Guys, I own and use a few year old Cobra climber a lot and like it, very much. It's comfortable and climbs easily and is silent in the tree, but......

I need advice on how to make it more pack in friendly. I'm not the tallest guy in the world at 5'8" but the cable does tend to get caught on anything at least a foot high. Also.... the seat cushion being between the shoulder straps and my back, is there a better way? I've quieted down any friction points... but when connecting the top and bottom portions together for packing, I hate the fact when you've strapped them together the way you carry the stand on your back has gravity pulling them apart. It seems to me if the cables were pointing up then the stand would be carried keeping the 2 platforms together.....

Guys, I love my Summit.. just looking for a better way to make it more mobile. It is the best I've found for comfort/weight trade off.. but I normally am carrying it on myback for at least 25 minutes each wayand I'd like that part to be more enjoyable!

Any advice would be appreciated.

I'm the proud owner of the new summit openshot. 14 lbs. in one little package. No complaints here. I do not like having bars across the front of a tree stand, I feel realy safe in a tree. I have found though that after market shoulder straps are better on most stands.

Make sure you have the cables pushed in as far as they go........just keep pusing until they are wedged in a much smaller arc. Not only with that reduce the brush grabbing it will keep them from rattling.

Scrap the nylon web straps.......get a set of PADDED shoulder straps and keep them snug. Any strap that isn't adjusted properly will cause the stand to sag and really exaggerate the packing effort, but nylon will just beat you down.

Use 2 cinch straps (w/ the alligator clips) and the bungee to pack the stand.
One strap across the ends of the arms of the stand and around the platform........the other around the meat of the platform and THROUGH the seat straps underneath.
Hook the seat bungee cords to the platform for even more stability.
(Don't pin down your shoulder straps.)
I've been packing my Summits in all over the place.......Cobras, Bushmasters, Vipers, Goliaths and they don't move, rattle or sag.

Take the time now to practice a packing routine that gets it good and tight and follow it. And get rid of those nylon straps........I'm telling you there is no comparison for packing. Get them good and snug on your shoulders so the stand rides high and you'll see and feel a world of difference.

Matt said it! Pack the cables into the arm channels as far as you can, make use of all straps and if you need to, buy 1-2 extra straps with clips to further cinch you stand in tight. As well as what Matt said, practice taking your stand apart and repacking. Get it down to a science on how you remove it from the tree, place it on the ground, secure the cables, stack the parts, secure the straps, etc. I can literally unsecure myself from my tree and have my stand packed and secured tightly and on my back within 45 seconds for an easy and quiet exit from the woods.

I like the idea of removing the standard straps, and replacing them with better ones. Especially if they could bedetached easily and reconnected over the seat pad once the stand is packedI already push the cables all the way in and have the set upand breakdown in the dark down pat.

I have lugged this thing many miles and climbed hundreds of trees, I was fishing for some ideas on how to improve a stand I do enjoy using. The Lone Wolf's do have the packing part down better, but they are so less comfortable on long sits to make the Summit's better in my opinion.

Thanks guys

I have a Summit Bushmaster and I made 2 modifications to mine. First I replaced the factory straps with nice comfortable ones and second I turn the straps upside down so the stand cable are pointed up. I'm about 5'5" so if I carry the stand the way most normal people do the cables drag on the ground, with the cable above my head nothing drags and I just have to duck under low branches from time to time. A lot of things arn't made to cater to short people so I have become a pro at modifying things to make them fit!!

That's a neat idea Lefty.

I also push the cables in a far a they go on my Python and replaced the factory shoulder straps with padded ones. I use the strap that secures the seat to the tree to hold the seat and platform together while carrying it on my back. Just wrap it around the diagonal braces and cinch tight. I also put my safety rope, umbrella, gear hoist rope and accessory belt in between the seat cushions. Keeps them nice and secure and they are always there when I need them.

To quiet the stand down, use nylon washers wherever there is a pivot point. My Python has two of them but I know a lot of other models don't. I also put the traction tape on the platform. I see that Summit now has a padded sheet to cover the platform for about $20. If you don't have the climbing stirrups, I recommend trying them.

I guess a plus to not buying a new stand every year is that you become familiar with it. I can set it up and take it down quietly in complete darkeness.

Finally found a stand I like...The Summit Bushmaster X4 (Last year's model). I think the new one is the X5 but pretty much the same. I really like that it's light, packs well, and allows me to climb easier than I thought possible with a climber. The only modification was the climbing stirrups, which are plastic, were digging into my rubber boots which was hard on the tops of my feet. So I went to hardware store and bought a section of that plumber's foam that fits around pipes. I cut a length of foam a little longer than each stirup, slid them over each end until it covered the length of each, and fastened them with some of those plastic tie downs. Now I can pull up with my feet without that plastic digging into my feet.