Don't climb within fall zone of a dead tree. I've been in a stand and heard dead trees fall and get to looking around and sure enough, I'm within the fall zone of one.

If the NTSB were investigating climber accidents, I believe they would most likely say -- "pilot error". I chalk up equipment failure as "pilot error" since the pilot should have checked the equipment -- and learned how to properly use said equipment -- before flying.

Climb a pine tree that's got a low branch around 15 ft up, grow some balls & stop worrying about dying. Hell, if you die, at least you were doing something you supposedly loved to do.

While you're relaxing in your climber, you can meditate on carbon fiber arrow failures/factures & them splintering into your hand. At least that'd take your mind off falling out of the tree.

FWIW, my beef against climbers has more to do w/my sweating like a dog trying to get into position, up a tree, and far less to do w/safety. Along those lines, I HIGHLY recommend an aluminum climber vs. steel; far less weight to pack into wherever you intend to hunt.

JMHO with your dislike/phobia of climbers a wrap around sit and climb climber is the way to go with you; i.e. Summit Viper SD. I used to not use ladder stands because I liked the bar around me in my old API. Made me feel safer; I would hope you would be the same. Now I have gotten over the need for the bar, and hunt ladder stands and have switched to a lone wolf hand climber as my main climber due to weight and stealthiness through the woods.

Once you get a climber, practice practice practice. The more you climb the more confident and comfortable you will be.

On cell signal, may be worth checking Verizon's and AT&Ts coverage in the areas you are going to be hunting. I hunt solo a lot and I had to switch to AT&T because Verizon didn't deem it cost efficient to put towers up in the area of the WMA and my lease (funnily enough Verizon is putting towers up out there now). AT&T put one up on the main road into the WMA, so I get HSPA+(step below LTE) speeds and great connectivity so long as I'm not in the deepest draws. The smaller carriers don't really fool with the rural areas so almost have to stick with the big boys.

I`m in same boat this year. As to your question.....as stated before, PRACTICE as much as you can with your stand. Get some of those straps from Third Hand Archery that connect the top and bottom pieces together. Try to avoid Oak trees until you are comfortable as they can get hairy at times. And you don`t have to be up in the nose bleed section of the tree to kill a deer. 15-20 feet is plenty high enough most of the time. And of course, wear a harness.

Doesn't necessarily answer your question but I think you would appreciate it...


I have a 7 year old climber that I am used to and with my harness, I feel more comfortable then climbing into a good lock on stand. It was stressful the first year but I eventually built up my confidence.

The thing I like about climbing is that it lets you stay attached to the tree the whole time, unlike ladder/lock on stands that have steps wrapped around them. I would rather being hanging off a tree trunk then making a 20 ft. drop to lord knows where...


I feel like one of the most dangerous parts of getting into a tree stand is making the transition from the ladder to the stand and vice versa.


It takes a little experience to get an idea of how much a tree will taper and what barks will grip best.

A good idea is having some type of rope keeping both parts of the climber attached to each other. If that bottom happens to fall off you ain't climbing down that day. If not strategically placed the rope might get in the way while you are climbing which is a biotch.

Also, even though I exclusively bow hunt I like the climbers with the bar going across. I usually stand up when I shoot and my bow lays across perfectly while I'm not holding it. Ain't got to screw in a "bow holder" in and out every time you go up...

I rarely climb anything besides hardwood trees, just aren't that many pines in most of the places I want to be. I prefer to be in a stand if I'm hunting and climb most of the time. If you just climb "normal" and use your harness there is nothing to it. In my teenage years we didn't have enough money to spend on expensive stands and so I've hunted in cedars where we just had a board or maybe just a tree stand top to sit in and sometimes in the cedars we would just kind of stand and sit on the limbs. I've had bottoms fall out from under me. Once a game warden found me because I had dropped my bottom piece and he heard what he thought was rattling but was me trying to get my bottom piece pulled back up. I've had to slide down trees probably 20' up. The more you practice the better you'll get. My advice is make sure to have a harness and keep the bottom and top tied together. My son is 8 and I started him climbing last year. We would climb the same tree and I would help him pull up the pieces as we climbed. He did a good job and got better as the year went. It took around 30-45 min but we really enjoyed it. Once we got up to where we would hunt I would take my top piece off so I could put it back level around the tree where he was sitting. We would be facing opposite directions. As far as stands go the Summits are plenty good.