Come watch is all I can tell you

It’s not worth wasting my time to drive to you , to watch you climb a tree in “3 min”

I used climbers all my life. Two years ago I went to strictly lock ons and sticks. I've got a couple Lone Wolfs and a couple Millenniums with assorted brands of aluminum sticks. It takes me one trip up the tree and 10-15 minutes(depending on the tree) to be in the tree and bow in hand and I'll do it quieter than you'll ever do it with a climber. The trick is finding you a routine that works for you and just practice it. My first few times hanging my Alpha was a nightmare as I'd never done anything like that before. Get the right equipment and with practice its a breeze. Now I don't even come close to breaking a sweat hanging 4 sticks and whichever lock on I'm carrying that day. And the biggest thing is I'm quieter and no longer have to hunt for a tree. The only downside to a hang and hunt set up is the weight. With a Millennium M7 and 4 LW sticks with a rope mod I'm still around 20lbs so I'm a little heavier than a lot of climbers

I don’t know enough about loc ons to have a dog in this fight. As a matter of fact I would love to have a loc on and sticks that we’re light, easy to pack and that I could put up easy to hunt on the WMA’s. I hunt almost only public land and when I do I walk a pretty good distance up and down hills and a climber has just been my go to because of weight and easy to pack. There have been plenty of times that I wish I had a loc on though, especially for tree selection. I normally hunt with a X Stand and it’s hard to compete with the weight of that. I could sacrifice a few pounds if I found a loc on that packed good and was easy to set up. I can’t afford a LW, but a Millennium is not out of the question. Any advice from y’all that are pros at the loc on game?

What ever you get make sure it’s adjustable. Nothing worse than having the perfect tree but can’t change the angle of the seat or plateform. Other than that I’m a fan of the LW style stands. XOP makes a similar stand and they don’t cost as much.

I bought my LW Alpha II and 4 sticks in Jan when folks were clearing stuff out at decent prices. IIRC 4 LW sticks were $140 and the Alpha II was $190. They come in handy when you don't have straight limb-less trees. The alpha II can be adjusted to different angles of trees.

You can also call Lone Wolf and they usually have some blemish stands they sell for a good price. Nothing is wrong with them other than cosmetic. My favorite is a Millennium M60U because it’s not really heavy, platform and seat are adjustable, and it’s light years ahead of Lone Wolf and XOP when it comes to comfort. If I’m having to go deep deep into somewhere I’m almost always carrying a m7 Millennium or an older LW Assault