climbing tree stands
 

Someone was nice enough to steal 2 of my ladder stands and a trail camera last week from the private property I hunt.

Now I am going with a climber to not leave anything in the woods. Don't want to spend over $200

looking at the gorilla grayback and api stands. Even found a summit climber for $200 at dicks sporting goods online

anyone got some info on these stands.. good, bad, run away.. never used one before..

Thanks for any help.

I have borrowed an ol'man and a summit and after using the summit I bought one last year. I didn't want to spend much either since I have 2 ladders and 3 hang ons and a tripod. Academy had a great price at the time for their Summit Viper. It's heavier than some really good ones but I haven't owned anything different there for I won't notice the difference in carry weight. I don't have to walk all that far anyhow so I'll take the extra weight with the lower cost. Summit is very comfortable in my opinion. I didn't care for the way ol'man strapped on using a bicycle chain style and I think Gorilla is the same way. I have 2 gorilla hang ons and like those.

the grayback gorilla stand uses a cable on the stand. I was wondering what was better a chain or cable? In the end I leaned towards a cable as with any chain its only as strong as the weakest link.

Krypt - Go to a hardware store and get you some 1/4" or 3/8" vinyl coated cable and some heavy duty crimp ends. About 5' is enough for trees up to about 18" in diameter and its tough to cut through with regular bolt cutters. Then get yourself a heavy lock. You can cover the cable coating with camo tape to hide the shine.
What I do is make a loop on each end of the cable and put 2 good crimps on the fittings.
I had a trail cam stolen on me this year also. Its a shame how people are these days. If its not nailed down they will take it. And a lot of times, if it is nailed down and they can't take it they break it

Summit stands are great, IMO. I have had a few, and now use the Goliath. I love it! Make sure if you get the Viper that it is the lightweight version. I mean, if you want to tote in a 30lb stand, go right ahead...but they have one that is about 10lbs lighter. My Goliath weighs just a bit over 20lbs, is comfortable, and does everything I want it to. Climbers are far more comfortable than ladder stands...Summit's are, at least.

I personally am an Ol'Man fan. Mine doesn't have a bicycle chain and I own two older, when they were made in Miss. And two newer ones. I have the basic and the Grand. They use extremely strong braided cable wrapped with a rubber type hose that does not dry rot. The cable runs through the entire stand.(I have one that I left in the woods for two seasons, killed a deer out of it yesterday) . I have know complaints, they hold a tree great, I have never slipped. I guess if I had one complaint, is they are a little heavy (22lbs) I think. They do make an aluminum model that is substantially lighter. Again, this is my opinion. Just don't knock it, some swear by them. It is the one you are most comfortable in, that you have confidence in.

summit viper, i love mine, and there customer service is second to none!!!

I have the API climber and love it. It is compact under 20lbs. and solid as a rock,very comfortable and comes with a good harness. It uses the heavy chain with a heavy cover on it. If you shop around they sell for 200.00 or so,full price is 235.00 Not sure which model it is,I'll look it up and edit my information on it.
It's the Bow Hunter Model,243.00 at Bass Pro but I've seen them cheaper at other sites.It is a good stand,I have had it 3 years and it is still like new.

Went by, Leave it; get it stolen
 

Still have my one treestand from some 20 years. It weighs 21 lbs, has more metal than new ones; is only rated for 250 lb. weight. It was always carry in and carry out.

Probably would get sued if it got used by some modern hunter. Especially if they found out the company no longer exists.

I bought a Summit Dagger off Amazon last year and love it. Lighter than the old API that made Dad had given me a while ago. Any Summit should work well for you.