I received my kestrel a couple weeks ago and had my first real opportunity to try it out today. I had previously done a couple of brief sits at ground level, but today I started out just using a single stick on a telephone pole. I wasn't at all apprehensive or anything, but it took a few minutes to kind of "loosen up" while hanging there. Once I did, I thought it was very comfortable and got especially excited as my kids came to see what I was doing and I got to see firsthand the potential it provides for "hiding behind the tree."
After that, I grabbed 3 sticks and trekked into the woods a little ways and found a smallish oak to try replicating a hunting situation, though without a bow and only up 12' or so. The main takeaways I had from that experience were realizing how challenging the blake's hitch knot is on the lineman's belt, how valuable it'd be to have a second lineman's belt for navigating forks/branches (that idea had never occurred to me before finding this forum), and how much of a difference the belt placement has on comfort. When I first got hooked up to the tether, I had allowed the kestrel belt to rise a bit above my pant's belt and it was pretty uncomfortable. Lowering it made a huge difference. I only stayed up there maybe 15-20 minutes, but I have high expectations that the saddle will be a game changer next season.
I've now ordered a ropeman1 for the lineman's belt. I feel like I'll prefer to stick with the blake's hitch on the tether, though. I'm still not sure what I'll want to do for a platform, and I need to figure out a good system for hauling/hoisting sticks, bow, and other gear. I'm thinking a dump pouch will be a must for the tether. With the short experience today, I get the impression that most of my tinkering will be with trying to optimize my gear placement rather than doing things like adjusting the bridge length, though it sounds like that may be something I'll pay more attention to in time. For my organization, the first step I've taken is to run some webbing loops run through the molle webbing, and I'm hooking the back support and the bridge carabiner onto those- I think I saw that approach in one of Boswell's videos.
And, I'm also weighing options for getting a little higher with the sticks I have. I'm leaning toward an approach like DaveT's simple movable aider. Another thing I was thankful to have discovered via this forum was the rope mode for sticks, rather than using the cam buckles. I can tell that's going to make a huge difference on my efficiency getting up the tree.
So basically, this is largely a thank you for all the expertise and insight shared here. Hopefully I'll have something to contribute before long and great experiences to share.
After that, I grabbed 3 sticks and trekked into the woods a little ways and found a smallish oak to try replicating a hunting situation, though without a bow and only up 12' or so. The main takeaways I had from that experience were realizing how challenging the blake's hitch knot is on the lineman's belt, how valuable it'd be to have a second lineman's belt for navigating forks/branches (that idea had never occurred to me before finding this forum), and how much of a difference the belt placement has on comfort. When I first got hooked up to the tether, I had allowed the kestrel belt to rise a bit above my pant's belt and it was pretty uncomfortable. Lowering it made a huge difference. I only stayed up there maybe 15-20 minutes, but I have high expectations that the saddle will be a game changer next season.
I've now ordered a ropeman1 for the lineman's belt. I feel like I'll prefer to stick with the blake's hitch on the tether, though. I'm still not sure what I'll want to do for a platform, and I need to figure out a good system for hauling/hoisting sticks, bow, and other gear. I'm thinking a dump pouch will be a must for the tether. With the short experience today, I get the impression that most of my tinkering will be with trying to optimize my gear placement rather than doing things like adjusting the bridge length, though it sounds like that may be something I'll pay more attention to in time. For my organization, the first step I've taken is to run some webbing loops run through the molle webbing, and I'm hooking the back support and the bridge carabiner onto those- I think I saw that approach in one of Boswell's videos.
And, I'm also weighing options for getting a little higher with the sticks I have. I'm leaning toward an approach like DaveT's simple movable aider. Another thing I was thankful to have discovered via this forum was the rope mode for sticks, rather than using the cam buckles. I can tell that's going to make a huge difference on my efficiency getting up the tree.
So basically, this is largely a thank you for all the expertise and insight shared here. Hopefully I'll have something to contribute before long and great experiences to share.
