Why I no longer buy Guide Gear stands or sticks from SG

[Triple C]

Several years ago I bought a few climbing sticks and ladder stands from SG under their Guide Gear brand. Less than 5 years and here’s the integrity of the cheap steel used in their components.


The climbing sticks were even worse with daylight showing thru the stick at the base. You get what you pay for. Bought a Family Tradition hang on with stick ladder at the same time and not a bit of rust. Why does China steel rust out so quickly?

 

[PineSapJunky]

Do you leave you stands up year round? I've essentially doubled my stand and step life by pulling them down at the end of each deer season and applying a quick coat of rustoleum. Allows me to inspect the stands each year as well

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[Mennoniteman]

the Sportsman's Guide is the equivalent of Harbor Freight for hunting supplies. 8 bridges made of Chinese steel in China collapsed between 2011 and 2012, and the 2008 earthquake Sichuan province collapsed a steel building school that was so poorly built it crushed 700 children. American steel requires rigorous ASTM testing before it can be sold, but Chinese companies are not required to do this testing. American steel companies are also required to keep emissions very low while manufacturing steel, while Chinese steel companies are huge polluters. It's time our politicians wake up, get out of hair salons, and close the doors to all Chinese products. If climate activists were serious about global warming they would start a movement to boycott Chinese products, but all you hear is crickets on this subject.

 

[swat1018]

Pulling all of my stands just isn't an option. I have dozens of stands, and no time to do it. They all get inspected and new straps added. I buy better quality stands, but inexpensive sticks. Haven't bought sportsman's guide, though. My sticks are fine, no rust.

 

[Triple C]

Do you leave you stands up year round? I've essentially doubled my stand and step life by pulling them down at the end of each deer season and applying a quick coat of rustoleum. Allows me to inspect the stands each year as well

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PineSappy - You are a prudent man. No, we leave our ladder stands out all year. Honestly, just too many of em to want to take down and then try and store somewhere. I was looking at an old Amaker Loc On from back in the late 80s hanging on the wall and it still has nothing more than a little surface rust on it.

 

[PineSapJunky]

PineSappy - You are a prudent man. No, we leave our ladder stands out all year. Honestly, just too many of em to want to take down and then try and store somewhere. I was looking at an old Amaker Loc On from back in the late 80s hanging on the wall and it still has nothing more than a little surface rust on it.

I'd say more frugal than prudent. I just got tired of replacing seats every year along with straps dry rotting or chains growing into trees. Plus it never fails that I find a better tree while hunting and always want to tweak my sets before the next season. It also allows me to justify buying a better stand knowing they will last longer

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[dogghr]

Steel is not all created the same for sure. Case in point of my 1200# cultipacker. Thing has set in the weather for 70 or more years and still solid as a rock. Do that w ANYTHING these days and it prob be frozen w rust in 20 years.
As for stands. I have 13 stands for 2 people. Ain’t no way I’m taking those down every year! Especially the ladder stands. Remove seats and loosen straps perhaps. But that’s all.
And Triple I agree. Most times you get what you pay for.


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[Deadeye]

I have a couple of the old Ameristep Brand Ladders, one single and one double. Both are left in the environment for years. Both are still in Very Good Condition even with doing that.
The Single I bought way back in 2010 and the double in 2012. They haven't seen the Inside of a building since they were taken out of the box. I have changed the straps of course, but the steel still looks very good.

 

[BoneCrusher20]

i've bought lot of SG sticks/hangs on just to built large inventory for random sit spots....but i take down every january and put back up in august and feel like really has helped life of stands. for stands that i'm leaving out all year that have proven to be good spots over the years i'm putting something more permanent like elevated blind or tripod stands.

 

[Triple C]

I have a couple of the old Ameristep Brand Ladders, one single and one double. Both are left in the environment for years. Both are still in Very Good Condition even with doing that.
The Single I bought way back in 2010 and the double in 2012. They haven't seen the Inside of a building since they were taken out of the box. I have changed the straps of course, but the steel still looks very good.

Yep - Got 2 old Ameristep single step sticks circa 1990ish that are still as solid as the day I bought em. Little surface rust but nothing close to the Guide Gear sticks n stands. Guess the old ones were USA steel. Same for the old Amaker loc-on's. Just really disappointed in the cheap SG sticks and ladder stands I bought a few years ago that have rusted to the point that I won't use some of them at all.

 

[Deadeye]

I came across an old Ladder Stand in a WMA here that was so rotten you could almost see through it. Yet it had a Brand New Pull Up Rope hanging on it.

Some people's kids.

 

[Drycreek]

We put a SG ladder stand up yesterday (the last one I have), on a hidey-hole plot and I noticed some serious rust on part of the platform. It was on the end of a piece of the frame and not too concerning, but we just put it up using the part of the ladder that was attached. We left the other two sections off for safety’s sake. It’s pretty well hidden and already 10’ higher than the plot elevation wise anyway.

 

[Triple C]

Drycreek, Prolly last year I'll have SG ladder stands or sticks out. Just too much rust to feel comfortable hunting out of them. Got too many stands out to want to take down each year. Surprisingly, Millennium and Family Tradition stands that were put out in 2011 and 2012 are still as solid as a rock with just tiny specks of surface rust. River's Edge I bought last year have no signs of deterioration. SG ladders n sticks bought in 2016 n 2017 are covered in rust with some so bad in the sticks that you can see daylight thru the steel. Old Amaker sticks and hang-on's from the early nineties will still be in use 10 years from now. Bombproof back then and still today.