It may take a few seconds longer, but such slack is avoided.

I never cared for climbers in the first place...heavier and always searching for the 'right' tree. Adding a climber base to saddle hunting is nothing I care to even explore. I know a few who have and hunted with them, only to resell and move on.
 
DOMMA said:
Interesting video for a few reasons: 1. Using a climbing platform is the fastest way up/down a tree (a little surprising to me) 2. Using a climbing platform also appears to be among the safest techniques, always tied to the tree and there is little slack in moves. 3. The climbing platform looked super easy. I'm a sucker, bought a Osprey Lean Ascent Select today. Have to check it out.
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Panther climbing platform and Dryad Dray saddle , climb with tether,
2
Seasons.
 
Alaska at Heart said:
Why are you allowing 3-4' of slack in your attachment to the main/rappel line? Presuming you are using either a mechanical ascender such as a Ropeman/Kong or a friction hitch (I use a JRB Longhorn Agile), you simply move it up to maintain constant tension as you ascend. It may take a few seconds longer, but such slack is avoided.

I never cared for climbers in the first place...heavier and always searching for the 'right' tree. Adding a climber base to saddle hunting is nothing I care to even explore. I know a few who have and hunted with them, only to resell and move on.
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My experience was when you advance the tether, you are creating slack between moves. If you watch any of the 20+ videos on Youtube, they all have temporary slack in their tether.
 
DOMMA said:
My experience was when you advance the tether, you are creating slack between moves. If you watch any of the 20+ videos on Youtube, they all have temporary slack in their tether.
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Most of the YT videos are really poorly done and there are quite a few where guys are making the first climb rotation with wiggly aiders to their one-stick without even being tied in. They have their rappel rope or tether hung over their shoulder and reach upward to attach while hanging on to the tree with the other hand. That is like the old school method of hanging a fixed stand without a harness or linemans...and folks fell. So I would NOT be taking their methods seriously...even if they get their act together once they are properly hooked in. This is 2026 and being tied in from the ground up is the 'thing'...even fixed stand users with a 'life line'.

Now go to the JRB climbing channel and watch his Garda Loop ascending method. John is EXTEREMLY safety conscious and most often has redundant systems in place in case of an miscue or clearly unintended failure of some sort. Both hands are in play using that technique...one tensioning the foot loop and the other the constantly monitoring the LHA hitch that is supporting body weight. With a bit of practice, the same tending of the friction hitch or ascender can be done with a one-stick where there isn't a few feet of slack building up as the saddle hunter is ascending to the next stopping point. JRB doesn't even care for one-sticking because there is no redundant safety...just a single mechanical ascender or hitch on the main line. His Garda Loop approach is somewhat a modified 2TC but with a lot more safety built in.
 
Alaska at Heart said:
Most of the YT videos are really poorly done and there are quite a few where guys are making the first climb rotation with wiggly aiders to their one-stick without even being tied in. They have their rappel rope or tether hung over their shoulder and reach upward to attach while hanging on to the tree with the other hand. That is like the old school method of hanging a fixed stand without a harness or linemans...and folks fell. So I would NOT be taking their methods seriously...even if they get their act together once they are properly hooked in. This is 2026 and being tied in from the ground up is the 'thing'...even fixed stand users with a 'life line'.

Now go to the JRB climbing channel and watch his Garda Loop ascending method. John is EXTEREMLY safety conscious and most often has redundant systems in place in case of an miscue or clearly unintended failure of some sort. Both hands are in play using that technique...one tensioning the foot loop and the other the constantly monitoring the LHA hitch that is supporting body weight. With a bit of practice, the same tending of the friction hitch or ascender can be done with a one-stick where there isn't a few feet of slack building up as the saddle hunter is ascending to the next stopping point. JRB doesn't even care for one-sticking because there is no redundant safety...just a single mechanical ascender or hitch on the main line. His Garda Loop approach is somewhat a modified 2TC but with a lot more safety built in.
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That's not necessarily a good assessment of 2tc. Plenty of people are using 2 bridges, one connected to each tether for redundancy and you can maintain the same very low slack on your top tether as one sticking or similar methods in exactly the way you've suggested if you choose to use only a single bridge or don't connect yourself to the bottom tether.
 
Horn said:
That's not necessarily a good assessment of 2tc. Plenty of people are using 2 bridges, one connected to each tether for redundancy and you can maintain the same very low slack on your top tether as one sticking or similar methods in exactly the way you've suggested if you choose to use only a single bridge or don't connect yourself to the bottom tether.
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That may be true and I am glad to hear it. But the majority of YT videos I have seen are not very safety-conscious. Many have a video recorder set quite a distance from the tree, so you really don't get a good sense for their actual hookup. Some of you who utilize 'better practices' might consider creating some quality content to encourage new folks to start off correctly.
 
I want to be able to walk up to any reasonable tree (straight, branched, slight lean, etc) that has not been prepped or even seen before and safely and quietly ascend it with a setup that is light as possible. For me, strap on steps (first Treehoppers with amsteel daisy chains and now Bullman Origins with amsteel attachment) hit the sweet spot. The primary downside is that they take a little longer to get up the tree when using.
 
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Alaska at Heart said:
That may be true and I am glad to hear it. But the majority of YT videos I have seen are not very safety-conscious. Many have a video recorder set quite a distance from the tree, so you really don't get a good sense for their actual hookup. Some of you who utilize 'better practices' might consider creating some quality content to encourage new folks to start off correctly.
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So you are saying Stagg’s videos aren’t quality?
 
Alaska at Heart said:
That may be true and I am glad to hear it. But the majority of YT videos I have seen are not very safety-conscious. Many have a video recorder set quite a distance from the tree, so you really don't get a good sense for their actual hookup. Some of you who utilize 'better practices' might consider creating some quality content to encourage new folks to start off correctly.
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I will be at the meet up May 16th, I'd be happy to demo 2tc or close to any other climbing method you'd like if you're willing to film and edit the video.
 
Cbigbear said:
So you are saying Stagg’s videos aren’t quality?
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I don't know if I have seen a 'Stagg' production or just other folks? But I am relating that the 2TC videos I have seen are not what I would use to teach someone the technique from scratch. There are a few one-sticking videos that are better video quality, but they lack in overall safety...as noted previously. We are allowed to disagree here...right?
 
Alaska at Heart said:
I don't know if I have seen a 'Stagg' production or just other folks? But I am relating that the 2TC videos I have seen are not what I would use to teach someone the technique from scratch. There are a few one-sticking videos that are better video quality, but they lack in overall safety...as noted previously. We are allowed to disagree here...right?
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I’m not sure if we agree or disagree. Neither of us said whether we thought the quality of Staggs in the wild was good or bad!!!!
 
Cbigbear said:
I’m not sure if we agree or disagree. Neither of us said whether we thought the quality of Staggs in the wild was good or bad!!!!
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Well I have no idea which you YT segments others have watched of Staggs, but the particular one teaching a 13 year old showed him instructing the youth to ascend a two step aider and stick before attaching the rappel rope from the top stick step several feet off the ground. If that is the way some choose to operate, I suppose that falls unter the 'you do you' mantra...but it isn't how I go about it. Most videos of attaching and ascending multiple sticks show the saddle hunter attached by their linemans from the first step up and using both linemans and short tether to attach a platform. So why is it OK for a one-sticking video to ascend several feet off the ground without being tied in? The video and audio quality were better than a lot of others, but perpetuating the idea that safety starts at the 6-7' isn't prudent in my personal view.
 
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Alaska at Heart said:
Well I have no idea which you YT segments others have watched of Staggs, but the particula one teaching a 13 year old showed him instructing the youth to ascend a two step aider and stick before attaching the rappel rope from the top stick step several feet off the ground. If that is the way some choose to operate, I suppose that falls unter the 'you do you' mantra...but it isn't how I go about it. Most videos of attaching and ascending multiple sticks show the saddle hunter attached by their linemans from the first step up and using both linemans and short tether to attach a platform. So why is it OK for a one-sticking video to ascend several feet off the ground without being tied in? The video and audio quality were better than a lot of others, but perpetuating the idea that safety starts at the 6-7' isn't prudent in my personal view.
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Disclaimer I’m not safe when climbing trees, but do strive for practical safety. If my goal was to be safe I would have to give up mobile tree climbing and resort to pre-sets. I would also have to change my timing, driving routes, terrain hunted, etc so again my overall goal is practical safety.

Now to YT content, most production quality (mics, multi cams, extensive edits) videos are geared at $ via subscribes & likes. Not so much providing info about methods or products or tactics. So I take all those with a grain of salt, in the climbing method realm how much is edited vs real world experience.

On to Staggs, I’m not opposed to the tying off at the 6-7’ mark. Again it’s practical safety, it’s not possible to set an anchor to be safe without extra gear. To set a low anchor would put you at a risk for hangup (especially with multiple step aiders) which could have worse results than hitting the ground from that height. The issues I personally see with his technique & gear is common with a lot of guys - mechanical ascenders & cam cleat attachments. Both of these became popular in one sticking some years ago as did rappelling became standard. My issue with both is exposure to falls from accidental triggers. I have read of a few falls from accidental triggers to madrock safeguards, the mechanical promoted in Stagg’s videos. I believe mechanicals such as this are dangerous especially for new climbers. I have not heard or read about accidental disengagement from cam cleats, but without backup knots it possible. I could see in a slip someone grabbing the rope tail & popping the rope out or in the dark having it hang on something & disengaging.
 
GeoFish said:
My priorities for a climbing method are.
1. Safety.
2. Quite.
3. Packability, including weight.
4. Flexibility, climb any tree, what @raisins said.
5. Easy.
Tree steps meet all 5.
Note that fast is not on the list.
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I'm not much faster with sticks and aiders. There's just bigger/louder stuff to move around/more awkward that are awkwardly hanging off me. And they are more difficult to securely and quietly attach. Then it can take a second to get your foot in the aider. Then the stakes are higher with a stick if I slip (fall a bit further and potentially onto pointy metal) so I'm a bit slower. I'd say I save no more than 5 minutes using sticks....if that and if at all....yet to compare with a clock on the same exact tree (maybe a spring project). Sticks feel faster though...sorta like how people think they are really getting somewhere a lot faster when they go 10 mph over the speed limit but only on a 30 minute drive....and it ends up saving you hardly anything.
 
Horn said:
I'm on 7.6 for rappel now:innocent:

Just trying to help, but there doesn't seem to be any interest. *shrug*
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If you mean interest from me...I already rappel and ascend in a variety of ways. I've used a Madrock, a classic Figure 8 and a Munter hitch with carabiner to rappel. I've not yet worked on the direct 2TC, however the JRB Garda seems to be a 'hybrid' form of 2TC with the foot loop attached to the main line rather than a seperate tree tether. I also do not have recording equipment, as being a 'content creator' or 'influencer' is not my goal. So if you would like to make some better content, you will have to figure out that end and I will be happy to watch it.
 
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