I have been steadily upgrading my Lone Wolf Alpha hand climber over time. It is over 20 years old and going strong. From Lone wolf I upgraded with new style knobs, new seat cushion, new style belt clamps, upgraded back pack straps, added securing straps between the seat and platform and extra long belts for bigger trees.

 

I moved the old seat cushion to the underside and it makes backpacking a lot more comfortable. It also gives me a place to put something when in the stand without falling through the platform.

 

I also covered all exposed metal support tubes with Silent Hide fleece. And added reflective tape on the platform.

I drilled and tapped a Kwikee Kwiver receiver on the platform so I can rotate it to either carry in or have available for a quick second shot in the stand.
 

I also added a third hand so I can climb with the bow on the platform and have it in position to hold the bow when in the stand. No more pull up line required and in position much faster and quieter

 

 


I carry a portable tree saw secured to the hand climber so I can cut branches as I climb if needed.
 

And a tree umbrella secured to the platform for rain protection.

 

I have rigged it so the tree umbrella can be used as a portable blind as well.

 

All of these improvements have really worked out well, set up is quick and quiet and I am up the tree with everything in hand, with cover to break up my silhouette when there is none.

nice, thanks for sharing

what keeps bow from falling out while climbing? I hear others say they climb with bow in third hand holder? I am sure I would find a way to drop bow

Nice.  I have added a small pack and tree saw on under side of my lw assault. Really like the idea of third hand. Looks like you have it mounted on square tube section that belts go through.  Does this prevent stand from being folded entirely flat?  Do you use it with a bow quiver?

Thanks,  john

QuoteOriginally posted by emac396:
what keeps bow from falling out while climbing? I hear others say they climb with bow in third hand holder? I am sure I would find a way to drop bow

You can rotate the third hand to any position some bows may require that to climb with it, all I did was turn the bow over as shown in the picture and it is rock solid, not going anywhere when climbing.

QuoteOriginally posted by the rifleman:
Nice.  I have added a small pack and tree saw on under side of my lw assault. Really like the idea of third hand. Looks like you have it mounted on square tube section that belts go through.  Does this prevent stand from being folded entirely flat?  Do you use it with a bow quiver?

Thanks,  john

I don't use a bow quiver, mine is mounted on the tree stand, but I don't see why it wouldn't work. When folding there is no interference from the third hand. I rounded off the sharp corners, coated with truck bed liner, and replaced all fasteners with stainless.

Awesome. Thanks for sharing.

Nice!  I like the Silent Hide Fleece.  Where did you get it?

http://www.stealthoutdoors.com/shop/cable-silencers/

Thanks.  I'm going to get one of these.  Should be a better solution than sticking my bow limb in my boot.  Thanks again for sharing.

Great ideas there pbr. You really thought it through. I would never guess that climber is 20 years old.

So, pbr, where's the beer holder?   :D

Seriously though, thanks for sharing your mods. I lost the private hunting grounds been hunting the last 3 years. Haven't had to use my climber at all in a while. Gonna have to break it out next year unless I can find a new spot to hang lock ons or ladder stands.

nice mods!

Thanks pbr.  Gonna have to order some of those for my lone wolf sit and climb.

nice but don't forget to switch the tube bolts on the platform,,,,, when you slide your tree strap into the platform tube the longer straps hit these bolts and cause a lot of the strap to stick out the top behind your head when carrying,,,,

flip them with a nut driver so the nuts are on the outside the rubber tree strap will now go in all the way so it won't catch on anything when going thru the woods.

this is a tip I got from another guy here and what a difference

I actually did that a long time ago when I bought the extended straps.

Nice. All inclusive. I like it. I am a lone wolf user too! I used to make my own bow holder but got away from doing that. I like the third hand you have on there. I found a hole in the platform that my Black Widow fits in sometimes but it could scratch the bow. I have a few types of stands but keep going back the the lone wolf. Would love to see one made with a smaller dimension platform for less weight. I use and older LOC ON LIMIT for a stationary stand. I would like to see a  hybrid climber made light like that with the simplicity of the lone wolf.
If you have a 20 year old stand, check the diameter of the bolts on the hand climber. They need to be the larger diameter. The original were 1/4". The hand climber doesn't have a crossbar and pressure can pop the head off of a bolt. Mine did!. And it was a new stand at the time. Had a unwelcome surprise when about 10' up. some scrapes and bumps. Broke some equipment, hunt was over for the day. I think the company has been bought and sold a time or two since?? Not sure about that.
I'm just glad I wasn't up higher when it snapped. At first I would have been happy with LW sending a new hand climber or some better bolts. But he got real defensive with me and told be I should tighten the hand climber bolts regularly in a tone that I didn't appreciate. And went on to tell me that they just started using larger diameter bolts. (there was no recall that I know of) He didn't even want to send me the new bolts. I mentioned there isn't much material to drill out for larger bolts, and asked he had changed the casting? He got mad and asked me just what I think he should do about this! At that point I changed my stance on what I thought he should do and got my point across quickly. There was a new stand on the front porch the next day. Overnighted.
I still use it and have used it for years with no problems at all. The climber has the larger bolts. The lower part still has the smaller bolts. They are still made that way as far as I know. Sometimes I look down and wonder why not use heavier bolts all around?
My broken stand...I did drill it out and put some larger grade 8 bolts in it. But could never have the confidence in it and threw it in the dumpster.

Forgot to say, I'll probably buy another lone wolf. I read on here that people have made a strap to sit on for a sit and climb modification. Does anyone have a photo of that?
Tedd

Tedd, LW sells one.  It is called the Hand Climber Sit Strap, if you do a Google search you can see a picture on the stand.  LW has a picture of the strap on their website but it's not hooked to the stand if I remember correctly?  At any rate, I'm sure that you can make your own for less than the $20 asking price since it is simply a piece of nylon webbing that hooks to the front of the seat.

Wow, that is a bunch of great ideas thanks for posting. This will give me some stuff to do in the off season.