I remember when my Equalizer was new out of the box and looked like that. Now it looks 3 years old and hunted hard...because it is. I'm a fan. I too ordered their sling seat and returned it after one hunt due to it being stiff and it made too much noise. I don't use the elastic boot bands for climbing, but just hook my feet under the 45 degree braces. Works very well.
This is a very solid stand and the company seems to be good and has good customer service. This statement is in contrast to a post I made last year when I was having a problem and could not get them to return my calls, but once I got in touch with them, the corrected my problem by sending me a whole new stand (bottom portion), FEDEX overnight. Based on them doing the right thing...quickly, I give them a thumbs up.