ORIGINAL: timbercruiser
I'm 54 and I've never hunted from a steel pole, I weigh 230 and I have a concreted dressing area with winches and walk in cooler.
The conceptof climbing a steel pole is that if it does not slip on a steel pole, you know it will not slip on a tree of any kind. I also have the facilities to butcher, but athome.

I'm 66 and weigh 225 and climb 30ft. with ease. I have had these stands for 12 years and Iam very happy with them. To each his own!
One uses what he feels comfortable with, and I can understand that.