Some of y’all will appreciate this-

When I was in college, knew a guy that made Baker Tree Stand knock offs for $25 and he included a hand climber. Only problem was, the hand climber was a straight bar and you had to do a pull up to get up the tree. Oh and no seat, you had to stand up the whole time or sit on the bottom and dangle your legs off. And nobody had even heard of a safety line back in those days. Makes me really appreciate my Summit Viper for sure. We also had really lousy clothing. Mostly tube socks and sweatshirts and uninsulated rubber boots. Froze my a$$ off in those days but that's back when I really hated them. This was in the late 70s.

In I believe probably 1967....My Daddy and some others formed a Club down 41 Below Selma and We started Deer Hunting. He brought one of those home and wanted to try it. Put it on a Pine in the yard and got up about 10 feet and that S.O.B. started Slipping and it basically Did a "Ratchet Maneuver" and came to th' Ground!! Th' upper and lower "Tree Bars" were blades and not Teeth. He took it back to th' local Sporting Goods Store and got his money back!! A local Guy here in Lee County whom was a steel fabricator and Deer Hunter...Stanley Baker....started building a 2 piece Climber out of 3/4" square Tubing around 1976. They were HEAVY But Safe. Had "Teeth" that would Bite into the tree and not slip....even on slick barked trees.

Death traps

Had one of those things to come out of a tree with me at 14’-15’
It stopped about 3’ from the ground and acted as a spring board
It sent me about 8’ from the tree onto my back

One those was in at tree where I hunted for 12 years. It was over 15 ft up the tree always wondered how the hunter got out of it.

Brings back a lot of memories, back then we knew no better. I can still feel the itch from hugging the tree when Archery season opened Sept. 1 in Fl.

Slid down the tree and said if anybody wants it they can climb up and get it.

Hunted in the leaves many times for that wing nut until I learned to carry spares.

Had a little cloth pouch tied to the rail with spare wing nuts and bolts.

I stepped on the edge of the stand toward the back, and it tilted. It threw me out at 12 ft. I landed on my side with my gun under me. I got rid of that death trap.

My dad had one of the old Baker stands. I cut grass one summer for folks and bought my first stand. It was one of those with the teeth like this. I still have it but haven't hunted out of it in years. It would climb and hang on to any tree there was.

I've used plenty. And hell no I'm not using another one...

I had one too. Man the first time I got up in a tree I knew I had a huge advantage. Man it would tear up your chest hugging the tree and tear up your ab muscles that you never used before. Hunted a lot out of it but I made a modified extended plywood so I would have more legroom in it and attached a folding dove stool to the top rails so it ended up being a sit facing away from the tree stand. Pretty nice but not nearly as comfy as my Summit.

It was pretty revolutionary when I had to drop from 15 ft up when the baker stand gel out form under me.

I went and bought a loggy bayou climber.

My brother dang near died in our back yard trying climb a pine tree with one those things. Got about 15 ft. up and it lost grip and came crashing down. Luckily he walked away.

First stand I ever owned was a homemade Baker knockoff I bought at a yard sale for $10. That joker was a death trap. Never heard of a safety harness back then either. Thousand wonders I survived using it.

I remember my Daddy hunting with a Baker tree stand back in the Early 1980’s. I am pretty sure He still has it in his shed today.

I bought one from Bigg’s sporting goods in Pensacola nearly fifty years ago. My hunting buddies laughed at me until they saw it’s benefits. I was told that was the very first climbing stand purchased in The NW Florida area. I still have it after all these years. It was a death trap. Mine had no seat and no climber. You wrapped your arms around the tree to climb.

Ain't that the truth. Used to climb up pretty high and had to pull up ropes, one of them for my bow and one to pull up a small dove stool to sit on.