Buddy Stand

[love to hunt]

Has any one used that buddy stand they sell at any Wal-Mart?

I was looking a an inexpensive second or back up stand and I really like the $100.00 price tag.

[Code-Man]

i got a 2 person Side Kick by Ameristep. 110 bucks. Nice stand. I got it for the added room and weight restrictions.

[chucker34]

I have one like it from Hunter's View and for one person it works nice for firearms hunting. Not so great for bow for me at least as the platform is too long and narrow for me. I doubt the cushion it comes with will be very comfortable so I'd invest an extra $5-$10 in a good seat pad. Wrap some camo burlap around that railings of the stand and you should be good to go. Good luck!

[archerystud]

If it is the 12 footer I think I set one up 2 weeks ago that my dad had bought, I believe he said he bought it at Wal-Mart. It seems solid although I couldn't get the bottom strap that supports the ladder around the tree I was attaching it to. However, the bottom part of the ladder sunk down into the sand anyway, so it's solid.

Plan on taking my 6 year old out with me in a couple of weeks and using it.

[bigbucks]

I bought the 12' Timberstrike I think it's called, from Menards for about $80 a couple of weeks ago. The same night I saw what looked like the identical stand in an Ameristep box at Walmart for about $75. At that point Menards was closed so I didn't swap them. It seems solid, they take a while to put together. I've worked on it anywhere from 15 minutes to an hour each of the last 3 nights. It's just about done, will just have to add about 2 pieces & then tighten everything down.

[love to hunt]

Well I picked it up tonight.

It is the 12' Buddy Stand by Ameristep. The seat is 13" by a whoppin 40" and it has lots of room to move around.

It seems to be well built, but it is a touch heavy. I guess that is not really an issue.

One thing I didn't like was no padded seat. I got some foam and some denim camoflage and made a seat pad.

I set it up (about 20 min out of the box) and sat in it for a bit and it is a noce solid unit.

I also intend to make a skirt for it to help mask movement.

For under $100.00 it is a good buy in my eyes if you are into a ladder stand.

[Ron Burgundy]

I've got the Ameristep 1 man 15 ft ladder stand. My brother and I put it up last weekend. I just bought a ratchet strap for the ladder support. The turn buckle that came with it didn't reliably tighten. A ratchet strap should tighten up nicely and stay tight.

[love to hunt]

Ok, I made a skirt for this unit and it turned out pretty good.

I have less the $125.00 invested in the whole set up.

[harvey lee]

Ed,Very nice job.

[Blaze]

LTH - how'd you secure the skirting on the bottom and how do you get in/out of it? I assume you wouldn't want to use velcro or zippers due to noise?

Looks like a nice stand!

[almostthere!]

Love to hunt,

You stole my idea. Now I have to do something else so I may not be called a copy-cat.

Nice job. We have the same stand. Do you have something to cover the bottom to keep wind from blowing up from below and chilling your feet?

[love to hunt]

I installed snaps on the bottom and there is a seam up the middle right in front.

Simply unsnap, get in and resnap shut. Quiet, effective and you can get it all at Wal-Wart, to include the stand.

The snaps are there just hard to see and I intend to install more tonight now that the layout is good.

almostthere!,

Copy away, it is super easy to do.

I have a piece of rubber mat to put my feet on, just like ice fishing.

[nitroant]

Did the fabric come with the gromets in it that you used to attach the fabric to the top pole?

We have a few homemade stands like this. We use pipe insulation on the gun rail to keep the noise down and keep from scratching the gun up. Seems like the animals eat it up every year so its a cheap way to fix it year to year.

[love to hunt]

No, the gromits come in a kit and then you need to buy the tool to install them.

[nitroant]

Same with the snaps I assume. Where in the store is a kit for the gromits and snaps located? Fabrics, sporting goods? Was the fabric on a roll that you buy by the foot, or a prepackaged size?

[deepportage01]

Very nice stand L2h, what a deal only $125 with the camo cover.. Cool post! say will that twig of a tree hold you?

[love to hunt]

Every thing you need for this project is in the Fabric and Craft Department at Wal-Mart.

deepportage1,

YES IT WILL wise ___