Climbing Sticks · comparison ·Oct 15, 2026

The Mobile Hunter’s Climbing Stick System: How to Choose, Carry and Climb XOP Sticks

The Mobile Hunter’s Climbing Stick System

I started mobile hunting more than 25 years ago with a climber. Back then, the idea of a system didn’t really exist. You had a stand, you had a way to get up the tree, and that was it. Over the years since, I’ve hunted out of climbers, hang-ons, sticks and stands, and a saddle, and I can tell you the single biggest lesson I’ve learned has nothing to do with any one piece of gear. In about 2014, everything changed for me when I started using sticks and stands and later saddles. It's come a long way for sure.

A climbing stick system is the combination of sticks, aiders, a stand or saddle platform, and a pack that carries it all. The right system depends on how often you move and how high you climb. Ultralight sticks like the XOP HYDRO (18 oz each) suit long walk-ins and saddle hunters, the X2 (26 oz each) is a strong all-around choice, and taller sets like the X3 trade weight for height. Aiders let you climb higher with fewer sticks, and a frame-style pack like the Gamma TS keeps the whole system quiet and balanced on your back.

It’s that sticks are not a product. They’re one link in a chain. The chain is sticks, aiders, a stand or platform, a way to carry it all, and a way to stay attached while you work. If one link is wrong, the whole thing gets louder, heavier or harder to use, and you end up hunting fewer trees than you planned.

This is the system-level view. If you want to get into the specifics of each stick, I’ve written those separately, and I’ll link to them as we go.

Start With the Question Nobody Asks First

When people shop for climbing sticks, they ask how much they weigh, how much they cost, and how many I need. Those are fair questions, but they’re the second set of questions.

The first one is this: how many trees do you plan to hunt?

If the answer is one or two for the whole season, you can carry whatever you want, because you carry it twice. If the answer is a different tree every few sits, or a new spot after every bumped deer, or a long walk into public land you might abandon by lunch, then the weight, the noise, and the speed of the setup become the whole story.

That’s the dividing line between a semi-permanent setup and a true mobile one. I made the case that mobile doesn’t mean ultralight before, and it applies here: tree choice and speed matter more than the number on the scale. But when you are moving a lot, every ounce shows up eventually, which is why XOP built a lineup instead of a single stick.

The Sticks: Five Ways to Solve the Same Problem

XOP makes five climbing sticks, and each one is a different answer to the question of how you want to get up a tree. Here is how I think about them as a system, not a spec sheet.

The HYDRO is the ultralight answer, at 18 oz per stick. It’s the stick for hunters who walk far, move often, or hunt from a saddle. Two HYDROs plus two REACTOR aiders weigh about 2.8 lb and reach a listed 16 ft, which is an extraordinary weight-to-height ratio. The trade-off is that fewer sticks means more reaching and more attention on the climb, so it rewards experience.

The X2 is the one I call the best all-around stick in the lineup. At 26 oz each, a four-stick set weighs about 6.5 lb and reaches 12 ft. It works on most trees with most stands, it’s simple, and it doesn’t ask you to give up much of anything. If you’re not sure which stick to buy, this is where I’d start.

The RIDE sits between the X2 and the HYDRO. At 27.2 oz each, it’s close to the X2 on weight, so the case for it is design rather than ounces. Check the product page for the full spec details.

The X3 is the height stick. At 41.6 oz each, a four-stick set weighs about 10.4 lb and reaches a listed 18 ft. That’s the heaviest four-stick set, and it’s also the one for big timber and long sightlines.

The LMO4 is the heavy-duty option at 52.8 oz each, with a three-stick set weighing about 9.9 lb. You can see the full lineup in the climbing sticks collection.

I broke down the weights side by side in my climbing stick weight comparison, and if you want the full decision logic, XOP’s climbing stick buying guide and the post on which XOP climbing sticks are right for you walk through it season by season.

The Aiders: Fewer Sticks, More Reach

Here’s where the system starts to matter more than any single stick. An aider is a short set of steps that attaches to a stick and lets you climb higher without adding another full stick to your pack.

I can tell you what that looks like in practice, because I’ve done it. I’ve reached about a 15 ft top step with three HYDRO sticks and a three-step aider on the bottom stick only, leaving roughly 18 to 24 inches between sticks. That’s a lot of height for a very small amount of weight.

The cost is spacing. When you use fewer sticks to reach a given height, the gaps between steps get bigger, and the climb gets harder. That’s the trade you’re always making: fewer sticks to carry versus a more demanding climb. It’s a fair trade for a lot of hunters, and a bad one for others, which is why XOP’s REACTOR aiders exist as an add-on instead of a requirement. The post on what climbing stick aiders do and who actually needs them is the one to read if you’re deciding.

My rule is simple. If you are hunting from a saddle and you are very comfortable on the tree, aiders are a way to make an ultralight setup reach farther. If you are newer, or you’re climbing in the dark with a pack on your back, more sticks and tighter spacing is the safer, calmer choice.

The Platform: What the Sticks Are Actually Attached To

Sticks only matter because of what you do when you reach the top. The platform decides how long you can stay up there, how quiet you can be, and how many trees you can realistically hunt.

If you carry a hang-on stand, you’re getting a stable seat and a larger platform. A light one like the Fly pairs naturally with HYDRO sticks for a lightweight mobile system, while heavier hang-ons are a better match for the X2 or X3, where you aren’t counting every ounce. The post on climbing sticks and hang-on treestands lays out which sticks go with which stands.

If you hunt from a saddle, the Invader platform gives you something to stand on while you hunt, and the HYDRO’s low weight makes the whole system very light. It also lets you hunt trees a hang-on stand won’t fit on, which expands your options dramatically in the tight cover where mature deer tend to hide. For help choosing between all of these, my consolidated guide on saddle vs hang-on vs climbing stand is the right place to start.

And if you prefer a climber, the REVOLT is built for exactly that, with the freedom to pick your tree on the spot. It’s also the reason I started this whole story with 1998. Climbers never really went away. They just got better.

The Pack: Where Most Systems Fall Apart

You can buy great sticks and a great stand and still end up with a bad system if you can’t carry it quietly. This is the link most people ignore, and it’s the one that makes the difference between a setup that works and one you resent.

Sticks that rattle on a pack announce you to every deer within a hundred yards. A pack that rides poorly makes you sweat, and sweating on the walk in is a scent problem. The point of a good system is that it disappears on your back.

That’s the idea behind the Gamma TS frame pack and the Guide 10L, which are designed to work together. The Gamma carries the stand and sticks using G-hooks and compression, the Guide pairs with it for your gear, and the sticks can ride with J-hooks, or you can stack them on top of the bag. Details on rigging it are in my write-up on how I actually pack for a mobile hunt, and the post on how Gamma and Guide turn your stand into an ultralight frame pack goes deeper on the frame idea. XOP’s J-Hook stick attachment and Gear Straps keep everything locked down so nothing clanks on the walk.

If you want the rest of the small stuff that makes a system quiet, the treestand accessories guide is the pillar piece.

Staying Attached: The Part You Never Skip

I’m going to be brief here, because safety gear is its own conversation, but it belongs in any honest discussion of a climbing system. You are going to be on a tree with a pack, a bow and a set of sticks. You should be attached from the ground to the top and back down.

If you hunt from a saddle, a lineman’s-style tether is the standard, and XOP’s Predator tether is built for exactly that. I wrote about why it’s worth the upgrade in the Predator tether post. A system isn’t finished until the attachment is part of it.

Building the System: Three Ways I Would Do It

I don’t love charts in a post like this, so here’s how I’d put the pieces together in plain terms.

If I were hunting public land with a long walk in and a plan to move often, I’d go with HYDRO sticks, REACTOR aiders if I was comfortable using them, a Fly or my saddle with an Invader, and a Gamma with a Guide to carry it. That’s the lightest system, and it rewards a hunter who knows the climb.

If I wanted one setup for most situations, I’d run X2 sticks with a hang-on, a four-stick set, and a Guide for the gear. It’s the version I’d tell most hunters to start with, and it’s what I’ve said on the Hunting Gear Podcast with Dan Johnson: the X2 is the best all-around stick.

If I were hunting big timber from a semi-permanent set, I’d go with X3 sticks and a heavier stand, and I’d accept the weight because the point is height. That’s not a setup for moving every sit. It’s a setup for a tree you plan to hunt repeatedly.

That’s also exactly how my cousin ended up with HYDROs. He started with the all-around approach, and when he got serious about carrying everything in and moving often, I told him to step up to the lighter sticks.

Pressure, Pace and the Case for Having Options

The real value of a system is options. A hunter with a light, organized setup can slide thirty yards after a quiet sit, which I wrote about in the 30-yard move, or relocate after a bump, or get past where other hunters stopped on pressured public ground. A hunter with a heavy, rattly setup makes those decisions based on how tired he is.

That’s the thing I’d most like you to take from this. The goal isn’t to own the lightest sticks. It’s to have a system where moving is easy enough that you actually do it when the woods tell you to.

Quick Answers

What is a climbing stick system? It’s the full combination of sticks, aiders, a stand or saddle platform, a pack, and a way to stay attached while you climb. The pieces need to work together, not just individually.

What are the best climbing sticks for mobile hunting? It depends on how often you move and how high you climb. The HYDRO is the lightest, the X2 is the best all-around, and the X3 reaches highest. See the climbing sticks collection.

How many climbing sticks do I need? Most four-stick sets reach about 12 ft, and aiders can add reach with fewer sticks. It’s a trade between weight and how demanding the climb feels.

Do I need aiders? Only if you want more height with fewer sticks. They help experienced hunters go lighter, but more sticks and tighter spacing is the calmer choice for newer climbers.

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