Saturday was opening day of Archery season here in PA (as many of you know). It was a beautiful day, but the spot I chose for my morning hunt had no deer, so I had several hours to contemplate improvements to my hunting rig including my new Lone Wolf Hand Climber.

The Lone Wolf is very light and wonderfully compact: I could carry it several miles without a problem, and that is using the provided unpadded backpack straps (although I plan to add the padded straps eventually).

However, there are several things that could stand improvement starting with the seat. There is no reason that a simple seat bottom type of seat cannot be comfortable: almost all hang-on stands have this type of seat. However, the Lone Wolf seat pad had two problems: it is too thin and it does not extend over the edge of the seat frame. The second problem is more serious than the first: if you set the seat high relative to the platform to make it easier to stand, then the front of the seat frame cuts off the circulation in your legs.

During my lunch break I stopped at the local hunting store and Walmart to purchase a 1" closed cell seat pad and some camo duct tape. I removed the Lone Wolf pad, cut approximately 1 1/2" off the back of the replacement pad, and used the duct tape to hold the replacement pad on the frame. It extends approximately 1" over the front of the seat frame for a much more comfortable seat that does not interfere with packing the seat and platform together.

Since the duct tape was sticking slightly to my pants when I stood up, this morning I removed the tape and used two velcro straps to hold the seat pad in place. The result is very satisfactory.