Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Bowhunting First complaint on a Summit product.........

I have Summit Viper with the old-style air bladder seat (went flat after a couple seasons) so I finally bit the bullet and ordered a replacement seat for my stand. I picked it up and, while I'm sure it'll be comfy for awhile, the quality is TERRIBLE!!! First off, the material is so thin/cheap, I'm sure it won't last long with regular use and definitely won't stand up to any kind of snag. In addition to the material being very thin/cheap, it also looks like it's going to be a burr/seed magnet.

I've shouted praise for my Summit for many years now but if these are the seats that Summit is using for their new climbers, I'm going to buy a Lone Wolf stand next time. IMO, Summit should be EMBARRASSED to put out a product that is such poor quality.....

I own several climbing stands from Summit and none of my have an air bladder type seat. Not sure what that is exactly. Sometimes my stands might stay out thru the season or even thru the off season and I get my grandmother to make me new seats for them.

Me either.

My Summit Viper is OLD and the seat was made from a very tough cloth (like a camo Carhartt) and it had an air bladder in the seat/back that you would inflate instead of padding. The bladder failed within a 2-3 years but the cloth on the seat never ripped or even showed signs of wear. These new seats are NOTHING like the old seats quality-wise�..

Every Summit I've been around had a foam seat, even the old ones before they went to cables. What exact model is it?

Was it comfy when the bladder worked?


You could always buy a seat from another stand company, most of the fold up covered foam seats have nearly the exact attachment system. I believe it's Big Game that has one with a nylon type fabric, but I could be wrong on that.

Summit and API seem to have a fabric like cheap cotton camo pants to me.

The air bladder was comfy when it worked but it was also inconvenient. Even deflated, it was OK to sit on and I would've just kept it but I actually CUT it off before I saw the replacement!!! Wish I could re-do that bright idea but I never woulda guessed that the replacement would've been inferior to the original.......

Here's a pick of my Viper stand with the seat rolled up.....

Just buy a millennium stand and be done with it. The only problem with them is staying awake in the stand.

That buck seems to like sniffing of it.

Can't you take your old seat to an upholsterer and have a new pad put in with a zipper so you can remove it whenever you want?

You can't reattach it?? Make some velcro loops or something so you can attach it once it's set up?

AkMtnHntr;

This is a bit sarcastic, and not meant to be argumentative, Just to make that clear up front, it's "joking":

VELCRO? you're not a tree stand hunter are you, just can't be! Velcro is a huge no-no on anything in a treestand, may as well have a siren and some jingle bells! That stuff will always make the most hideous noise at the worst moment possible. Hunting game within 10-20 yards there is no margin for error. As a Bow hunter that actually "hunts" and shoots close, Velcro is not on the list of options for anything I would use.

Not a treestand hunter, at least I haven't hunted with one in probably 16 years or so. It was more of a starting place to help him come up with another solution to reattach his seat to his stand, which is why I said "velcro or something" in my last post. No offense taken either.

cool, gotta be very careful about what is typed out here. So many folks have skin about as thin as wide Thai rice noodles, and egos as tall as Everest. It makes for difficult banter.
Thanks!

I heard that!

My summit hot dot bow sight adjustment seized up.Good thing the elevation was dead nuts,when I shot my new Easton fmj arrows.The plastic wing nut stripped out over the bolt.Time for a new one.Next time ,I'll put some anti-seize on the treads before I sight it in. I love the sight!!Single pendulum red dot,NICE and DEADLY.

Thanks for the heads up! My bladder still works after 10+yrs, but I now know not to cut it up prior to checking out a replacement seat!

I have a viper with the air bladder and that thing is like sitting in a barca lounger. I think they need to bring it back? I have a couple lone wolf stands, hand climber and strap on. While they are light and quiet my summit still gets the nod for long sits as he lone wolf seats aren't even close in comfort. (4 hours max for me)