allegiance21

Ladder stands take the longest to set up, IMO are by far the loudest, are the heaviest, and usually need two people to set up. Hang ons take a little getting used to. You need a good set of climbing sticks (lone wolfs are my favorite, but expensive, and if you get them you need 4 sticks). You absolutely must get used to using a lineman's belt when you hang a hang on stand. That frees up both your arms, and makes setting up the sticks and stand much quicker, safer, and easier. Climbers are the most versatile in my opinion. I use a summit viper and I can be up the tree and ready to hunt with bow in hand in about 5 minutes because I've been using climbers now for about 7 or 8 years. I feel extremely safe while climbing and sitting in that stand. But, whether youhunt private or public land could definitely influence your decision. I hunt public land so i have a climber and two hang on stands. I used to own a ladder stand. It was the first stand i bought. I sold it 2 years after I bought it because it's way too heavy to lug around. Then, I boughtan Ol' man climber stand and realized my type of hunting was geared towards these stands. I coul always find a tree to use it in. sometimes pruning is necessary, but it works out. I sold that stand eventually after I upgraded to the summit. I have 2 hang ons at the moment also. I just previously bought the lone wolf alpha hang on w/ the lone wolf sticks. I have found out after setting it up several times I will never be up a tree as fast as i will with the summit, but after using it many times my set up time will decrease. also with the hang on i can get into trees with branches i couldn't otherwise get into. Climbers are the easiest to use all around, i think.