Had one. Made some straps from seat belts to use instead of hugging the tree. Don't even climb anymore

I remember them well. Dangerous as an orangutan driving a nitroglycerin truck.

Had one like it. It was great when you dropped the bottom out of it and it went to the bottom of the tree. It was thrilling bare hugging the tree all the way down to fetch the bottom side. I think I was so pissed off it’s still hanging on a tree somewhere in evergreen Al

Had one that was stolen off club land years ago when I hunted in Lamar Co.
I think I was happier to see it gone than I was when I got it

Then I got an Amaker. Which was a little better.
Not much, but it would hold onto the tree a little better

I never owned a Baker but I did hunt out of one a few times. I bought what I guess would have been like a generation 2 baker. It was a TreeMaster and it was without a doubt the absolutely noisiest climber I have ever been in. Not very comfortable either. Then there was the API Predator. A few of my friends and I bought one about the same time. It didn't take long before we started calling them Dreadators, because of the weight and the fact that you almost needed an instruction video every time you put it on a tree or folded it for packing. It used 6 pins to attach it and it looked like an erector set. It is to this day probably the most comfortable stand I have hunted out of. Well, it was a close call between it and my Tree Lounge.

They were put out of business from lawsuits pretty quickly, if I remember correctly. About fifteen years ago, we had a man in our club in his late seventies that still used one. My dad and I offered to buy him a top of the line stand of his choice if he would quit using the Baker stand. He used it for another ten years or so until he couldn’t hunt anymore.

Dad and I started off hunting from trees with homemade lock-ons. Always had to find a tree with limbs. Then we moved on to homemade Bakers. Dad worked with aluminum at his job so he was able to build a decent copy.
My first store bought stand was a steal Amacker climber. Boy was I proud of that stand.

I bought one from K-Mart when I was 14 or 15. Before I bought it I asked my dad if he would let me hunt out of it if I bought it, he said “yeah”. So one day me and my brother went with our mom to Tuscaloosa to visit the grandparents, while there we went to K-Mart and I bought my stand I had been saving for, $30.00 or $35.00. I couldn’t wait to try it out! Bought it from the bargain bin at K-Mart, no box, no instructions, just one big red stop sign shaped sticker that stated “Don’t climb power poles.” Heck I wasn’t dumb enough to get electrocuted! I immediately peeled off the big red sticker, didn’t want the deer seeing that big red spot.

Well the next day, August or September, still really hot outside, me wearing a tee shirt and shorts, and having an audience of my dad, my brother and my friend Greg all watching I went on my maiden climb.

I’ll never forget, as I was attaching the V bar around the power pole I was telling the onlookers about how this was gonna be a game changer for my deer hunting.
I stepped onto the stand, faced the pole and began my bear hug climb, I did so oh so carefully to avoid getting splinters from the old power pole. I climbed up about 16’ I guess, right below the phone line. Carefully I turned my back to the pole and tried my best not to look too scared. I then, as a demonstration of bravery, pretended to draw my imaginary bow and aim at imaginary deer while saying “Cod you’re gonna have to get you one of these.” I didn’t have a safety belt, I don’t even think they made them back then.

Then it was time for my descent.

It was simple, you just reverse the process. Now, my stand had a plywood bottom and it had a piece of nylon strap that was screwed to it that formed two loops to put your feet in when climbing, so you hopefully wouldn’t drop the stand while climbing AND your feet would always be located out away from the tree so as to maintain leverage on the tree.
Anyhow, I get turned around and begin my descent, after about MAYBE 4 feet, all hell broke loose! That SOB ratcheted down that power pole like one of those old car jacks! It stopped maybe a few inches from the ground, probably got caught on the grounding rod for the power pole. I was hanging on for dear life and remember smelling burning flesh and creosote. I stepped off of the stand and walked 40’ or so into the house where I received nearly a whole bottle of Merthiolate on the insides of my knees, my belly, my chest and my arms! I had splinters for days! Can’t remember which burned worse, the creosote or the Merthiolate.

I never hunted out of that SOB.

Lonster

had a tree master also I loved that thing but yes it was noisy. Thought I was the chit when I got that thing. Next stand I bought was a summit with the hand climber that was my best stand ever loved that thing.

I had one back in the day too. Once treestands started getting popular, I bought a Warren & Sweat and gave my Baker to a guy I really didn't like.

I had one, agreed, deathtrap, sure was fun though, when your young and resilient!

I never knew what a treestand was until a friend in the USAF showed me his stand in the late 80's. Never needed one in the hills of WV until I was in the sandhills (flat ground) of FT Bragg, NC. I built one with a plywood platform, C-130 aircraft seat tubes (1" dia alum tubes), and numerous 1/4" nuts and screws. It worked. I sandwiched alum sheetmetal together as the bite bar.

Then I bought an Amacker Deer Thief and I was in heaven!

Always thought the Tree Lounger was the noisiest stand 😄

I grew up with 2 tree masters lol them suckers was heavy n loud...my dad foamed everything he could on em...

Yep, when men were men. I never saw a fat guy in one. I never had much hide on my chest after bow season. I remember standing in them, no safety belt, with a bow that would shoot about 160 feet per second. Deer had not learned to look up as much then.

I was ahead of my time. I had a single rope I would wrap around tree and in between two button on my coat for safety. The first safety harness. Only problem if I would of fallen that thing would of hung me.

Agree with Parrothead89, I hunted very little back then but, a buddy who I would go with had a couple of those, had a rope on bottom for your feet and always took a pull up rope after getting the gun up the tree, I would tie the rope around my waist and gun in case i fell asleep I wouldn't fall out of the tree. Never thought about falling

We used them from the early 80's until we discovered the summits in the early 90's. We would spread out across an area before daylight and you could hear your buddy climbing a hundred yards away.