Climbing Sticks at ATA 2025: Sub-1-Pound Carbon and Retractable Aiders Are Here

The ATA Show in January 2025 made one thing crystal clear: if you're still hauling heavy aluminum sticks up every tree, the market has officially left you behind. This year's floor was loaded with new climbing stick options that would've seemed like wishful thinking just a couple seasons ago — sub-1-pound carbon fiber, retractable aiders built right into the stick, and compact collapsed lengths that barely take up any pack space. Here's a breakdown of the most interesting new sticks that dropped at the show.

Tree Styx — The Retractable Aider Game-Changer

The buzz around Tree Styx was real. Their standard carbon fiber sticks come in at an absurd 0.98 lbs per stick with the attachment rope and aider already included — and that aider retracts right into the stick body when you're moving. The idea is that the built-in aider lets you stretch each stick placement further up the tree, so you're theoretically covering 50% more vertical distance with the same number of sticks. At 18 inches of carbon fiber step, the noise suppression is also solid. Their single-stick option clocks in at 1.1 lbs with a 12-inch step distance and a 300 lb rating. The 3-pack runs around $445, which isn't cheap — but for a hunter who's serious about going ultra-light and mobile, the math works out.

Arsenal Carbon Icon — Magnetic Stacking and a Tiny Collapsed Length

Arsenal showed up with the Carbon Icon, and it's hard not to be impressed by the collapsed length. Each stick retracts down to 12.5 inches — that's shorter than most people's forearms — which makes them genuinely easy to tuck away in a tight pack or strap to the outside without sticking out everywhere. Weight comes in just over 1 lb per stick, and the dual 10-inch steps plus magnetic stacking make for a fast, quiet setup. They were offering the 3-pack at $279, which puts them in a more accessible range than some of the other carbon options on the floor.

Latitude Outdoors Carbon SS — Quiet, Flush, and Aerospace-Grade

Latitude Outdoors isn't a brand that makes a lot of noise, but their Carbon SS sticks consistently show up in serious mobile hunters' setups. The 2025 version uses aerospace carbon fiber technology, comes in at 1 lb per stick with an 18-inch step, and flushes stack for clean packing. The quiet operation is something Latitude hunters talk about a lot — there's nothing worse than clanging sticks when you're trying to slip into a cruising buck's living room at first light.

Trophyline Hyperlite — Magnite Material and Made in the USA

Trophyline leaned hard into their Magnite material story for 2025, claiming it's 33% lighter and 22% stronger than aluminum. Their Hyperlite Sticks come in at 17.5 oz per stick with a 16-inch step, a 300 lb capacity, and a FlatStack design that keeps the pack profile tidy. The made-in-USA angle matters to a lot of hunters in this space, and Trophyline has been consistent about keeping production domestic. Worth a look if you want a balance of lightweight and stout.

Cruzr Solution Sticks — Budget-Friendlier Aluminum Done Right

Not everybody wants to mortgage their truck for carbon fiber sticks, and Cruzr gets that. Their Solution Sticks are aircraft-grade aluminum at 1.55 lbs per stick — heavier than the carbon options, but still solid and dialed-in for a mobile rig. The grip grooves help with foot placement in cold weather when your boots feel like bricks, and the 300 lb rating is there. A 4-pack runs $379, making them one of the more approachable options on the show floor for hunters building out their first real mobile setup.

The Big Picture: Lighter, Shorter, Faster

The trend line is obvious. Every serious climbing stick manufacturer is chasing sub-1-lb per stick, collapsed lengths under 14 inches, and quieter materials that don't telegraph your setup to every deer in the zip code. The retractable aider concept (Tree Styx) is genuinely novel and worth watching — if it catches on, it changes how hunters think about stick count and tree selection entirely.

For the mobile hunter who's already got a functional setup, 2025 is a good year to upgrade one piece at a time. If you're running four sticks and they weigh 2 lbs each, cutting that in half changes the math on how far you're willing to walk on a cold morning. And in the run-and-gun game, that distance is often exactly the margin between pressure and a genuine kill tree.