In shape.. haha I like a few beers but Im not over weight and pretty active, but scaling a tree for anyone is not easy. I wont lie.. toteing a 28# stand, bow, water, calls, rope, and about 4# of corn into the woods is a pain... And by the time I climb up Im typically sweating in the open of the season, not so much in the winter. I do like the sit in climb style gorilla stand I have now.. but again, its cumbersome and heavy. Ide like to try a open shot climbing stand, the open shot weighs in at 15 or so # and the team realtree bushmaster on cabelas (same stand only 4" longer plat form) is right at 18#. They seem easier to set up and get going with. Messing with the lock pins and cables on my gorilla can be hard in the dark and is far from quiet...

Sounds like you need a 4-wheeler... :)

Yeah, I started using a climber around twenty-five years ago when the "light" ones were around 45-50 lbs.. That was some hard climbing. My stepfather had a welding machine and made some for us, and I was always waiting for a weld to fail (which happened one time twenty feet up).

Even my "heavy" Summit Titan, at 26 lbs, is a lot easier to lug and climb than those old steel stands were. And I feel a lot safer in the current crop vs the old climbers.

I use a summit razor that the front bar can be folded undrneath if you want so the best of both worlds. i fold it under for bow and leave it up for gun . or what ever your mood strikes you.

I use a "wide" lone wolf sit and climb with an Ol Man Mesh seat. It is very easy to pack, I can shoot sitting, I can stand and push in the seat for a full platform so I can lean up against the tree. The only con about this setup is it is not as comfortable as a summit but I make the trade off for more flexability.

i have a ole man multivison and love it. I like the bar you can adjut up for gun hunting and down as a foot rest for bowhunting

I have a lone wolf sit and climb. I love everything about it. Oh ya besides the price tag !