Hawk Helium sticks over rated.

[Turtleman]

I just wanted to let everyone know to beware of the Hawk Helium climbing sticks. After hearing rave reviews of these i thought i would give them a try so i bought two sets for a Kansas hunting trip. My buddies also picked up two sets and i have to say they were not very good also it was the general consensus that these weren't even safe to use. Granted you can't get very high off the ground in Kansas because i don't think the state has a straight tree in it but still. The strap button on the stick is too high up so when you are climbing up or down and grab the middle to bottom step the stick pulls away from the tree. I lowered the strap button on my sticks and it made it better but still pulls away from the tree if not careful no matter how tight the strap is tightened. I contacted Hawk and of course not even a response back, so much for customer service. So buyer beware don't believe all the hype you see on these hunting shows etc when it comes to the products they push. Good luck hunting and hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas!

[ihunt]

Thanks for the heads up.

[DuckHunt]

That's good to know. Now that you mention it, this sounds like it could be a problem for any of the individual climbing sticks that only have a single connection strap. I have a 24' stick-together type climbing stick on my primary stand and I know I pull hard on it sometimes leaning away from the tree. I'd be dangling from my HSS Lifeline if I tried that with those. I was always a little leery about using a step above the strap point, but didn't consider the problems caused when the bottom of the step isn't tightly attached.

[xcaliber]

Over the years the only two I ever liked were Lone Wolf, and Summit. It's always good to read reviews here from real users.

[Turtleman]

I have used quite a few different styles of climbing sticks over the years but these have to be the worst about pulling away from the tree. I’ve never had any problems with the lone wolf sticks in fact we had a set we used in Kansas with the hawk sticks and had it at a angle and it still grabbed good. Needless to say if we had any height to climb we put the lone wolf sticks at the top and hawks on the bottom.

[xcaliber]

Quit doing that a few years ago, can’t hang with you young bucks anymore! Be safe!

[longbow joe]

I have the helium sticks l have replaced the straps with 3/8 braided nylon and put the knot less boat ties in their place l love them. I can climb 12 feet in 5 minutes. The lone wolf have only 3 steps staggered rather than 2 together to me...that is unsafe. l will try to post a picture.
You kinda have to kick any brand of sticks down to seat sometimes to get them to truly grab are you doing this

[longbow joe]

[url=https://postimg.cc/ts7G6dxC][
The boat cleat conversion....a possible beer drinking late night garage brainstorm that works like no other stick made
I have used this conversion on lots of my sticks including
my lone wolf. still ....no broken backs or bones just fast climbs and filled tags.
But yes you are right the stock straps do suck. But not the stick itself
Unlike the lone wolf the extra steps double as a bow and backpack holder saving time not having to screw a extra step in on top

[Turtleman]

Hey longbow joe, like your idea of the knotless boat piece installed. I have never seen that set up before. I did do away with the strap/buckle method and gone with using 8mm static climbing rope and two half hitches. Works just as good as the strap just nothing to bang against when slinging the rope around the tree. Yes I seat all my sticks and with the hawk sticks they still want to pull away from the tree.