Exocet77

Owned a summit ViperSS, sold it do to size and portability. Bought a Lone Wolf hand climber. Love the lonewolf glad I bought it. But ya... there expensive.

pats102862

Expensive they are, but not as expensive as a hospital stay. I am glad I spent the extra money for the lone wolf.

instinct

just bought a summit goliath this year its an awesome stand only one downfall to it its too compfortable I almost always fall asleep in it thank god for safety harness I a wouldnt want to fall out of this thing.

CamoCop

easy question...Summit

BvrHunter

I have had the API bowhunter for a few years now, caught it on sale at the Bass Pro ($175), have never had a sigle problem with it. Thought its Not the lightest but its not the heaviest in its class either! Easy to pack in and out and set up. Comfortable and open but has the arms on the side for a little bit of safety comfort!!! Great investment..... IMO

buckwild41

If light weight and packablity is paramount you will have to look toward Lonewolf,, however they aren't cheap.

If you want the next best thing but not as costly look toward the summit series. However the most packable model is no longer in production but can be occasionally found used on line. They are called the "Backpacker" model and fold flat, weigh the same as the standard but collapse.

I have hunted both the LW and the Backpacker. LW is about 4-5#s lighter, folds slightly flatter, but isn't as comfortable as the Summit once on the tree.

If you check out stand reviews which there are plenty on all the sites you will find LW or Summit leading the way. I recently spoke with the folks at Summit regarding the no longer produced Backpacker and they are apparently preparing to release and competely new model in 2010. He wouldn't give details but is sounds like LW's packablity and lite weight may have company comming.

VAhuntr

Actually the Summit Viper SS and the Lone Wolf Sit & Climb both weigh in at 20 lbs, according to their repective websites. The Summit Open Shot is only 15 lbs, which is 2.5 lbs lighter than the Lone Wolf Alpha Hand Climber.

I do admit the Lone Wolf's ability to fold flat does make it feel, IMO a little less cumbersome.

buck-i

have two hunters view hawk climbers that are old and bought for $98 great stands for the money back then and still used today just heavy steel i think they built them in aluminum if still in buisness.never a problem gripping trees rock solid.to me it was my best investment

summit viper is lighter but gets the same climbing performance as my hunters view and just as comfortable just louder when twigs hit it walking to the stand. like its cable system better just wish it had more adjustments on the cables worst paint job of my three it flakes off and is shiney under the paint. around $240

ol'man original good stand,folds flat. less room but not bad i usually carry this one a lot,i like the net seat , no slipping and very solid once setup because the straps that sturdy it to the tree when you reach your hunting height,does make a noise if the arms rub on the tree i just put gloves in between the tree and the arms.bought it for around $100 i think, great buy

x-shocker

Purchased a Warren&Sweat in 2002. It is rock solid. Don't think they are in production anymore.

Summits are nice. The only down side is their rounded teeth designs. They will slide on smooth bark trees, like birch and aspens.

4evrhtn

Summit Goliath, go on the larger side. The viper is nice but the extra room of the goliath is much more comfortable. I only ever had one tree that I didn't feel safe in and that was a sycamore. I climbed up in it early and then it sleated and ice froze to the side of the tree. Made getting down a little scary but there isn't a climbing stand out there that I would have felt safer in.