RE: Climbing tips and tricks
The best advice I can give is to find a suitable tree and practice! practice! practice! Practice the final setup and tie in close to the ground until you get used to the stands idiosyncrasies amnd practice climbing over and over till you get the hang of doing it safely and quietly.
Make sure you use a good safety harness while climbing as well as when at the top. It seems like a nuisance but could saveyour life.
With the summit, pay special attention to the clips that keep the cable in place. When they get worn they get loose and pop off easily. A guy I know was 25 feet up and the clip on the main platform came off and the cable popped out. He was 25 feet up hanging on to the climbing aid/seat. He tried to hug the tree and shinny down, lost his grip and tore his bicep from the bone when it caught a knot on the way down