Climbing tree stand foot straps?

[campergeek]

Is it too early to think about this fall's deer hunt?

This last season (my first) I bought and used a climbing stand since I was hunting public land and didn't really want to set up and leave a stand. It worked really well, and when set up right was comfortable. The biggest complaint I have about it is the foot straps.

When climbing, everything worked adequately. The real problem is that when descending the straps seemed to work themselves loose and give me little control. At one point I thought I might do better by gripping the sides of the footrest with my feet and lowering it that way. Bad idea - once I lifted the footrest it tilted and slipped and left me sitting on the front rail, facing the seat, with the footrest dangling below by a safety rope. I'll save the rest of that story for another time. (yes, I was wearing a safety harness)

After careful examination I found that the footstraps were laced wrong through the buckles (from the factory) and I corrected that so they should no longer slip loose. However, I'd still like to find out some sort of modification I could make which would allow better control than a single strap across the foot.

Has anyone else had frustration with how their stand attaches to their feet for climbing/descending, and if so, did you find any better solutions?

 

[Guyon]

I had to borrow a climber last season for a couple of hunts. I had the same problem with the foot straps and made some modifications using a bungee cord (to go around the back of the heels).

I have had no problems though with my Summit Viper XL. Its strapping consists of a toe strap fed through a spring clasp and bungee cords that go behind each heel/ankle.

I think what makes the summit straps effective is that both the toe straps and the heel bungees are secured in the middle (between the feet). This set up provides a more secure connection than just a single strap over the toes and just a single bungee behind the feet. Each foot effectively has its own strap and bungee.

 

[NRA4LIFE]

I agree with what Guyon said about the straps. My climber has heavy rubber straps, the kind that are about 1" wide, that are secured in the middle. They hold very well.

 

[skynyrd1911]

climbing stands

I, being new to the climbing stand crowd, was given some good advice. If you buy a stand new it is in the instructions. If you buy used, here it is........Always and I mean ALWAYS have a piece of rope to tie your top half of the stand to the bottom! That way, if your bottom half gets away from you, it won't go very far and you can regroup and safely climb up or down. I found out the first time I used my new stand. A good friend gave me this advice as we were taking my new stand out of the carton.
Hunt Safe!
skynyrd1911

 

[campergeek]

Always and I mean ALWAYS have a piece of rope to tie your top half of the stand to the bottom!

You know, when I saw this in the instructions I didn't see the value and ALMOST didn't do it. When that bottom half slipped out of my feet leaving me in the air sitting on a 1" tubular steel rail, the value of that little rope became abundantly clear. Pulling the bottom half up by that rope and getting it back into position was difficult, but not nearly as bad as my alternatives without the rope.