I have a couple of these and like them so much better than any other style stick because of the enclosed foot pegs. There's absolutely no way you are going to slip off one especially when you are climbing in and out of your stand and placing lateral pressure on the step where you could slip. You can just dig your foot in and go.

The rope attachment just takes some getting used to. I swing mine around and attach like they show in the instructions but I just keep winding around both ropes again and again sucking the sticks to the tree. Keep your body weight tight to the stick as you wrap and each one will secure it even more. Then just finish it off to secure your wraps.
The more you wrap around both ropes the more it pulls the 2 sides together making it more secure with each pass.

I like it and don't have a problem with them, but even if I didn't mind the ropes I would have no problem spending a couple bucks on some alternate style sinch style straps to take advantage of the superior security in climbing that the design provides.