I am into my second year. It is a very safe stand to hunt from, no risk of the bottom falling away when climbing with the connecting straps they have. I did replace their platform seat with a sling seat from the Summit website - super comfortable. I also added the saddle bags Summit sells -very handy for holdingthe binos, extra clothing,and calls when you get to altitude.

My ONLY problem with the Equalizer is that I cannot go up some of the larger diameter trees I could climb with my Summit climber.I wishthey would market a standthat could handle larger diameter trees(Ihavesuggested that to them)!

-fsh