Still trying to forget! Thanks

 

I here ya...lol Back in the day, that was it pretty much.... I would love to know how many guys hurt themselves with one..

 

I had one! I can remember several incidents similar to the one described above. But, I must say...they introduced me to the concept of portable treestands and a few bucks might've lived a little longer had it not been for their "ingenuity".

 

Have a nice scar on my left wrist when the base let loose on me many years ago.. I instintivly reached to hug the tree when the base went and my left arm got caught in the crotch of a limb with my watch band gouging my wrist for a few inches... guess it was better than riding it all the way to the ground

 

Man, I thought I had suppressed those memories forever...I had one as well (just the bottom section) just hug the tree with your arms and pulled yourself up, I can totally relate to barking yourself all they way down the tree as you slid down it after your platform gave way...once you did get where you were going the platform was so small you could barely turn around...never heard of a safety belt back then...or I'd probably still be hanging in some tree...

 

Mine has been hanging on the barn wall for the better part of 20 years now. If you had a Baker treestand, and Treebark camo you were considered a hi-tec hunter.

 

Yep!

 

Remember 'em??? Hell, I remember when nearly every bowhunter in the county had one...circa 1975-76. I also remember that just about every bowhunter in the county slid down a tree and got all scraped up by one of those things. Worse case I remember was finding a guy that fell over backwards with one foot still in the stupid little stirrup. He very severly broke his ankle and was all but passed out when I found the guy. I shimmied up the tree and used his knife to cut him lose. I remember telling him he might break his neck if I cut the strap and he said yelling at me "son I gotta have some relief, just cut it!!!" I was 14 years old and drove him to the hospital in his truck in 2nd gear. He had a "three on the tree" and I never drove a vehicle in my life. Not only did he need a cast on his ankle, he also needed a clutch in the truck. In those days I was lucky to just have a bow and a hunting license so I hunted out of a ground blind made with limbs and brush or built a treestand out of 2X4's. Probably the reason I am still alive...by the time I had a job and spare money there were better options out there.

 

Oh yea. Got threw on the ground a few times with them. I remember the day I got mine went out in the yard to learn how to use it. it took me 30 minutes to get 10 feet up my arms and chest were bleeding then i let go of the tree and turned to my girlfriend who was watching. i said it's not bad once you get it up. At that moment I shifted my feet toward the back and to the ground I went much faster than I went up

 

Owned 2 of the big ones with the seat, can't remember the name(slim jim pro or something not sure) They're the stands that started it all. And yes had jim crumplys(sp) treebark camo. You couldn't tell me nothing back then lol. Good memories and a few scrapes to prove it.

 

REMEMBER?!?!? I still have scars on my belly from 34 years ago from it.

 

Yeah I had one of those death traps. As careful as I try to be these days, I almost get the willies thinking about being 20 feet up in the air standing on one of those things. "Safety belt" was nothing but a waist belt and a d-ring. Like everyone else that owned one, I slid down the the "Batpole" several times after kicking it out. Ouch! Baker climber, Bear Grizzly Recurve, Jungle camo and cedar arrows. We've come a long way baby.

 

Had one also,the good ole days,wet trees look out its a 20 ft slide clothes up under your chin,chest red as a beet sore,dirty tree bark from your waist to your chin.All the good ole days.The good ole days are now.

 

Once I found a guy sitting 15' up a tree on the hand-climber/seat thing with the stand at the bottom of the tree. With no way to get the stand up to him I had to leave to go get an old section of an aluminum ladder to get him down. He said while he was sitting there, he was too scared to even fart.

 

I had one. And i remeber the sleeves of my hunting clothes being worn out from hugging the trees going up and down.

 

Im a Red Belly member!!

 

Ah, the good 'ole days, a Baker Climber, a nice Shagbark Hickory tree and the sounds of screams echoing through the woods in the pre-dawn darkness!

 

I think that is about when they started to record bigfoot screams, if they only knew what it really was...
Glad to see I'm not the only one who did the fireman pole slide down a tree with one.. Boy we sure have come along way.....:wink:

 

I havnt laughed so much in ages keep the stories coming

 

Bakers and a seat belt out of an old junk yard Chevy - just in case. I took mine and made a longer and thicker board for it. Helped on those long hunts with my Bear 6 Wheeler state of the art bow.

 

One of these? I have heard it called a "tree squirrel" as well. I had to go down to the barn to see if this one was still hanging on the wall.

 

That's the little Gem, brings back chills seeing it.......

 

Seems like we all shared much the same exhilarating experience with the old Bakers.

Mine took me for a very fast trip down a wet, smooth-barked tree and I exited at the bottom with a magnificent back flip, landing in about 8" of heavy snow. The last I saw that stand, the garbage man was carrying it away with a big smile on his face like he'd just won the lottery. I hope he used it safety...if that's possible!

 

I'm a proud member of the Baker Brotherhood! Here's to all the survivors! :cheers:

Oh, and thanks for the pics guys! Now I'm going to have to go back to the tree stand therapist before I can use my climber again. :frown:

 

Mine never failed. Thinking back, man, I would just sit and dangle my legs off the front, then hop back up. I'd bear hug the tree too. We've come a long way :mg:

 

Yep did that then tied para cord on the end ran it through a 1/2" short piece of conduit to make a foot rest. I would tie myself off with my pull up rope.
WERE WE all crazy?

I thought I was it when they came out.

 

I think I still have some bark under my skin from one of them .It's a wonder I still hunt from a tree .

 

I learned off of my dads baker stand . He had two. One like in the picture above then he had the upgrade version that had the seat that he would beat me if I touched it. I hated those wing nuts. I would drop them all the time when I was installing them.

 

And heavy as all get out.......