Climbing sticks/stand -- LW or Muddy?

[BravoKilo]

Have been going back and forth debating between a self-climber and sticks/stand and finally decided on sticks/stand. The versatility of not having to hack off branches as I go up seems nice... not to mention I'm always a bit uneasy in a self-climber.

Anyway, I'm left with the decision of going with Lone Wolf or Muddy Outdoors. Has anybody here had the opportunity to try out both systems? The Muddy system seems quiet and stupidly simple, then again LW has the reputation. Thoughts??

[jimmyp]

i had the lone wolf sticks and after using them a few time i went with the muddy sticks. the lw sticks dont have a step on both sides on the stick so you always have one leg up and cant stand level unlike the muddy sticks.

[BravoKilo]

Did you find the height difference between the two a huge issue? That's the single most common complaint I keep reading about online, though when I do the math I can't quite figure out what the problem is...

LW: 3 sticks @ 32"; for sake of discussion, 20" gap between all sticks puts you at 176" (just under 15').
MW: 4 stick @ 20"; again, same 20" gap puts you at 180"/15' even.
Spread the gap even more and the Muddy sticks come out on top... unless of course you pay the coin and get a 4-pack of the LW sticks.

Weight difference is 2.5 lbs in favor of Lone Wolf, but at the cost of uneven steps which I could see causing issues when trying to set up the stand.

Any experience with Muddy stands? Have heard the seat is great on them, though they're not as quiet as the Lone Wolf stands..?