4×4 Deer Stand Brackets with Powder Coating Steel – Multi-Purpose Compound Angle Brackets for Outdoor Hunting Platforms, Box Blinds, Deer Stands, Tree Houses, and Shooting Shacks – Set of 4

These steel brackets really take out a lot of the hardest part of creating an elevated wooden platform.  They speed up the process, and also help assure a stronger, safer, connection between the supports and the most basic part of the upper platform, the floor.  They also set consistent angles between the pieces, and a wider more stable base.  I’m going to use them to build a “treehouse” in a small patch of bamboo for the grandkids.Depending on the size of your project, you could even construct the platform, lay it sideways on the ground, and then insert the legs and raise it up into position. The brackets set the proper support angles, so all you have to do is attach your chosen wooden 4×4’s and two-by’s with the included heavy lag screws. A four leg assembly uses 48 fasteners, and 50 were included in the kit I got.  At first, I thought maybe some should be longer, but since the legs essentially go into metal sockets, there’s little chance of there being much force trying to pull them loose.  If you do happen to worry about that, you could substitute longer screws into the two opposing sides of each fitting  that have two holes each.  These holes are drilled so they’re not directly opposite, and fasteners coming from each side would bypass each other. You could install cross-bracing for extra stability against side-to-side movement if building a taller platform.Where were these when I was a kid?