I have 3 treestands, a ladder stand, strap-on stand and a climber.

Since I moved, I don't have a place to hunt with the ladder stand, since it is a 2-3 person job to put this one up, therefore it stays in the garage collecting dust.

I reallllly do not like climbing trees or using the screw-in steps. However the strap-on stand is very light and is useful in a few places where I hunt. It has a small platform which is great for carrying threw the woods, but isn't so nice once you are up in the tree. Therefore it also collects a lot of dust.

The climber that Ihave is a Summit Viper.At 21lbs, it really isn't bad to carry into the woods (Idid replace the carry straps with good quality padded straps). If youare not familier withthis stand, it does havethe bar in front of you.You sit on this bar asyou ascend/descend the tree. The bar also serves as a rifle/bow rest.

Now as for it being in the wayfor bowhunting....It hasn't been sofar, you just have to plan ahead a little bit and set the seat a little lower, so when you stand up the bar is below your bow. Two weeks ago, I didn'teven stand up to shoot the doe, so the bar wasn't and issue then either.

I also like the bar in front of me to add a little security while in the tree.

I hope this helps..