DIY climbing sticks (for the whitetail guys!)

[guitarpreston]

tinkering around with building my own climbing sticks. Saw the LWGC micro doubles and thought, I can build that. Cut prototype 2 this afternoon out of some 16ga that was on the table already. I need to tweak some of the weight relief, it’s getting the steel too thin on the sides and too thick between them, and make the bottom step a bit thicker.

Currently drawing standoffs, thinking about splitting them down the middle and having a 1 inch gap between the left and right side for the sticks to nest in.

 

[Swamp Fox]

To quote Elaine Bennis about another kind of stick:

"I don't know how you guys walk around with those things..."


You should run this past the boys on Saddlehunter.com. Not as feisty as 24HC, but they'll tell you what's what ...

 

[guitarpreston]

I expect a lot of “you’re going to die” and things of that nature

 

[WoodBow]

Have you tested it yet? I think it's going to basically fold in half. It needs stiffness in the other plane as well.

But try it and find out. Then make improvements and keep going. I like it.

Fwiw, I have dabbled a bit into diy sticks, and have not found a better, cheaper, lighter solution than using 1/2" emt conduit and a conduit bender. You do need to be able to weld though. You can make them nest beautifully. They are 2 lbs a piece the way I build them.

Sent from my SM-G991U using Tapatalk

 

[WoodBow]

.

Sent from my SM-G991U using Tapatalk

 

[guitarpreston]

Have you tested it yet? I think it's going to basically fold in half. It needs stiffness in the other plane as well.

But try it and find out. Then make improvements and keep going. I like it.

Fwiw, I have dabbled a bit into diy sticks, and have not found a better, cheaper, lighter solution than using 1/2" emt conduit and a conduit bender. You do need to be able to weld though. You can make them nest beautifully. They are 2 lbs a piece the way I build them.

Sent from my SM-G991U using Tapatalk

V1 I made out of 1/4 plate to mostly get a feel of how stiff they will be, they’re all there. V2 I only used 16ga because it was on the table. It will fold by hand but just testing the drawing etc. I’ve got some refinements in mind. Not sure if final one will be made from 1/4 or try to go a little thinner. Shooting to be close to the lwcg micro doubles and they weigh right at 16oz.

 

[Macintosh]

I think you're going to need to find a way to stiffen it and strengthen it so it takes considerable bending force when loaded in the WRONG direction. Maybe a fold or a curve or something to do this. The issue is that you need to be able to push IN on the steps (not just down) with your full body weight + more, becasue you arent always going to be pushing straight down--you need to lean out at times to move and see your feet, and to place the next stick when climbing, and any "bounce" as you do this results in more than your entire body weight on that step. Are you planning to temper this somehow or leave it soft? I think as soon as those bend a touch, they are going to fold if soft. In any case, arent the LWCG aluminum? their website just says "high strength alloy". I've never cared for any of the LWCG sticks, but I'm curious how these work out.

 

[guitarpreston]

I think you're going to need to find a way to stiffen it and strengthen it so it takes considerable bending force when loaded in the WRONG direction. Maybe a fold or a curve or something to do this. The issue is that you need to be able to push IN on the steps (not just down) with your full body weight + more, becasue you arent always going to be pushing straight down--you need to lean out at times to move and see your feet, and to place the next stick when climbing, and any "bounce" as you do this results in more than your entire body weight on that step. Are you planning to temper this somehow or leave it soft? I think as soon as those bend a touch, they are going to fold if soft. In any case, arent the LWCG aluminum? their website just says "high strength alloy". I've never cared for any of the LWCG sticks, but I'm curious how these work out.

I've since made a few revisions and scrapped the idea. I got a functional prototype but its just too heavy. The LWCG micro doubles are 1/4 aluminum. I did as much triming as I could but tried to maintain strength and could not get them below 2 pounds which kinda sucks.

 

[Macintosh]

Huh. Yeah, I'm not surprised. Looking at the lwcg site and their photos they are clearly a tempered aluminum the way they are bending. Are you trying to find a stick solution for a particular use?

 

[guitarpreston]

Huh. Yeah, I'm not surprised. Looking at the lwcg site and their photos they are clearly a tempered aluminum the way they are bending. Are you trying to find a stick solution for a particular use?

The only solution I was looking for was one for boredom...

 

[guitarpreston]

This one worked but

Huh. Yeah, I'm not surprised. Looking at the lwcg site and their photos they are clearly a tempered aluminum the way they are bending. Are you trying to find a stick solution for a particular use?

This actually functioned ok. It was super stout but could not get weight down without risking structural integrity