We used haywire for a long time. As long as you had someone who could make a good layout, it worked fine. If the person making the layout siwashed it too bad...well then it would bite into something, and if nobody caught it in time, it was more of a pain than it was worth.
Been using a Simpson winch, and 200' of 1/2 blue steel for over 20 years now. It all goes into an old backpack, tied at the bottom of the pack. Just take the winch out, tie the line around the head/neck, with a half hitch around the nose. Walk to your next tree, and winch/repeat until you get where you're going. I carry a lightweight block that I built, so I can rig a different direction if need be. Getting them out whole makes for suck a nice clean animal!
Saw some old guys years ago that used haywire and a big blue plastic barrel with an eyebolt in the middle of one side. They had quartered it all up, put it in the barrel, screwed the lid on, and skidded it up to the landing. He told us it came up, "just like a short-butt choked in the guts". (All you choker-dogs will get that reference).
