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my thoughts on the Kestrel so far

hickstick

hickstick

Well-Known Member
Joined
Nov 16, 2016
Messages
294
my thoughts on the Kestrel? well, in the 4 hours I've gotten to sit in it so far:
the good
  • comfy
  • secure
  • easy on\off
  • nice to be able to wear it from truck to stand and be ready to climb
  • both the linemans loops and bridge loops are fully open and easy to clip/tie into
  • I was comfy enough with a back strap that I could have taken a nap (even closed my eyes for a minute to see if i really could have fallen asleep.

the bad
  • none

the 'I just need time to tinker'
  • the bridge was a little long for my liking so I shortened it by tying a new figure 8 followthru and adding a stopper knot to address the excess tag end
  • the only hip pinch I got was when I lifted my feet completely off the platform and wrapped them around the trunk. as long as I kept my feet to the sides or platform side of the trunk I was fine.
  • the Molle loops are sewn VERY tight. I struggled to insert the webbing loops of my dump bag through them.
  • with the dump bag loaded with my tether, hangers, and some extra ropes...it pulled the saddle down my backside as I walked....but probably cause I didn't cinch it tight enough before leaving the truck.
  • I did not buy the back strap with the saddle...I used my strap from my sitdrag and it functioned fine...but I' going to add blakes hitches to the back strap so I can adjust the height. (and maybe add a little padding)
  • with the size of the loops and the knots on the bridge I had a shortened length to rotate the bridge through the 'biner.
  • the waist strap sits between the top of my pelvis and the trochanter of my femur with put it squarely on my leatherman on my belt which made it a bit awkward at first. my have to move the leatherman to a molle loop.
all in all....very positive!!!
 
Good feedback. The molle webbing comment is something I have consistently seen people bring up. This is an easy enough fix for Aerohunter. I also recommend adding a second row of molle webbing below the first to make the connection more secure. That's what I do on my SitDrags and it makes a big difference.
 
I agree with hicktstic.

I had my first weekend in the Kestrel also.
Being new to saddles and it has been decades since I have done any serious rock climbing I decided to go to an existing hang on stand and try the saddle above that so I could get used to it.
It took a little bit of time getting used to it, I had never used a Blakes hitch before, I ended up clipping the loop at the end of the tree tether to the carabiner also as a backup.
I thought the bridge was a little too long, so I will experiment with that.
The Blakes hitches on the tether also seemed long, I had to put the tether as high as I could reach.

One thing that I have not seen mentioned on here is selecting trees with nice branches and forks.
Both trees I used this weekend had large branches to stand on, so I never used a platform.
the 2nd tree I used I actually tied off to an overhead branch, I could face the tree, face away from the tree, or anything in between, using the limb as a platform. I will be looking for more setups like this.

I really enjoyed getting in the saddle, GREAT PRODUCT.
 
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