what do you guys use for your hang-ons? i think that sticks stand out a lot more than some little spikes in a tree do. what do you guys think? the only thing i dont like about steps is putting them in the tree. ive been looking at some sticks also, any reccomendations would help.

I went to the lone wolf climbing sticks last year and will NEVER EVER EVER go back to using screw in steps to climb all the way up the tree, I will use them for the first step or two on a big tree where the climbing stick strap won't fit around the base of the tree though. The climbing sticks are faster to hang, much easier to hang, quieter to carry, and allow you to make any modifications to your setupquickly.

Two words; Lone Wolf. Gorilla sells some nice ones too but they don't stack tightly on top of each other like the Lone Wolfs. I own both, I like the Lone Wolf's better. I hate screw in spikes, too much work. Plus screw in spikes damage trees and are not legal on public land (althoughI don't hunt public).

DITTO!!!!!!!!

I prefer sticks, because I have bad knees and I rely on my arms more to pull myself up. For me, it's easier to do that with sticks. Plus, there's more to grab onto if you lose your footing.

I've fallen out of a tree and I never want to do it again. I was 12, about 30 feet up in a pine tree andcarving initials when I heard a "snap". Next thing I knew, I was falling. My first thought was to throw the knife as far away from me as possible (I never did find it). I tried grabbing onto another branch on my way down, but I was falling too fast to grab anything. The next thing I remember is thinking that I should be seeing my life flash before my eyes. I didn't. Then, something told me I should focus on looking to see how far I was from the ground. For some reason, I looked "up" and all I saw was a patch of green. Then, my mind started racing. "Oh, God. I'm going to fall on my head." "God, please don't let me fall on my head." That thought went through my mind over and over.
Right before I hit the ground, something told me to grab my head and tuck into a ball as best I could. I did. When I hit the ground, I landed squarely across my shoulder blades, then the rest of my body hit the ground. I laid there for quite some time trying to get my breath and slowly taking stock of each body part and trying to determine the amount of damage I had done. Thankfully, I had only scratches and caused some bone spurs on my spine, but nothing was broken.

I'll never use anything but climbing sticks and I will never climb a tree again without a safety harness!