Weight is a very inportant factor for me, as I hunt public land and have to remove each night. Quality construction is an even bigger factor, cause I don't wanna fall (both the climbing sticks and the stand itself).
Oh wait... you said forget cheap... uh... well... how 'bput they're all rock solid and safe?
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R.I.P- Max Sawlaw - (Uncle Buddy)
Cause in the wind he's still alive. We got his spirit We got his soul. He will guide our steps, he will guide our arrows home. The restless spirit still roams.
light weight and ease of hanging are definitely top priority- I like a stand that has a strap that can be done/undone from either side (gorilla stands have this). This enables you to attach the buckle right infront of you no matter what instead of reaching around the tree and attaching the strap. That can be a pain in the ass.
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Patience has been, is, and always will be the hunters most deadly weapon.
I have to agree with early in, I prefer and only use Lone Wolf Stands.
Now for the reasons...
easy to hang which results in the reducing the chance of fall.
I also like how rock solid they are once I have them in place. If you ever went up a set of sticks, the Lone Wolf sticks do not come loose the more you use them.
Comfort - For me being 6'3", I find that I can sit all day without the need to stretch my legs.
Now, I have quite the collection of Lone Wolf Alpha Stands and sticks in the garage that I have purchased over the last two years. But this is how I explained it to my wife, its cheaper than a wheelchair and having a ramp built coming into the front door.
To summarize, to cut costs on something that could mean the difference between coming home safe or not, isn't an option for me.
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Hoyt Carbon Element
G5 Striker Broadhead
RMEF Life Member French Creek Chapter Volunteer Erie, Pennsylvania
I look for ease of hanging it, along with a good size platform, and comfy seat. A foot rest is a nice too, as long as its welded. In fact the most important thing for me is that the stand is quiet!!!! I tend to buy a lot of stands. I have around 12 in the woods right now, and i have about 4 on stand by along with a climber when they start to change there patterns, so cost is an issue as well, not trying to spend $200 per stand, best deal i found this year was the Gander Mountain stand, its like a Rivers Edge with a welded up foot rest and better seat, picked up about 6 of those puppies, at $59 a pop. They work awesome!
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Mathews Monster
Savage .300WSM
TC
It is kind of silly to not look at the price...maybe because I can't afford to buy top of the line products...but for me, its ease of use and assembly. I bought a hang-on from Sportsmansguide.com som generic brand that came ready to hang out of the box, that was nice; all I had to do was put the seat cushion on. I recently bought a Field and Stream hang-on that I had to put completely together, about the same quality of stand just more of a pain. So ease of use is a big on for me...
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"One does not hunt in order to kill; on the contrary, one kills in order to have hunted...What he is after is having to win it; to conquer the surely brute through his own effort and skill with all the extras that this carries with it
what do you look for in a hang-on
