Since I'm not a land owner, I prefer a climber. I have an older climber which is basically unavailable now. There are many like it though. It has the square tubes and you stick a pin through the square tube and through the cable loop. That said, this construction is loud to get on the tree and then very quiet. My next stand will be an Equalizer. It looks absolutely quiet and easy to level. All climbers lack a certain stability up in the tree, but the Ameristep and the Equalizer look the best. This only affects you when leaning side to side.

Next, they all come with a free harness. IMHO, just put the free one on Ebay! Buy a good comfortable harness to walk and fall in. When I say comfortable to fall in, make sure when pulling on the strap that your weight is supported by your waist and hips, like a rock ckimber's harness. They all look the same, but if you look how some load the leg loops and waist belt, you can see you will be hung by your armpits! Check it out. Next is the tree strap. Most tree straps are junk. Too slow to use and no stretch in a fall. I use climbing rope. It has a fixed loop and the rope is run around the tree and through the loop. Very quick to climb with. I attach to the rope with a prussic knot. I attach my harness to the prussic loop with a locking carabiner.Summit sells this as a kit. Not sure about their rope quality. The prussic allows me a lot of flexibilityto move around.

Last, climb high. Sure a 12 foot ladder stand is ok, but climb like 20 feet or so in a climber. It is eeasy and reduces the chance of being seen. Climbers are generally more easy to get very high with. Higher is better IMHO.

http://images.ebsco.com/summit/harness_1.jpg?w=500&q=100