I agree with you 100%, but, it's not like these people just started making treestands. If that was the case then I wouldn't even consider it. But they've been making other stands for years and I've not heard one bad thing about it. I think anytime you climb in a stand you should inspect it and the straps as well as buying a new one. I am going to run this stand through a couple tests tonight, and I'll post what I found. And the company headquarters is in Iowa from what I've read.