I agree with both Dan and Jim about the advantages of the extended bridge set up, but one note of caution...if youre climbing on a friction hitch be sure to double check the hitch befre you go to the extended mode and pay attention to any close branches or limbs on the way up...remember in this configuration if the hitch doesn't grab you are some distance from it
and manually tending it will be pretty hard. But aside from this added attention it is a very very quuick way to ascend into the tree.