EQUIPMENT
3 sticks. 1 minny stick and 2 big sticks will get you as high as 3 big ones (22'). 3 minny sticks get almost 20'.
1 three or four step climbing aid and two 24" - 30" slings (or rope or webbing loops). You can use 3 slings and you only lose about a foot of total elevation, negligible if you are using all 32" sticks.
Although not necessary, I like to climb with a rock-climbing (BOD) harness, and I use a prussic knot attachment as a linesman belt, or a climbing aid if I climb with one stick. (See video at the end of the post)
The following pics show the progression of the set-up against an 8 foot 2x3 for perspective.
You attach an aider to the first stick. If you use a mini stick, you would use 4 steps as opposed to 3 for a 32" stick. Both will get you as high and thus I usually walk in with the mini stick. With the 1st section installed, your standing height is already 7'8". The immediate significance of this height is that you can now comfortably install/check equipment (such as trail cams) at a height of approximately 14 feet- out of sight and reach of your average thief.
The next stick will top off at a little more than 15'. I have a 30" step to a 30" sling to a 32" stick for about 7'-7'8 elevation gain. This could already hunt at about. 16' with a hang on or 17' with a saddle (you could install the platform up to an extra 2' if required/desired). This stick could be left in the tree if desired. You would fold the steps and remove the sling. The bottom of the stick will be at about 12' and with the folded steps, the strap is at about 14'. It's completely out of reach, even for Lebron James.
The last stick tops off at about 22 feet. This one is also easily left up in a tree. A nice cheap 32" stick such as the 30$/3 sticks from guide gear would suit this purpose nicely.
http://www.amazon.com/Pk-Guide-Gear-Qui ... ing+sticks
I can be hunting at up to 24' with a saddle with only 3 sticks, 23' with a hang on.
When I leave, I take the sling with me and this leaves a 4 - 5 foot gap between sticks with the first stick, steps folded and at greater than 12' high, rendering them unusable and difficult to spot.
In this short video I shot with my son last night, you can see the ease of the climb and elevation gained at every stick.
[bbvideo=425,350]http://youtu.be/jO1VH7L6qS4[/bbvideo]
THE BENEFITS
1. Insurance against theft. Whether it's leaving sticks or cameras behind, the difficulty of removing and spotting your equipment is likely to prevent theft in most situations. Whatever is left in the tree will be higher than 12' with only one stick removed.
2. Weight and bulk reduction. If you are hunting a preset tree, you can walk in with a 1.8 lb mini-stick and 7 oz aider. If you're hunting mobile, you are trading 2x2.5 (5lbs) of weight and bulk for 11 oz of slings and aiders.
3. Versitality. Should you decide to pair the sticks with a BOD harness (1lb) and a prussic knot attachment (you should be wearing a harness anyway for safety considerations), you are walking in with 4 1/2 pounds, ready to climb any height with cbigbear's one stick method; you could choose to hunt any number of preset stands; it lightens your load considerably if hunting mobile with a hang on and sticks;it allows you to hang cameras easily out of reach of thieves. I regularly bring it in one stick in the harness with the Prussic knot attachment even while still hunting, just in case I find a good spot to hang out for a couple of hours over fresh sign.
4. Ease of climb. It's an easy climb which can be tailored to your fitness and length by adjusting the heights of the slings and spaces between top steps and the sling. This might reduce your total elevation, but not by much.
Notes: Although not necessary, I find a stick with double steps (especially on the bottom), instead of alternating, to be quite helpful at getting higher. You can see why this is in the video as I get both feet on the stick, the "squat" is easy, not so much if I had to do it with one leg. The sticks I used in the video are leverage sticks which in my opinion are good. The sticks can be modified so that they attach to the tree the same as muddy sticks and weigh less than LW sticks after the modification, just as quiet. Thank you Jeff G for those sticks they worked out great.
Leverage stick modification video: [bbvideo=425,350]http://youtu.be/kNNTmXsIVDQ[/bbvideo]
OTHER RESOURCES
1. Cbigbear's one stick method. I believe that this method should be experimented with by all mobile hunters, especially those who hunt big woods.
Video: [bbvideo=425,350]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7NcroPLbzPc[/bbvideo]
Discussion: viewtopic.php?f=3&t=20108
2. 715Bman (AT) Climbing with an aider. The video displays a technique which allows you to climb without any sticks (just a rock aider attached to a sling). It also shows clearly the pitfalls of not using a stick. First, because the aider is tight against the tree, it is very difficult to get your feet in the loops of the aider. Second, you cannot even get your foot on the last step of the aider because it is right tight against the tree. This leaves your foot a full 12-15 inches below where it would be if the aider was attached to a climbing stick.
Video: [bbvideo=425,350]http://youtu.be/9xl2or4IFr8[/bbvideo]
3. bowhunter15: This video shows how he built his own slings and aider. Although I have been using this method before I came across his video, I consider this a significant improvement, both in functionality and in cost.
Video: [bbvideo=425,350]http://youtu.be/pPU6UtQHNbc[/bbvideo]
