If you are looking for lightweight portability in your hunting stand, these two pieces of equipment are a killer combination. The Gorilla Silverback Scout hang-on stand offers lightweight comfort at a fraction of the price of other comparable stands. It is easy to hang and is very stable. I was more than surprised at the solid platform. The seat was as comfortable as everyone said it would be. At 8.5 pounds, you hardly think about it being on your back. My only complaint with this stand is the back straps that come attached to the bottom of the platform. After carrying it through the woods, I had to fix them a few times because they would come undone. The nylon straps would slip out of the buckles. I'm going to try to and figure something else out to make these more secure.
My intention was to use screw-in tree steps with this stand. After setting up a few stand locations with the screw-in steps, I wasn't looking forward to going through that hassle come fall. I ended up picking up some Lone Wolf Climbing sticks to see if they would better suit my needs. I bought them thinking that if I didn't like them, I would return them and stick with the screw-ins. Needless to say, they didn't get returned. According to Lone Wolf these climbing sticks weigh 7.5 pounds. They quickly and solidly attach to a tree in seconds. I felt so much more secure climbing with these than the screw-ins. In my opinion, anyone who tries these won't look back.
The coolest part about these two pieces of equipment is how well they work together. At a combined 16 pounds, both pieces of equipment offer very solid, portable performance that I don't think can be beat. One of the concerns that I had was how I would carry both the sticks and the stand quietly into the woods. Ironically, they fit together like a glove. The v-shaped braces on the sticks fit perfectly in the top of the stand as it rests on your back. I included a picture of what I'm talking about. The strap on the stand wraps around the sticks holding them securely together.
At a combined cost of about $200, it is hard to beat this combo.
