BC you missed the WhoLE POINT ! TREWALKERS are made in TN with 100% AMERICAN PARTS. Summits are not. They use parts made out side this country. I prefer to trust my life with AMERICAN MADE ! I don't know where you've been, but yes the pins on Ol'man were failing. one year we lost several hunters in Alabame due to pins breaking up the tree and dumping them ! THOSE PINS WERE MADE IN CHINA ALONG WITH THE REST OF THE STAND. Now from what I've been told Millenium owns Ol'man too. They are both made in china now. Lets hope the quality control is better now. That is why I don't trust Summit or any other China made junk ! I was an ApI user when Paul Meeks owned API And they were made in the USA. You couldn't give me one now from Bass Pro.

With all due respect, I didn't miss the point. You can't say a stand is safer because it is made in the United States as opposed to overseas. It doesn't matter where it's manufactured, you have to have factual data to back up your claims that the stand is unsafe or one is safer than the other. I gave some personal observations questioning why some felt the Treewalker is a better constructed stand. I feel the Summit is superior in some aspects, and in some instances (such as climbing), it was at least on equal footing. Can I prove that the Summits are safer than the Treewalkers? No I cannot. By the same token I wasn't making any claims that the Summit is safer. The Treewalker guys were making that claim.


Where they are made is irrelevant.... they are either safe or they are not.

If you just like them because they are made in Tenn that's fine. Just say you prefer American made over the others. There's not one thing wrong with that.


To just sit there and blindly state they are "safer" with no factual data is doing the consumers on this site a disservice.

I don't personally know anyone who has been injured by a faulty Summit product or Treewalker product. I doubt anyone here does either. I'd guess Summit has sold 2 stands for every 1 of all the other manufacturers combined so if they are making poor quality product there should be several lawsuits for injuries , I would think.

I would love a buckshot as long as it came with someone to carry it for me. Comfortable once on the tree but I wouldn't want to carry it to some of the spots I hunt.

From my perspective as someone in the quality control field, it matters most if the company has processes and quality standards that are firmly controlled. If it is an American company that manufactures overseas, I can 99% guarantee you they audit those processes and standards and make sure they use the exact materials and processes that they are instructed. I am not taking anything away from the TreeWalkers, but besides a few issues with paint flaking off, I have never heard anything but positives about the Summits.

Doesn't someone here work for Summit? As far as China made...ive heard it was like the seat and parts to some ladders. Ive heard the climbers are made in Decatur. Can anyone confirm that?

I'm not making anything seem unsafe. Again.... I have not said one time that a TreeWalker was unsafe.

I got that picture off of Treewalkers website. It was the first model I clicked on. I do realize there are several different models for both manufacturers.

As far as comfort I love my aluminum summit viper. But, if I've got to carry that bulky thing more than a couple a hundred yards, I'm grabbing my flat packing lone wolf sit and climb.

BC-

The only similarities between a treewalker and an ol man is a mesh seat. An old man is the worst POS stand ever invented IMO. The pin is the same one used in numerous climbers. The issues with the ol man stands was the pin working lose while climbing, happened to my dad once and he's been climbing since baker climbers were popular. With a treewalker you put the pins in upside down on the bottom piece and right side up on the top piece and there's no chance of pins working lose.

Look at your climbing pics again and tell me which one looks the safest. The guy in the summit has his center of mass outside the stand frame, whereas the guy in the treewalker is completely inside the stand frame.

In my opinion a treewalker is equally safe compared to an API or Summit. Climbing and heights don't bother me at all but I've had APIs and summits slip a little on hard wet barked trees. This slippage makes some folks nervous but the stand can't actually fall so you aren't really in danger. With a treewalker you don't even have to use a second strap to secure to top of the stand to the tree once you finish climbing and get ready to set down.

A treewalker will not slip any b/c it has metal screws that actually dig into the tree unlike other models. Some models will roll slightly on a tree when shifting weight from side to side but a treewalker doesn't b/c it actually bites into the tree and doesn't just use leverage to stay firm against the tree.

A tree walker is also more comfortable to me and it packs together securely without any straps required.

If someone has any fears of using a climbing stand and money isn't an issue then a treewalker is the best choice hands down. In short, A treewalker isn't any safer than an API or Summit but it "feels" safer b/c it's more stable.

With regard to the seat not hanging as low on s treewalker vs a summit, the seat is plenty low enough to feel safe and keep u from falling out sideways unlike most lockons that have a hard flat seat and no rails on the side that people use all the time with no complaints. Also, it's much easier to stand up from a seated position in a treewalker than it is in a summit b/c the seat doesn't sag near as much. And you can actually shoot sitting down in a treewalker if the deer is on your shooting side unlike in a summit due to the low hanging seat.

Let the seats get wet on each stand and then tell me which one you'd rather hunt out of.

I have a summit viper and $75 I'll gladly trade for another treewalker if anyone truly feels the summit is the better stand.

I'll be happy to let you try a treewalker sometime so you can see the difference first hand. Just shoot me a PM and we can make it happen.

Great taste! Less Filling!

Aesthetically, they are the same design. There are some detail aspects that make the Treewalker a way superior stand than the Ol Man. Square tubing instead of round on the Ol Man. The sides are solid and do not "pinch in" like the Ol Man. It is still built on a square frame top and bottom with a mesh seat on the top part. Look at these two stands and tell me that they aren't the same design with one being "beefed up".

Treewalker



Ol Man



Not the same stand but both are built on the same engineering platform.



You and I are on the same page on the Ol Man's.



I understand this a game of persepective. I still see the same potential of falling backwards or sideways out of both stands while climbing without the use of a safety belt.



I agree that it is probably just as safe as the others and it just all comes down to preference. I wasn't arguing that it's not as safe, the other guys were. I would wager neither they nor I could produce enough data to prove either stand is unsafe.

In looking at the way the Treewalker grips are designed in comparison to the Summit, I would have to say I like the Treewalker's design better. See, I'm not being unreasonable.



Can't see the comfort thing but if it fits and locks together without straps, it is a superior carrying stand in that regard.




Again, I'm not saying the Treewalker's are unsafe. Just looking at the pic it looks like you are "surrounded" better by the Summit. You are right about the wet seat aspect. As stated before both stands have their pro's and con's. That full seat can definitely give you a wet rear. I am interested if Summit actually goes to the mesh seat like someone stated they were earlier.





I appreciate the offer but I've climbed in one before.

I bet bameeyedoc didn't expect his thread to blow up into a stand debate.... lol.

I'm gonna throw a wrinkly in your line of thinking. To keep the center of gravity within the confines of the tree walker, one must sit on the net seat to climb. Which means that you then have to step over the net seat to get it positioned correctly. I've had several butt puckering moments do just that in an Ol Man stand.

And the screws in a tree Walker that help "bite" the tree do in fact help BUT on a big pine they don't actually get into the wood, typically just the bark of the tree and can still slip.

Didn't he end up buying a Summit?

Shooting house with windows on a day like today. Sitting in front of fireplace right now

Same here.

This turned into a big pissing contest. I'll add my 2 cents....I have had a API for 20+ years, never had any problems with it. Just bought a tree walker. Haven't put it on a tree yet but looking forward to that. A few observations are I wish the spikes were a little longer but don't think it's going to be a issue. Stand is light and we'll made. The back pack straps that come with it are cheap but I'm going to put another set on anyway. Any stand used property is probably just as safe as the next so use what you like and what you are comfortable with