[olddhaverstick]

in reply to: Lil Huntmore Stool – Initial Review #25410

Well, any chair you get is gonna make some noise in certain situations so I don’t know if that would be the only criteria I would use in a purchasing decision. After all, we’ve all had treestands creak at the wrong time and it was not due to any “design flaw”. That’s just the nature of the beast. I look at this hook-and-shackle thing as more of a potential problem than an existing one. It isn’t very loud and it doesn’t happen all the time but it COULD happen at the wrong time.

Yes, the problem can be fixed by the user. I am going to wrap electrical tape around the U-shackles and see if that does the trick. Scott recommended putting fleece around the hooks but I think the tape is a better idea. Like you suggested, maybe using shrinkwrap would also work.

Most of my hunting is done sitting on the ground in a ghillie so everything has to optimal in order to be successful.

[olddhaverstick]

in reply to: Lil Huntmore Stool – Initial Review #25273

Jmsmithy wrote: Hey Darren

What were your impressions after your farm trip? Have you, or any of the guys, tried the STAG chair by Quake Industries? Heard pretty good things about that one as well…

Also looking for a “Waldrop” chair..anyone ever hear of it? I find references to it on web and Fred Asbell used to have on his site…

Sorry for not getting back to you sooner! I don’t know anything about the STAG chair and I don’t think the Waldrop pac seat is available anymore. There is a recent thread on TradGang called something like “Huntmore vs. Waldrop” that discusses the pros and cons of each chair. I think the consensus is that you are comparing apples to oranges with those two.

Since my last post, I’ve been to my farm twice and sat in the Lil’ Huntmore for 3 to 4 hours at a time. The chair is plenty comfortable enough but I am still having issues with the way the seat hooks on. On a couple of the evenings I hunted, it was completely calm and you could hear every little sound made. It was then that I noticed a creaking sound made by the metal seat fasteners on the metal U-shackles. It wasn’t loud but it was certainly enough to get a deer’s attention with it being as still as it was. I brought this problem up to Scott Hoffman and he agreed that it was an issue. He suggested wrapping tape or fabric around the fasteners until a more permanent solution was available. That is something I plan to do before I go out hunting again.

Darren

[olddhaverstick]

in reply to: Lil Huntmore Stool – Initial Review #8257

The first chair I had; I bought, didn’t like, sent back and posted about why I didn’t like it. Scott Hoffman, the owner of Huntmore, contacted me with an offer: He would send me another chair if I agreed to use it all season and write about it. At the end of the season, I could either send it back or buy it. I chose to purchase the chair. That was 3 years ago.

With this new model, Scott contacted me and said he was sending me a chair to test out and wanted me to write about it too. Mr. Stout is correct; the chair is gratis for providing the review. For most of you, this pollutes anything else I have to say and I certainly understand. But for those few of you who actually know me, you know that I don’t pull any punches. If Scott wants an honest assessment of his product, that is what I’m gonna give him…and you.

That being said, here are some other thoughts I have about the new model after using it on a couple more hunts. I have been turkey hunting in a blind some more and I have found two things about this chair that are different than the Generation I model I have. One of them I like and the other I am not so crazy about.

First, the good thing: The smaller size chair allowed me to tuck myself back into the blind’s corner more without the chair scraping the sides of the blind. This is a big plus when hunting turkeys and it paid off on the last hunt. I shot this hen at 10 yards.

The thing I do not like: My old chair has a seat that attaches to the chassis with 3 tension straps. It can be a little cumbersome fastening the seat on in the dark but the nylon straps that go around the U-shackles are quiet and the straps can be individually adjusted to get the feel “just right”. The new chairs have a seat that fastens on with 2 metal hooks and a tension strap. These seats are easier to attach but I do not like the metal hook going around a metal U-shackle. The potential to make noise is there and the hooks will rattle a little bit when there is no tension on them (ie. carrying the assembled chair around). I think Scott should look into putting a rubber coating on the hooks to quiet them down.

I have hunted in the new model chair for a total of around 8 hours now and it still seems to be comfortable. I will be going to my farm tonight to hunt for a couple of days where I will be sitting for 4 or 5 hours at a stretch. That will test the comfort of the chair a little more.

Darren

[olddhaverstick]

in reply to: Muck Boots? #7711

I have had a pair of Woody Max Muck Boots for years and they are quite nice! They are easy to get on and off and they are very warm.

[olddhaverstick]

in reply to: The Huntmore 360 Stool – An End-Of-Season Review #19854

Daniel,
First off, the 360 is BIG! In fact, its size was one of the things that initially turned me off because I couldn’t imagine lugging something that size around in the woods. And when I first sat down in it, I felt like I was straddling a horse because the seat felt so wide. Now that I have used my stool a bunch, I appreciate the wide back and large seat pad because they are designed to hold a fully grown human with all his cold weather gear on. And since the chair folds up compactly, you don’t notice how big it is until you put it together. The chair is comfortable mainly because it is adjustable. You can get the legs set just the way you need them and you can adjust the seat pad a little by playing with the amount of tension you have on the three attachment straps.

Scott told me that the initial design of the 360 was a pound or so lighter than the production model. However, when they went to their first equipment show, all they had were 200+ pound fellers wanting to sit on it so they decided they had better beef up the chassis. The chair is rated for 300 pounds and I had a 299.999 lb friend of mine use my stool all morning the first day of our firearms deer season. He said he was quite comfortable and he even killed a nice 8-pointer while sitting in it.

If you are a big person who wants the comfort of a nice foldout chair but the freedom of movement you get from a stool, then I think you would be really happy with the Huntmore 360.

I hope this answers you questions!

Darren

[olddhaverstick]

in reply to: Backpacks #63033

I am a big fan of Eberlestock packs. They are very well built, designed with some real thought, and have a lifetime warranty. Check out the website at http://www.eberlestock.com.

Darren

[olddhaverstick]

in reply to: Huntmore 360 stool – A Review #9585

I think the biggest hangup I had over my initial purchase of the 360 was the fact that I had bought an expensive item without being able to testdrive it first. And I knew that if I tested it the way I wanted to I would never be able to return it if I wasn’t satisfied. Fortunately, Scott Hoffman made me an offer I couldn’t refuse and I have been very pleased with the stool’s performance. I am even more pleased with Scott’s customer support. Hopefully, more vendors will start selling the 360 and doing the “loaner program” like you are.

Darren

[olddhaverstick]

in reply to: Huntmore 360 stool – A Review #55269

I hunted for an entire week and spent around 8 hours a day sitting on the Huntmore 360 stool. I was quite comfortable in the stool and this was mainly due to the ability to adjust the stool’s legs such that the chair was always level or tilted slightly backwards. The large feet of the stool give it a very stable platform and I just can’t emphasize enough what a godsend those adjustable legs are for the hilly terrain I hunt in. The ability to swivel around quietly is also a big plus. It makes it very easy to get into a shooting position.
I have noticed that the chair is making some creaking sounds now that I have used it awhile but they are minimal and usually occur when I have my weight unevenly distributed among the three legs. If one leg of the stool is extended quite a bit more than the others, the creaking will occur when I swivel the chair. Again, this noise is not really loud and I can avoid it if I shift my weight when I swivel the chair. Scott Hoffman, the creator of the stool, has sent out an email to his customers with tips on how to quiet the stool down if noise is occurring. You can replace or add Teflon washers in between the U-shackles and the nylon washers. He also suggests gluing the back two washer caps to the aluminum legs.
A near catastrophe with the stool, that I narrowly avoided, happened on the first evening of my weeklong hunt. I was set up in a little depression near the base of a large sycamore tree. Since I was planning on hunting there again the next evening I just left the stool in place when I went in for the night. The next evening when I was taking the stool down, I found that some rodent had chewed two of the three straps that hold the seat in place off at the clamps. Fortunately, my dad had a bunch of the same kind of nylon webbing and I was able to sew replacement straps on. Since a replacement seat costs $35 plus shipping, I thought I would share this experience to keep some other poor soul from having his stool gnawed on. I suggested to Scott to impregnate D-Con into the straps.
Before I forget, let me take some time to talk about the customer service people get from Scott Hoffman at Huntmore. If Scott has your email address, you will get an email from him on about a weekly basis that will tell you what the company is up to and any tips he has for you to make the use of your stool a more pleasurable experience. Scott is a very personable man and he likes to share his personal life with his customers. I’ve gotten emails about some hunts he’s been on and even a venison recipe that his wife makes. He wants you to be happy with his product and he will do everything in his power to see that you are.
Okay, so it’s been around a month and a half that I’ve been hunting on the 360 stool and I can say that the only drawbacks I see to the stool are its price and its weight. However, these drawbacks are relative, and by that I mean that their importance will be different for each person. Let’s look at the price first. For some folks, $200 is just too much money to spend on almost any piece of hunting equipment. They can only afford so much and the Huntmore 360 does not fit into their budget. However, for those hunters who have more disposable income, the 360 is THE stool to buy if you want something to sit on when you hunt from the ground. Why do I think that? Because not only does it do everything it claims it can do but it also will never need to be replaced. It’s like going from a self-built wooden platform to an aluminum climber. It’s not just a stool; it’s a piece of hunting equipment. You can’t really compare it to anything else out there because there’s nothing that compares to it. Remember, I didn’t care for the 360 when I first bought one but I have since seen the error of my ways. Sure, it’s heavy; but so is a climbing treestand or a popup blind. I’ve lugged all three of these around and after a while you just don’t think about it. And the stool’s advantages, namely the adjustable legs and the quiet swivel, easily overshadow the weight issue. So I say, if you are in the market for a chair to hunt out of and you can afford the 360 then you should definitely get one.

Darren Haverstick

[olddhaverstick]

in reply to: Huntmore 360 stool – A Review #58122

As Scott Hoffman promised, he sent me another Huntmore stool for me to try out during this archery season. This stool is not a gift; it is a demo. I get to use it all season and if I like it, I can buy it from Scott. Otherwise, I send it back to him no worse for the wear. My part of this bargain is that I have to write an honest review of his product after extensively testing it out in the field.
Missouri’s archery season opened on 9/15 and I was out in the woods by 9/18 sitting on my new stool. I hunted all weekend and here are my first impressions of the Huntmore after I actually used it in hunting conditions.

PROS: I really like the silent swivel feature. It makes it very easy to get set up for a shot. On Saturday, the 19th, I had a doe and fawn come into a food plot I was hunting next to. They meandered back and forth through the plot, feeding their faces, and I found myself constantly adjusting my position to be ready if a shot presented itself. I couldn’t do that in my other chair very easily. Unfortunately, no meat was brought home that day but the stool had nothing to do with that.
The other feature that I absolutely love is the easily and infinitely adjustable legs and the wide feet. I live and hunt in the Ozarks where there isn’t a flat spot any bigger than a postage stamp. Being able to set my chair up so it’s always level and comfortable is a big plus in my book.

CONS: I’m still not crazy about the weight but I am growing used to it. One of the things Scott needs to do is print up the tips he personally gave me on carrying this stool around and ship them along with the other chair literature. I carry a pretty good sized pack to hold my ghillie suit and Scott told me to put the seat inside my pack and strap the back and stool skeleton on the outside of the pack. I did this and I didn’t have any problems with the stool getting hung on anything while I was walking around. I’m still not fond of putting together the chair each time I want to use it either, but again, I’m getting used to it. I guess it’s no different than assembling a climbing treestand each time I want to use it. Overall, the cons are not as big a deal as I first thought they would be.

I’ll update this review as things come up.

Darren Haverstick

[olddhaverstick]

in reply to: Huntmore 360 stool – A Review #26076

The stool’s inventor, Scott Hoffman, and I have been talking and I have decided to accept his offer to retest the Huntmore stool during this hunting season. Maybe I was too hasty with my judgement; maybe not. Time and experience with the product will tell. I’ll keep you posted on the results.

Darren Haverstick

[olddhaverstick]

in reply to: Huntmore 360 stool – A Review #25700

Scott,
Thank you for your thoughtful and well-done rebuttal to my review. I will try to answer some of the questions you had for me about the stool.
First of all, I was very surprised that I did not feel comfortable in the chair when I sat down in it since that is the one feature everyone seems to agree upon; it’s comfortable. Maybe it was because it was brand new and the seat was a bit stiff or maybe I just didn’t have it adjusted correctly. The thing that seemed to feel the most “wrong” was the way my legs were spread apart. Like I stated earlier, I felt like I was on horseback.
No, I did not shoot from the stool nor did I give it much of a test at all. The main reason for this was returnability. I bought the chair not directly from you (in hindsight, a bad move) and was concerned that if I did use the chair enough to really determine its fit with my hunting style and decided I didn’t want it, would I be able to return it without a big hassle? I surely didn’t want to be “stuck” with an expensive piece of equipment that I didn’t like.
Attached is a picture of the stool I currently use. It is a TravelChair Wingshooting Ultimate Slacker that goes for about $40 delivered. It folds out quickly, has adjustable legs, and weighs very little. It is comfortable enough but I have had some issues with this stool tearing out at the grommets on the seat. The chair is also becoming harder to find. Those two issues, reliability and availability, were the reasons I turned to your product.

I’m glad you liked my ground hunting piece and I will call you soon to discuss my thoughts on the Huntmore stool personally. I admit that I did not give your product a thorough testing and hope that my initial review did not lead folks to believe that I did.
I look forward to speaking with you soon.

Darren Haverstick

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