Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Backpack Hunting Packable game hoists

Seeing the thread on the big game board on vehicle mounted hoists, thought of something I have been looking for: does anybody know if somebody out there still makes the small lightweight block and tackles that were popular thru the 70's, maybe early 80's and seemed to disappear from the market. I picked up one from a garage sale this summer - a little worn, gold colored blocks about 1 inch each, each with 3 pulleys and nice quality cord. It has no markings, but is very well-made. I seem to remember "Little Lifter" as a name from the past. There were some larger, well-made, lightweight block and tackles (blocks maybe around 2-3 inches long, heavier cord and I remember seeing some blue colored) that could lift half an elk off the ground, maybe a whole elk. The small ones can lift a live-weight deer, if the cord is in good shape. I'd like to snag another of the smaller sets and one of the larger sets, if they are still being made by somebody. I'm sure some of the older gents on this board remember these. I haven't found any modern block and tackle sets that are really light enough for backpacking. I have put some together with good cord and aluminum blocks from Baileys, the logging, tree-working outfit, but the old sets with 3 internal pulleys were pretty darn good and had better lifting advantage in smaller blocks. Would be great if somebody out there would make these again. Anybody know of them?

I remember seeing those and spent considerable time trying to find them again and couldn't.

I did come up with an alternative with these.

http://www.petzl.com/en/outdoor/single-pulleys/oscillante

1-1/2 ounces each and if my conversion was correct, 3300 pounds breaking strength.

$15.00 each from Amazon.

If you find something good please post.

I've always carried a small lightweight carabiner with a nylon screen door wheel mainly for lifting 100# game bags of elk meat. I also carry the spectra throw rope we sometimes use at work which is probably 3x stronger than the typical nylon cord guys use to lift their bow into a tree [but also much more expensive]

I had a big bull down on a very steep rocky hillside this year -solo hunt-and I find myself in need of something you describe, just not sure how much I want to spend.

2 of these and the Spectra cord would do the trick;
http://www.amleo.com/product.aspx?p=RP110D&_rfkwc=1

I think I'm going to go the cheap route with 2 of the $14 pulleys on Baileys- not like I need to lift an elk completely off the ground- just move them to work on em.

Stroll into West Marine and look at their small boat pulleys. I put together a remarkably compact & light 4:1 system which allows me to easily hoist a muley off the ground by myself. The bulk and weight of the pulleys shown on your link is not necessary.

This.

I built a back pack block and tackle for my son from strong, lightweight sailing yacht blocks. It was pricey, but stronger, lighter weight and more compact than anything I found on the market. If doing it again I might use slightly larger diameter pulleys but it works well.

In my vehicle I keep a light weight block and tackle set with four pulleys on the ends, bought at K-Mart (?) back in the 70's. It lifts a muley with ease and an average elk with manageable effort.

I found that they were called Little Lifters and made by the Sportsman's Hoist Company of Salt Lake City - looks like they no longer exist. The small set has blocks with 3 pulleys and each block measures 2 x 1 inches. I'm guessing they made the larger sets I saw a few times. They were very well-made - what a shame they went out of business.

This is a good one to know, as well:
http://www.fieldandstream.com/photo...ake-backcountry-block-and-tackle?photo=0

Will keep experimenting with the lightweight blocks - be sure to use cord that doesn't have a lot of stretch - I think 550 cord may stretch too much to lift something very heavy - the Little Lifters canme with a braided cord that did not stretch at all. I once tried one of my home-made set ups to try to pull a moose to a road and found the rope I had (smaller diameter climbing rope) stretched WAY too much to be effective even trying to move full-size moose quarters - my advice is to practice with something very heavy (100'd of lbs) with your set-up before using in the field!

An outfit called Harken makes the pulleys, and yes, you need static rope, not climbing rope. A dynema rope like Amsteel Blue will have the least stretch. The problem you can run into with a system like this is you can build a system strong enough to pull/lift your load, and the tiny dyneema rope will still dig into your hands enough to hurt, so you may need stout leather gloves or have to upsize the system

I have 2 of these CMI double blocks that work well, when set up together:

http://www.karstsports.com/cmimicrespul1.html#.Un0F3ubTkkl

Price is less than the other doubles, I think.

A guy could go cheaper with double blocks sold in hardware stores, but they are heavier.

Bailey's used to sell the double CMI's, but I don't see them on the website, but they are in an older catalog.

Need to get static rope, tho'!

From a function standpoint, fiddle blocks work best in this application and, if an ounce or more weight does not throw you off, a cam clete on one of the blocks makes it far, far easier to control the load.

Lightweight, thin lines have all the weight bearing ability you need but they are harder to grasp and control - upscaling the line size a bit is a good tradeoff.

Harken, Schaefer, Ronstan & a number of other suppliers provide an wide variety of options.

I have a set of the Harken pulley blocks and Amsteel cord like TAK described. A good solution to keep the cord from cutting your hand is to half hitch it around a stick, say 1.5" - 2" diaments and a foot or two long. Then, gripping the stick, pull your weight up.

I will be packing this setup this next week as I am elk hunting solo and between the bears and wolves, don't want to leave meat unattended. I will hopefully be able to bone out a bull into dry bags, load what I can carry in one load in my pack and hoist the rest in the air away from the kill sight.

Cross Creek trading makes hoists designed for hunting.

http://www.crosscreektrading.com/Hoists.html

Good luck with whatever you chose