Summit OpenShot Review

Recently, I purchased a Summit OpenShot from eBay.  I bought this stand because I needed a stand that I could dedicate completely to bowhunting.  My Summit Viper Classic has the sit down bar across the front, which makes it where you have to lean out over the bar to take certain shots.  Since the OpenShot is truely a hand climber, it eliminates the need for this sit down bar (I call it a safety bar).

When I recieved the stand, I immediately took it out of the box and began to assemble it.  Assembly was not hard, it only required a couple of wrenches to get 2 bolts on the stand so that the seat will fold up and down.

I took it hunting the next morning where I set up the stand and climbed in the dark. Getting it set up wasn't a huge deal, basically the exact same as all the other summit stands I have climbed.  Climbing the stand was a completely different ballgame.  For me it was not too bad to climb the stand, not too different from a normal climbing stand (Note: I have never actually sat down and stood up to climb with any treestand).  Climbing down is extremely awkward.  Its hard to describe why it is strange, but it just takes a little getting used to.  I definately recommend shooting up a tree or two in your back yard before you take this stand out in the woods to hunt with it.

Once in the stand, it is not bad at all.  It is certainly not as comfortable as a Viper, but I was able to sit in it for almost 6 hours the other day and had no problems.  The fact that you can flip the seat up and lean against the tree is a huge plus because often times just changing positions will extend your hunt by quite a bit.  The platform is a small 20 or so inches, so there isnt a ton of room up there, but it was more than enough for me to move around and get different shot positions.  The stand feels very open to me because there is no arm rest or safety bar or anything, so I feel like I can really get into position well.

Overall, I definately recommend this stand for bowhunting.  I will use my other stand for muzzle loading and rifle season (if I even do that this year, I might just bow hunt all year).

Pros:
-Extremely lightweight.  All aluminum construction.  I packed it in about half a mile to my tree and didnt even break a sweat.
-Pretty comfortable considering its small size.
-Very open, perfect for bowhunting.

Cons:
-A little noisy right out of the box.  You will need to get some camo duct tape or summit skin or something like that to cover up the metal, which will make it quieter.  I do this will all climbing stands and it definately helps.
-A little awkward to climb if you are used to a sitdown stand up climber.