If your first "commercial" treestand was a Baker.....with NO climbing aid....you just had to "bear-hug" the tree to climb. Hey and the first ones were just that....a treeSTAND, cause you had no where to sit. I remember using an old baseball uniform stretchy belt as my safety belt. Boy oh Boy what a dumbazz I was. Somehow these are still some of the best days of my life!
Damn! That brings back memories hunting in NC. My first tree stand was a Baker. Never heard of a safety belt back then. Just wrapped your arms around the tree and bear-hugged your way up. I remember once I climbed a big slick barked elm tree. It wasn't long before me and the stand came sliding down. You're right, there was no where to sit. You stood on that little platform until it was time to come down. Crazy I guess.
Bob
