I agree, ALSO, try putting those ladder sticks in your coat pocket and walking a mile.

Oh yeah, no doubt about it. The pegs have their place and all..but if you can use a ladder or sticks...do it. So much easier, and easier on the tree too.

I also use climbing spikes and a lineman harness for places I can't spike into trees, and cannot use ladders or sticks. Gotta keep lots of options open. Its a great method when you need to use a climber, but can't because of not having the right sort of tree.

Another vote for whatever fits the the specific tree/set-up best. I really hate screwing in those steps, but they have their uses. I got a setof the
strap on steps,

Ameristep® Strap-On Tree Steps

and they work great and are much easier to use but you pay for the convenience. They are listed now as 3 packs for $21.99 where as you can get 12 screw ins for like $35.00. I got my strapped stepslast year on sale and I got 9 of them for $15.99 x 3. So they were still almost $50 bucks but IMO well worth it considering I wasn't screwing in steps.

I'm a fan of the ladder sticks that are one complete piece.

However I've seen these sold in the local bow show for about $40 per segment. They are climbing"gorilla" sticksthat have steps that rotate into position. Thereby elimnating the clunkyness of carrying them into the woods. Essentially your carrying a bunch of straight sticks. They are made of alumninum and are very light too.

Tom