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Expiration dates

DelaWhere_Arrow said:
Jah feel, jah totally feel. I guess what I’m asking in so many words is, what does a lot of wear look like to me vs you vs the manufacturer?
TBH I’m home with all 3 kids until 6pm, and thus I have made it y’all’s responsibility to entertain me and provide adult interaction.
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If you didnt fill all your tags, you didnt wear it enough. Best guess I got. ;)

I havent worn mine enough, that's for sure.
 
I doubt any saddle hunter is putting a saddle through what a professional arborist or lineman puts their gear through. Maybe if you just toss the saddle in the bed of your truck between uses so that it gets rained on and snowed on and gets gasoline and oil and dirt on it year-round and you have to pull it out from under the spare tire when you get ready to use it, then maybe so.
 
NMSbowhunter said:
I doubt any saddle hunter is putting a saddle through what a professional arborist or lineman puts their gear through. Maybe if you just toss the saddle in the bed of your truck between uses so that it gets rained on and snowed on and gets gasoline and oil and dirt on it year-round and you have to pull it out from under the spare tire when you get ready to use it, then maybe so.
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I totally get it. I agree. Just to keep the basketball dribbling though, what about some of the childless and/or retired rope climbers and 2TCers who spend more time hunting and hanging in their saddles than I do on the toilet?
And y’all see me posting regularly enough to know how much time that can be…
 
If you’re working for a company that provides your harness, then definitely follow the manufacturer’s recommendations, even better if they let you keep the old one.
If using and there is no governing body regulating your activies, inspect often and use common sense on wear and tears.
 
DelaWhere_Arrow said:
I totally get it. I agree. Just to keep the basketball dribbling though, what about some of the childless and/or retired rope climbers and 2TCers who spend more time hunting and hanging in their saddles than I do on the toilet?
And y’all see me posting regularly enough to know how much time that can be…
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I would say I spend a pretty good amount of time in a saddle during the season (aside from my ground hunting lately). I try to hunt 40 days per season so theoretically 80 max sits at 4 to 5 hours each. I inspect my equipment but would not throw out a perfectly good saddle that was properly stored just because the tag says it expired.
 
The flip side would be that until you near expiration you don’t need to inspect anything.

Which now I see bow mfgs are the biggest idiots!
They should jump on the expiration train.

Then you could send me your expired bows and I would shoot them at my own risk.

Merry Christmas yall!
 
DelaWhere_Arrow said:
To jump off this with a follow up question…
I’ve seen some (maybe a lot, maybe all, I dunno) of these expiration dates come with stipulations like “under heavy use” or “under normal rigors” or “if stored properly” (which in and of itself infers zero use whatsoever).
So like, how the hell do you gauge that?
How does a “saddle hunter” who hunts on average every weekend with the same hunting-purposed saddle for maybe 5 years stack up, compared to an arborist with an arb-specific saddle?
How does climbing method affect that? Sitter vs leaner? Scout climbing in off-season? Some hunt hogs all year from saddles. Number of hours and climate spent in the saddle?
I realize I’m asking a lot. I’m just looking for a general sorta lens through which to figure out what the manufacturer means by heavy use or whatever, vs what an actual end-user puts their equipment through and expects it to survive another inspection, so to speak.
Okay have fun with that mess I just produced…
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It's hard to gauge with saddle harnesses because none are built to any standard. Manufacturers can use whatever method they want and there's no requirement for testing (which is why I never ascend past 20' with mine).

The biggest thing is to examine stiching throughout AND examine the bridge area. On Arb saddles, you also would examine any rings or life safety attachment points for hairline cracks.

If you SRT with your hunting saddle, you are putting similar forces on your saddle to a tree worker (1-1.4x your body weight)

If you exceed the weight limit of your saddle, you will put excess strain on it. These warnings are not just their lawyers protecting them.

If you shock load any saddle, it should be retired. Exposure to chemicals etc etc

People like to say don't listen to the manufacturer. In work at height, these manufacturers perform extensive testing and have a good idea when strength losses or failures occur. That being said, they do leave a safety margin in place.
 
TreeRecon said:
It's hard to gauge with saddle harnesses because none are built to any standard. Manufacturers can use whatever method they want and there's no requirement for testing (which is why I never ascend past 20' with mine).

The biggest thing is to examine stiching throughout AND examine the bridge area. On Arb saddles, you also would examine any rings or life safety attachment points for hairline cracks.

If you SRT with your hunting saddle, you are putting similar forces on your saddle to a tree worker (1-1.4x your body weight)

If you exceed the weight limit of your saddle, you will put excess strain on it. These warnings are not just their lawyers protecting them.

If you shock load any saddle, it should be retired. Exposure to chemicals etc etc

People like to say don't listen to the manufacturer. In work at height, these manufacturers perform extensive testing and have a good idea when strength losses or failures occur. That being said, they do leave a safety margin in place.
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Why 20 feet?
 
Arbitrary number really, but it's basically 3 moves onesticking. Obviously your chances of survival are higher, the lower you are when you fall

BTW: You're MUCH more likely to get hurt from tree/branch failure, than you are saddle failure.
 
Following. I posted on another thread that I purchased a new 4-pack of Beast sticks that arrived this past Monday. The cam buck;e straps have a white sewn tab to record the date of first use. I'm going to Amsteel daisy chains instead of the cam straps, but can see how a strap might effect the interity of a stick attachment.....especially if left out in the woods on a pre-hunt setup. But my saddle lives in a duffle bag at home, is transported in the same duffle and goes on just before I head into the woods. Return to the Jeep....off it comes and back into the duffle where it is stored in a heated basement until next use. I don't foresee ever leaving it in the woods or even outdoors for any length of time that it isn't ed to me. If I hunt 2-3 times a week for a three month season, it gets used less than a pro aerial worker in just a couple months of full-time application.
 
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I got to pick a safety harness few years ago at work. Per my conversations with the guys selling them the requirement was gone then. The tags use to say something like discard after put into service after xx months I think. The new ones I believe just have an inspection tag. I know in the construction world everyone stayed up to date with the requires inspections :rolleyes: . Not sure about arborist companies. Not sure about all the politics and legal stuff involved either. But heard it from the guys selling them as well. At the recent trade show I was looking at the Buckingham products. Nothing about discarding after xx amount of time. But they all do specifically call out inspect before use.
 
Bigfoot522 said:
I don’t work in arbor culture.
I work in utilities.

Google osha and ansi harness expiration dates. None
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correct but if you follow up with qualified personnel training, follow all manufacturer’s recommendations for use and replacement. Which the industry standard has traditionally been 5 years. Recreational harness users have followed that trend even though as mentioned, saddles usually aren’t used and abused as much as true work positioning harnesses are
 
Jammintree said:
@Brocky and @Fl Canopy Stalker

Do either of you guys have insight on this?
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They changed the rule in late 2016/ early 2017 however part of qualified personnel training is following manufacturer recommendations for proper use including replacement. The ansi required date was dropped but keep in mind companies are supposed to have safety men that inspect their gear and the people using it should be trained to inspect their gear before each use. At home, you are the end user and your own safety man. I tell guys this: officially follow the manufacturer’s recommendations for using and replacing your saddle; however if you are confident in your ability to inspect, store and maintain your gear properly, there are people that use the same harness for more than a decade without fail. Just understand doing so puts all liability on you if it does fail
 
Jammintree said:
Are you saying that at a professional arbor-culture company, osha no longer has an imposed lifespan on fall arrest / work positioning devices? If so can you site a few references / share some links to source material for us all to review? I’m having a hard time believing that such a long-standing protocol would be eliminated.
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:tongueclosed:
 
Jammintree said:
Are you saying that at a professional arbor-culture company, osha no longer has an imposed lifespan on fall arrest / work positioning devices? If so can you site a few references / share some links to source material for us all to review? I’m having a hard time believing that such a long-standing protocol would be eliminated.
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Better start replacing the seat belts in your car every year cuz they see far more UV damage and heat in one summer than a saddle ever will.
 
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