No worries hardcorehunter, I think you'd like the sticks.

In-regard to you're question about enclosing the end of the steps. Probably the biggest reason is that they do work very well as-is. Because the ends of the steps are "open", you can place the inside of you're foot against the tree, and then on the step. The "enclosed" versions mean you are using only the tips of you're feet to climb, the LW sticks enable you to contact the tree which really helps when finding the next step (on the way down), and they really are safer because you can place you're feet on an angle (more contact area), instead of perpendicular to the tree. Once you try them, you will understand what I'm talking about. Kind-of tough to explain.