Stacking Lonewolf sticks quick and in the dark

[CRK925]

Your image didn't work

[ Post made via Android ]

[headgear]

I understand your frustration. I have similar issues when trying to get them perfect. What I do is get them close enough and push hard, if they won't lock I get it to the point I can get the strap around them and get them on the stand and kwik strap them tight just to get out of the woods. I then fix them at home. I have put up and taken down these things a million times and even if you are off like 1/4 inch the bolt won't go in.

If anyone is having issues getting them locked in check that you don't have any straps in the way, then check that the hole on the bottom of the sticks is lined up with the nut, there is only one spot to check but these are the usual suspects when I have issues.

[Brus]

Image is irrevelant, Im an idiot and had 2 of the sticks assembled wrong.... Amazing how much better they stack now

[DeepSouthHunter]

A side note. I've had xop sticks were the bolt was too long to stack quite right. I have done it with the lone wolf's for awhile and it was a challenge till I ground bolt down. Dan has a source for he hardware. The stuff on Chinese sticks suck

[ Post made via Android ]

Dan, how much would it be for the hardware for 3 sticks?

[dan]

A side note. I've had xop sticks were the bolt was too long to stack quite right. I have done it with the lone wolf's for awhile and it was a challenge till I ground bolt down. Dan has a source for he hardware. The stuff on Chinese sticks suck

[ Post made via Android ]

Dan, how much would it be for the hardware for 3 sticks?

Check this link: http://www.ultrec.com/product_wnk.html
I don't actually sell them, I set up John to sell them, I just have to much on my plate... I think a set is about $13

[DeepSouthHunter]

A side note. I've had xop sticks were the bolt was too long to stack quite right. I have done it with the lone wolf's for awhile and it was a challenge till I ground bolt down. Dan has a source for he hardware. The stuff on Chinese sticks suck

[ Post made via Android ]

Dan, how much would it be for the hardware for 3 sticks?

Check this link: http://www.ultrec.com/product_wnk.html
I don't actually sell them, I set up John to sell them, I just have to much on my plate... I think a set is about $13

Thanks, but I need the bolts more than anything. I have one bending on me after being used less than 10 times. The one time I decided to buy Lone Wolf climbing sticks was the year they were made in China.

[dan]

Buy your bolts at the hardware store... You will need to get high grade, and if you want them perfect you will need to cut them down to size. They don't make a bolt the length they come in the lonewolf stands... those were tooled special for L/W way back when Andrae owned the company...

[ThePreBanMan]

I don't know how you guys do it with absolutely no light. I have to use a headlamp on the red setting. Most headlamps are useless on red but I have a black diamond storm that's really nice. It actually puts out a workable amount of light without being too bright. I like that I can turn it on straight to red and don't have to cycle through the white as well. the brightness is fully adjustable so I can dim it down if the situation requires... but no light at all. How do you guys do it when you can't see your hand in front of your face never mind your equipment? I would love to know your secret.

[ThePreBanMan]

Buy your bolts at the hardware store... You will need to get high grade, and if you want them perfect you will need to cut them down to size. They don't make a bolt the length they come in the lonewolf stands... those were tooled special for L/W way back when Andrae owned the company...

I found a place you can get them online.. BoltDepot.Com.. They have various sizes of just about any nut/bolt.

You want to use entirely grade 8 hardware. The bolt size is 1/4 inch. The sticks actually have 2 different thread pitches. The tree cleats and corresponding steps use a 1/4 20 bolt. All other hardware is 1/4 28. I would recommend when replacing that you use entirely 1/4 28. The finer threads are stronger. You want to buy the self locking nuts w/ the nylon ring. Technically - self locking nuts should not be reused. With a 100 pack being so cheap - I would just replace if ever removed.

You can also find nylon washers on Amazon that very closely match the lone wolf hardware. Also dirt cheap and sold in packs of 100.

Edit:
At least the hardware on my sticks are a mix of 1/4-20 and 1/4-28. I have new sticks purchased this year. Older sets may not be like that. I don't know... The nuts that hold on the versa-button, middle step and step stop allen screws are a shallower "jam" nut as opposed to the nuts holding the steps & cleats. Because of the narrow depth of the nut I would think they opted for the finer thread pitch to get more holding power over the narrower depth.

This is one thing that has kind of irked me about the lone wolf setup. 1/4 is really small hardware. Even in grade 8. I wish they stepped it up to 5/16ths or even 3/8ths.

[dan]

Buy your bolts at the hardware store... You will need to get high grade, and if you want them perfect you will need to cut them down to size. They don't make a bolt the length they come in the lonewolf stands... those were tooled special for L/W way back when Andrae owned the company...

I found a place you can get them online.. BoltDepot.Com.. They have various sizes of just about any nut/bolt.

You want to use entirely grade 8 hardware. The bolt size is 1/4 inch. The sticks actually have 2 different thread pitches. The tree cleats and corresponding steps use a 1/4 20 bolt. All other hardware is 1/4 28. I would recommend when replacing that you use entirely 1/4 28. The finer threads are stronger. You want to buy the self locking nuts w/ the nylon ring. Technically - self locking nuts should not be reused. With a 100 pack being so cheap - I would just replace if ever removed.

You can also find nylon washers on Amazon that very closely match the lone wolf hardware. Also dirt cheap and sold in packs of 100.

Edit:
At least the hardware on my sticks are a mix of 1/4-20 and 1/4-28. I have new sticks purchased this year. Older sets may not be like that. I don't know... The nuts that hold on the versa-button, middle step and step stop allen screws are a shallower "jam" nut as opposed to the nuts holding the steps & cleats. Because of the narrow depth of the nut I would think they opted for the finer thread pitch to get more holding power over the narrower depth.

This is one thing that has kind of irked me about the lone wolf setup. 1/4 is really small hardware. Even in grade 8. I wish they stepped it up to 5/16ths or even 3/8ths.

I was referring to the custom length of the screws that goes thru the step and comes out of the tree-v bracket, the length of those was made special so there was no stick out to interfere with the stacking of the sticks... The chinese sticks did not have the custom bolts, and they are not grade 8... The only way to get the length right is to get them from L/W or cut off longer ones... AND all "plastic" washers are not created equal...

[ThePreBanMan]

Cool. Thanks for the clarification. I *think* we're talking about the same thing. But I've been out to lunch before so ya know...

Maybe my measurements aren't accurate. But here is what I've come up with:

The bolts that secure a step and a tree cleat / v-bracket are 2 1/4 in length and are 1/4-20 threaded and secured with lock nuts. All nuts/bolts bear grade 8 head marks. The allen head step stops do not bear any markings. If replacing the bolts I would replace with 1/4-28 if it were me.. The bolts can be purchased here:
https://www.boltdepot.com/Product-Detai ... duct=12034

The nuts would therefor also be 1/4-28 in grade 8 w/ a nylon lock ring. They can be purchased here:
https://www.boltdepot.com/Product-Detai ... oduct=7180

The middle step (no tree cleat / v-bracket) is secured to the stick using a 1 3/4" in length 1/4-20 bolt. A replacement in 1/4-28 bolt can be purchased here:
https://www.boltdepot.com/Product-Detai ... roduct=724

The small diameter nylon washers can be purchased here:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000FN ... ge_o08_s00
They are a little thicker then the factory washers though. There is still sufficient enough length for the bolt to pass through the nut in it's entirety. But they're very tough and they seemingly work well. They don't flatten and expand if marginally over tightened like the factory washers will. (I intentionally did this to compare results)

I can't dig up where I got the large diameter washers from at the moment. I hope I can find it so I can update the post. These measurements are based on the sticks I have which were purchased this year. YMMV if you have older models.

Hope the info helps in some way.. Sad to hear the Chinese sticks did not employ grade 8 hardware. Seems dangerous. Grade 5 (assuming it was grade 5) 1/4" hardware is pretty weak.