Thinking of ordering some steps. I just can't resist burning money on another climbing method I guess. I do like how compact they pack up though. Anyway, I'm trying to decide on length of rope. I hunt out of a range of trees...from bottomland cottonwoods to cedars and pines. I just came back from some local open space park where I was measuring trees with sewing tape (got some odd looks). One thing I noticed is I can't even reach around a tree that would max out the six foot rope. I'm not that tall and I don't have an impressive wingspan for sure. So the question is, for WE step owners, do you use the 6 or 8 foot ropes? Did anyone buy 8 and cut them back? Or buy 6' and wish you had 8'? Do 8' ropes have more of a stretching problem? Anyway thought I would survey the saddle hunting brain trust. thanks for any thoughts you can share.
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Wild Edge Steps...6' or 8' ropes?
- Thread starter Shortdraw
- Start date
Is it extra $$ for the longer rope?
Aaronpaul14
Well-Known Member
I’ve used mine for a while and came with 6’. I never climbed a tree I couldn’t tie the step but came close a few times. I just ordered a set of replacement ropes and ordered the 8’ ones. I’d rather have more than not enough. Planning to put the few I needed to replace at bottom and 6’ original ones at top of tree.
- Joined
- Dec 20, 2019
- Messages
- 330
I have the 8 ft ropes. Never had a tree I couldn’t get around and the rope bundles into the bag so no impact on bulkiness.
Interested to hear the people’s upside about the 6’s.
For the minimal extra rope I like knowing I’ll always have enough.
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Interested to hear the people’s upside about the 6’s.
For the minimal extra rope I like knowing I’ll always have enough.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Well I thought it cost more but when I use their "build a step ladder" function it doesn't add to the cost. So I guess your point is go long, you can always cut but you can't add!
I considered switching to 8’ rope last year but ended up not. If I replace the ropes I will try the 8’. But just FYI you might need to order the next size up bag for the steps in order to get the extra rope to all fit in. At least thats what I was told by WE.
Also word of advice, absolutely stretch the ropes before using the steps. Do this by strapping the steps onto a tree in your yard and get them as tight as you possibly can. Then let them sit overnight. I had nothing but problems with the steps in the beginning until I learned this needed to be done. Now they are awesome and I’m glad I didn’t sell them like I was about to.
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Also word of advice, absolutely stretch the ropes before using the steps. Do this by strapping the steps onto a tree in your yard and get them as tight as you possibly can. Then let them sit overnight. I had nothing but problems with the steps in the beginning until I learned this needed to be done. Now they are awesome and I’m glad I didn’t sell them like I was about to.
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Yes for sure on the stretching. Sounds like a critical step (no pun intended...well maybe a little). I was thinking of ordering a 10 step bag w 8 steps. How many steps do you use on an average climb?
Hah! Nice. Good idea on the bag. I use 8 steps also. Want to try and use less but honestly I’m not comfortable using an aider with these for some reason, so I’m just gonna keep using all 8 I think.
I have two other climbing methods I will be jumping around with, so I plan to use the steps mainly on really wonky crooked slanted trees where sticks or one sticking would be a pain. So just for that I think I would do better using all 8 steps in that situation anyway.
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The amount of stepps you are going to need to get to hunting height depends on you. It depends on your climbing ability, what your comfortable with, your physical fitness, and your experience. When I use stepps I have them broken down into two sets. I have one set with 8 stepps and another set with 3. I use the 8 stepp set up when I know I'm going to a tree with a lot of branches so I have plenty of them to maneuver around branches. I always use aiders. With 8 stepps I'll just use a foot loop with a carabiner. I use the 3 stepp kit when I'm going deep and usually hunting bedding areas when I know I'm only going to be able to get 8-15 off the ground. With that set up I use a 5 step aider on a carabiner. Everyone always asks how many stepps to get X amount of feet high. It's completely shooter preference and ability. The key to stepps is figuring them out and lots of practice. Lack of practice equals disappointment. I have a lot of experience with them and I still don't use them all the time but they are very convenient at times. As far as stretching the ropes, it's critical. You can get away with unstretched ropes on a hardwood if you know what your doing. Outside of that your setting yourself up for failure. 8 foot ropes are great but make sure you stretch them on a huge tree to get the entire length stretched. Just cam them down hard on a fat tree and leave them there for a day. Then your all good.
Murph brings up a good point I forgot. You do want as much of the rope around the tree as you can get to stretch them. So choose a big tree to cam them to for a full day (including overnight).
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Patriot38
Well-Known Member
I purchased 4 (8 foot) and 4 (6 foot). I only found myself in 1 situation where I needed the 8 foot ropes. I learned trees that large are tougher to set up in. Especially a platform. I try not to hunt trees where I need 8 foot ropes.
Homebrew454
Well-Known Member
Also practice tying the knot. Try the original method they show on the bag and then try the simplified method. I'm thinking you will like the simplified method with the 8 foot ropes.
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Kurt
Well-Known Member
I use just a knaider which is pretty easy. It'll give you a little more distance per climb so you might could drop a least a couple of steps to get the same height.
Kurt
Well-Known Member
I think you need to know what you need in general. I mean how often do you climb trees you'll need an 8' rope? If the answer is often enough then get them 8'. I have 6' and never needed longer, but I don't target bigger trees. I wonder if you could get like 6 steps with 6' and say two at 8' to get above the larger base of bigger trees?
Yes you can get them w different lengths. Thinking I might do that. I can always cut them if the longer ones are pointless or keep a few for wider bases. Someone made a good point that my platform strap isn't 8' so other than wide base trees, the 8 footers might not be that practical.
kobudo
Well-Known Member
I use 6 foot ropes. If you can reach around the tree, it will work. Any longer and 8 foot would be needed. I would probably get 2 8foot and the rest 6.
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