Anyone tried "Helium" climbing sticks from Hawk Treestands

[BowHunterGA]

Just bought a Millennium M7 stand and love it, wanting to build a very lightweight system for deep treks into public land. Have been looking at various climbing sticks and like the look and weight of the Heliums but would really like to hear from someone that has used them.

[DanielB89]

Steve,

I can't comment on using them or not, and not trying to change your mind on them, but I use the leverage sticks and absolutely love them.  I have both the shorter and longer models.  I probably prefer the longer models just because their 32" long and I have 3 steps on them as compare to 2, but both of them are VERY good steps in my opinion.  I did alter mine and put on a home made versa button and use hollow braid rope(1/4" amsteel blue) to make mine even lighter and quieter.  With 4 sticks I can get my stand VERY close to 20'.  If i'm really concerned with height, I can stretch them out a little more and also use a rope below my bottom step to make it 4 steps in stead of 3.  With ropes on my bottom 3 steps, I can easily get 25+ feet high.

[Schmidty3]

I used them last year... Used the muddy pro sticks the year prior.

I really don't have any complaints other then one evening as I was climbing down I sort of pushed off the tree on the last step and slighly bent one of the steps inward. Still folds in most of the way, and in my engineering opinion its still safe, so I used it without concern.

I think I like the muddy pros a bit better though. The rope cam system is a touch quieter and easy to attach (not that the helium's are hard to attach).

Long story short...they seem to be good sticks. There's no overt reason why you shouldn't get them and enjoy them.

The tension on the folding step mechanism is good, I didn't notice any rattles.

They are pretty easy to pack in.

They use a stamped metal sort of "I-beam" construction vs other stick systems (lone wolf, muddy, etc). Can't say if this is a pro or con.

Steps on both sides, so likely an advantage over say the lone wolf stick.

If a feller was crafty he could convert the stick into using the lone wolf versa button and use the DIY rope attachment system. That would be pretty slick. I think there may be some literature on the internet on how to do that.

The cam strap attachment system isn't bad, but I prefer the rope cam lock on the muddy's because the cam is right in your face, versus having to work behind the tree when trying to tighten the strap. (I'm sure that was the opposite of eloquently put, but hopefully you get the idea). Also the cam strap has the metal buckles which are more likely to create noise bumping against things then the rope can. But most sticks and many stands use the can strap...a reality of the trade I guess. I saw that some use a piece of bicycle inner tube to quiet cam strap buckle to good effect. Keeps it from bumping things and creating noise.

Hopefully my ramble helps...lol

[joe ashton]

I've used them for two seasons 100%    

[BowHunterGA]

Originally posted by DanielB89:
Steve,

I can't comment on using them or not, and not trying to change your mind on them, but I use the leverage sticks and absolutely love them.  I have both the shorter and longer models.  I probably prefer the longer models just because their 32" long and I have 3 steps on them as compare to 2, but both of them are VERY good steps in my opinion.  I did alter mine and put on a home made versa button and use hollow braid rope(1/4" amsteel blue) to make mine even lighter and quieter.  With 4 sticks I can get my stand VERY close to 20'.  If i'm really concerned with height, I can stretch them out a little more and also use a rope below my bottom step to make it 4 steps in stead of 3.  With ropes on my bottom 3 steps, I can easily get 25+ feet high.

Thanks Daniel, I didn't ok at the Leverage but could not find specs on the weight of the three step version. Since weight is of high importance I kind of scratched them off my short list. Do you happen to know what they weigh?

[DanielB89]

I think they were around #2.5 per stick.  You and I both carry all out stuff in at once.  

my 17" steps are 1.75 pounds each.  


Like I said, I changed my leverage over to make them a home made versa button and a hollow braid rope.  that made then like a whole new stick.  

Whatever stick you get, be sure it has double steps on them.  The second step is a HUGE deal, imo.

[Mark Normand]

I have an M7 and 4 LW sticks piggybacked on, where I can climb the tree with all, pulling sticks off the holders and installing as I ascend. I ditched the heavy M7 tree bracket, and bolted on a LW batwing to get it away from the tree a bit, and just hang the stand using a LW stand strap on the stand tongue. The LW sticks have all Cranford hollow flatbraid ropes only, and also have rope steps on some to get a little higher if needed. Object was to make this entire set as light as safely possible. As I recall the whole thing is still about 19#. Still not light enough, so if needed I'll take the 6# old Lockon Windwalker stand instead.

But the major reason I bought the M7 was the seat...those sling/hammock seats are so nice. But I had some bad experience with Millennium mis-representing their weights on product info. Did anyone carefully weight their M7 with and without the mounting block? That was last year, and I can't quite remember my exact numbers anymore.

I have a bunch of various fixed and climbers, and now have a nice used LW Assault hand climber combo coming that is supposed to be 14.5#.  I'll be very curious to see how accurate that is. But that M7 seat is hard to pass up.

Personally I've never had any problem with single step LW, prob own 6-7 sets total now, and pretty used to hanging stands as needed. But I've been using them since the first year LW came out with em.

[KSdan]

I have hunted completely portable for 20 years using only one stand and sticks- every time a new set. Up and down in under 10 minutes.  

LW v-bracket pivots which allows for much more versatility. Straps never make noise as the buckle is completely covered with stick felt as is the vertical post anywhere the buckle could touch.  Also zip tie the buckle end to the versa button.

Attach a heavy padded backpack belt to the stand and there will be zero weight on your shoulders.  18-20# is really nothing when carried in this manner.

Also- ditch the sticks stacked on one another and place them side by side on grooved foam blocks so they never touch one another, PLUS laying flat side by makes the pack much more streamlined.

Dan in KS

[RAGHORN 3]

Awesome ideas Dan...    

[DanielB89]

Originally posted by KSdan:
I have hunted completely portable for 20 years using only one stand and sticks- every time a new set. Up and down in under 10 minutes.  

LW v-bracket pivots which allows for much more versatility. Straps never make noise as the buckle is completely covered with stick felt as is the vertical post anywhere the buckle could touch.  Also zip tie the buckle end to the versa button.

Attach a heavy padded backpack belt to the stand and there will be zero weight on your shoulders.  18-20# is really nothing when carried in this manner.

Also- ditch the sticks stacked on one another and place them side by side on grooved foam blocks so they never touch one another, PLUS laying flat side by makes the pack much more streamlined.

Dan in KS

Mind sharing the foam block info?

[shedhunta]

I own both leverage sticks.  Problem is they no longer make the 32".  I even called them about them.  I love mine.  I also converted them to rope.  


 

Originally posted by DanielB89:
Steve,

I can't comment on using them or not, and not trying to change your mind on them, but I use the leverage sticks and absolutely love them.  I have both the shorter and longer models.  I probably prefer the longer models just because their 32" long and I have 3 steps on them as compare to 2, but both of them are VERY good steps in my opinion.  I did alter mine and put on a home made versa button and use hollow braid rope(1/4" amsteel blue) to make mine even lighter and quieter.  With 4 sticks I can get my stand VERY close to 20'.  If i'm really concerned with height, I can stretch them out a little more and also use a rope below my bottom step to make it 4 steps in stead of 3.  With ropes on my bottom 3 steps, I can easily get 25+ feet high.

[KSdan]

Daniel-

Jason Samkowiak of Traditional Bowhunter and Wilderness Podcast did a few podcast interviews with me.  This was an amateurish video we did that shows some of my mods and system inc the foam blocks.

 http://tbwpodcast.com/video-55-turkey-vests-and-stand-modifications-with-dan-rudman/

Hope it helps

Dan in KS