I currently have a gorilla climber stand, so far so good.. minus the weight.. sucker is heavy for a long haul. And I have to set it just right to be able to "lean" out, clear the gun bar, and take a shot... However I do like the security and ease of climbing with it. But have been coinsidering a open faced climbing stand like the summit open shot, or similar style stand. Whats your opinion on these? Ill know Ill miss my bar cause I have things attached to it and can lean on it, but Ide rather have better shots.

I have an idea that you have the seat too low in the upper section, thus the bar gets in the way. I have a Summit Viper and adjusted the seat so it's high in the upper section. This lets me keep it set with the bar just above the knees when I'm sitting. In this position it still lets me put a knee against it when standing for that little bit of stability (more mental than physical) and shoot from anywhere on the stand. I can even take some shots from a sitting position depending on the distance and downward angle, but for most shots I'm standing.

Worth trying, Ill look at it tonight. I do have it lowered down like a bucket seat in a mustange right now lol. And on the down side my stand weighs in at around 28#

I have both kinds and now use my Open Shot almost exclusively. Climbing is a little different, but not that different / difficult if you are in decent shape.

I too was a little concerned about the "safe feeling" but it turned out to be a "non-issue" for me (always wear your harness).

As far as the stuff hanging from the bar - there is some room on the side of the upper section to hang a small bag / water bottle, but I use a "screw-in" hook that just goes in the tree trunk.

I have to have a gun stand otherwise there wouldn't be anything for my head to hit against when I go to sleep.

Seriously, I set my seat as high as I can when I bow hunt to have clearance. I have a Summit Viper and Titan and this works. When gun season rolls around, I lower my seat so I can use the front bar for a rest for my rifle.

This is why I love my Ole Man Climber. The net seat slides forward so that you can sit on it for climbing but it slides back into place once up the tree to clear the front of the stand. The front rail can be arranged up for gun hunting and down for bow hunting.

If you try a hand climber, you better be in shape. Another alternative might be the Lone Wolf sit and climb. It's bar folds down out of the way. Also climbs very easy and is super light weight.

Blessings.....Pastorjim

LMAO, yeah, that too. And FYI, the Summit Viper tips the scales at just about 20#. That seems to be about the average weight of these type of stands. You only save about 1 1/2# by not having the bar and the bar does make sit-n-climb a whole lot easier and quieter than using a hand climber. Trust me, I've been playing monkey (climbing trees) for almost 40 years now. I started with no cimbing aid. then went with hand climbing aids. Now I use the sit-n-climb method and wish I had changed several decades ago.

I have a Summit and love it.

I have one base and different tops. I like the bar kind for gun and a hand climber for bow. I really don't like to sit much since the deer always come from where I'm not looking so I stand with the seat either completely out of the way or down next to the base.

My bow has a long ata which makes it difficult with the bar a shorter one would eliminate the contact. Some day maybe. I like those short pse's.

The smaller hand climbers are tough to use. I picked up a LW top cheap because people just find them so hard to use, they are, but light and very compact. The open shots look the same. You could add in a rope climbing aid with those tops and get a much long stride going up. As it is it's like putting your forearms on a table and lifing you legs, pretty short stride. If you could reach up and put your elbows hire on the top it would be better.