RE: climbing treestands
Summit and API are great stands. I bought a Gorilla Greyback a few years ago and really love it. The side bars pivot to hug the tree.There is never an issuewith shifting my weight from side to side and having the stand dip.
As far as safety goes all of the tree stands have to meet a standard of safety to be sold in the US. It comes down to how much weight, ease of set-up and what you want in a stand.