Will be buying a stand shortly and cabela's has this one on sale for $150. No frills , but does the job I guess. What are the better brands and does a backrest & shooting rails make enough difference to spend the extra $50-$100 ? I'm also concerned about the stand being the right size as I am 6'3 250lbs. Any advice/help is appreciated. I usually hunt from a ground blind , but wanted a climber.

-a climber.........?? boy u better get an elevator!!!

I have a sumit viper X4 and I love it. I feel 10 times more secure with the bar infront of me and it works great while climbing. My hunting partner has the summit cobra and it is very comfortable but I feel like i'd fall out if I fell asleep. The viper also works great as a gun rest. With the viper you have to lay the gun across your lap I also worried my guns going to slide off my lap one of these days.

Summit makes a model called the Goliath that I'd look into. it's it's $100 more but IMHO it's woth it.

I agree with SeaHunter... I also have the Viper X4. IMHO, it's well worth the extra money. Plus, you get the climbing stirrups with the X4 models... not for sure if it comes with the Mega Bucks climber.

Hey slugman,
my advice would be not to buy the Summit Mega Bucks Python model. I did, because it is a sit/stand climber, rated to 300 lbs. I am a fairly big guy as well, but well under 300 lbs, and the dang thing broke the first day I used the sit-down climbing method. The metal bar was not strong enough to hold my weight (240 lbs) I guess. I don't know if it is still being offered in the catalogs, because I haven't seen it anymore, but if it is my advice is to not buy this model. The other Summits are supposedly very good though.