My dad and I spent a morning cleaning out all the old plywood scraps in both our garages. We made 17 seats and could have made more! We gave some away and saved the rest. I plan on stashing several around my hunting area so I have ready seats as I still hunt along a planned route.

We made the seats approx. 17"x17" to fit big butts with several layers of hunting clothing and still have room to shift about.

We used nylon rope and would unexpectedly experience the "trap door syndrome" when the whole thing would drop to the ground. Pretty scary, especially with a loaded gun or nocked arrow on your lap. We found if you wrap twice around the tree the rope NEVER slips. A foam pad really helps make the seat more comfortable too.

All you need to keep from slipping is a bow hook screwed into the back of the tree, or I use my saw to cut a small notch in the bark that the rope will fit into.

6', 250 lbs. The 12 x 12 works for me. Keep in mind that your butt doesn't necessarily have to be in between the two ropes where they attatch to the seat - you can actually sit on the rope where it attaches to the seat with out any problems. Making it wider creates more weight to cary around.

If you'll put some kind of rubber on the back (tree) side, it really helps "lock" the seat onto the tree.  I used an old piece of gas filler hose.  The rubber makes it quiet too.



I also used a kind of 'stretchy' poly rope I found at Wal-Mart.  Think it was 5/8" Dock Line.  Seems like the seat is very secure when I sit on it.  BTW... this one is a narrow-butt model.          May have to upgrade...