RE: Lone wolf climbers: sit & climb vs. hand climber
 

It's just like my stand and the instruction causion against tightening it so tight that you crush the bars. I inserted nylon bushing in the tubes replace the washers and bolts and tighten it down as much as I want. I can keep it much stiffer. One of the problems is the bolt/nut is not supposed to turn when you swing the bar, it does and the nut loosens. Needs to be better.

RE: Lone wolf climbers: sit & climb vs. hand climber
 

I took a strap used to hook your safty vest to a tree and put it on the front of my hand climber - takes the place of the "sit" bar on the sit and climb.
Turns the hand climber into a sit and climb and you have the light weight and openness of the hand climber. I always hook up my vest on the ground and stay attached to the tree the whole time as well.


Steve

RE: Lone wolf climbers: sit & climb vs. hand climber
 

Greg,
My buddy has the hand climber and I have the sit and climb as well as the hang on. My favorite is the hang on because I can get into anything I need to. I'm usually not too fussy about comfort, but theafternoonI sat in his hand climber was not a fond one for me personally. I couldn't wait to get down!!!! If you look closely at the way the seat on the hand climber is set up, the padding you sit on is almost directly against the tree. I felt like I was sitting on the edge of the seat all afternoon, and when I stood up, I couldn't get tight against the tree because the seat was in the way.

After that I bought the sit and climb, there are some clearance issues with the side supports and swinging around for a shot behind you. They can be overcome by, 1)leaving the seat as low as possible and still comfortable; 2) anticipating and being in a standing position when shooting - i dont shoot a bow while seated and don't think it's even feasible from the sit and climb. You can lean against the treeand stay tight to it because the seat is just a padded sling style seat that silently folds up behind you when you stand up.

I've found the hang on to be much more comfortable than the sit and climb because the main "backbone" of the stand puts the seat pad off the tree approx 1 1/2" - 2". The seat also folds up behind you when you stand up so you can lean against the tree and stay in tight. The general configuration of the hang-onalso lets you swing out, around, and whatever without having any clearance issues.

Hope this was helpful, if something wasn't clear in my description please ask me to clarify. I love this company's products, and think you will too.

RE: Lone wolf climbers: sit & climb vs. hand climber
 

Greg, I am positive that most any brand of sitnclimb climbing stand have braces or bars that may be in the way, some more than others. For instance I once tried a new Summit Cobra XLS a few years ago. Though of course it was a hand climbing stand, I could not stand the fact that I would have a hard time shooting because of the side braces.

Though I love stands with the open front and no sides, I simply despised trying to climb with the Lone Wolf hand climber. I had both tops with my first Lone Wolf climber and it became clear that I climbed much easier, felt safer, and using the sitnclimb top was not nearly as physically demanding. I can shoot from my LW Sitnclimb while sitting by reaching over the sides and the sides are not nearly as restrictive as many other brands. One question........have you tried either LW out? I hope you have or can. Though I love the Wolf stands, you will find the LW seat not as comfy as your Summit seat, though the new two panel seat on the Sitnclimb is just fine with me. But though I am 6'' tall, I only weigh 155 lbs.

RE: Lone wolf climbers: sit & climb vs. hand climber
 

Greg, I've got a Lone Wolf Alpha Hang On and a set of four LW climbing sticks among my growing assortment of tree stands; while I think in many ways it's the "cat's meow", it's still a bit bulky to carry and pack in all at once.

Obviously, I don't have too many complaints about my Summit climber (with both the Cobra XLS and Viper XLS tops), but I've just always been smitten by the Lone Wolfs, and have been thinking about getting one of the climbers. I really like the fact that the hand climber folds to 2.5" flat, but don't know if that slim profile is worth giving up the comfort of my Cobra...

I can't tell you the last time I took a sitting shot, so I'm not really sure how much that would come into play anyway. I can't imagine shooting to the rear of a Sit and Climb being too much worse than shooting the rear of my Cobra XLS.

RE: Lone wolf climbers: sit & climb vs. hand climber
 

Trust me, you can shoot easier to the rear or to the side with the LW Sitnclimb than with your Cobra.

RE: Lone wolf climbers: sit & climb vs. hand climber
 

I have the cobra and a similar stand to the LF. Depending on the bow and how high you leave the seat, you will have a problem. Easily discovered in practise.