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metal buckles on kestrel

Nutterbuster said:
This is an excellent point. If you're new to saddles, I'd strongly recommend a season using everything stock from the factory. I'm yet to see a modified kestrel that is safer than what aerohunter provides.[/QUOTE
thanks I'm not new to saddle hunting I have been climbing trees deer hunting in early 70 there was not much safety stuff back then I just found out about saddle hunter.com thank you for your information
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Bwhana said:
Again, best practice safety says keep load bearing leg straps and buckles. Reality says the Anderson sling had none, and as far as I or anyone else can tell, no one fell from one. I made a DIY version of the sling and I am 100% confident in it with no fear of coming out. I have tested possible types of slips and cannot make it move at all, even when turning upside down.
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Believe it or not someone did fall out of a Treesuit. Got that info right from the owner. That was why that sent out an extra strap keeper so it couldn't pull back through the buckle. That was years ago and one reason why he went out of business. To this day I don't know how anyone could have fallen out of the Treesuit if use as intended.
 
Apex7 said:
Believe it or not someone did fall out of a Treesuit. Got that info right from the owner. That was why that sent out an extra strap keeper so it couldn't pull back through the buckle. That was years ago and one reason why he went out of business. To this day I don't know how anyone could have fallen out of the Treesuit if use as intended.
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Years ago I was doing a tree stand safety demo for the NWTF and I was in a Treesuit for one part of it. I tried every way a guy could to fall out of it and couldn’t as part of the demonstration.

I am not against modifications of hunting equipment at all. But some of the stuff I read that guys are doing to save a couple ounces makes me scratch my head.
 
I like the buckles on my Kestrel. I hated the G-Hooks on my Mantis. They would constantly pop off. I started using hair ties to keep them hooked but that was a bit of a pain in the dark. The new Tethrd hooks look promising but I still prefer the buckles. They are not coming undone unless I want them to. Even if the buckles were an upcharge I would gladly pay it. Some things are just not worth skimping on.
 
I ordered my kite and paid extra for the raptor buckles. Once I received I was not happy with them. Not due to weight but the noise. Always rattling and hitting against each other. I replaced waist buckle with plastic buckle and g hooks on legs straps. Very happy now.
 
Personally, I like the metal buckles on my Kestrel. Never had an issue with noise and I like the security.

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I just got my Kite a couple weeks ago with Raptor buckles. Glad I did the upgrade. I ended up cutting pieces of stealth strips to silence the buckle - it's worked great to kill the sound, but still leave them functional.
 
forkhorn83 said:
I just got my Kite a couple weeks ago with Raptor buckles. Glad I did the upgrade. I ended up cutting pieces of stealth strips to silence the buckle - it's worked great to kill the sound, but still leave them functional.
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If I would get the Kite I would have gotten the upgrade too. I like the buckles on the Kestrel never did anything to quite them.
 
If used and adjusted correctly, the leg straps should keep your saddle in place so that the belt and main structure of the saddle catches you in the event of a fall.

Think about it where do you want that pressure? On a wide strap across your butt or a skinny strap across your jewels?

I won't even get into how you should never actually "fall" when correctly using a saddle. That's another topic all together.

The t-hooks on the Mantis are admittedly not fall rated, but we have proven in lab testing that they don't need to be. This 300# steel goliath is a a bad mamma jamma..... and after several drop tests, we saw that one of the buckles was slightly bent. It never failed but was deformed slightly.

But keep this in mind, you should always retire any piece of safety equipment after arresting even a single fall.



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