My review....
First "use".... I just tried mine about a foot off of ground level and right away found the top batwing pulling away from the tree once I set weight on the platform. The batwing is realitevely flat so for smaller diameter trees there seems to be less contact on the trunk... perhaps not a good thing. (I am comparing it to the LW feet on LW sticks which have a more substantial step from the tree) After experiencing the batwing pull off, I re-tightened the strap and SLID THE WHOLE PLATFORM DOWN THE TREE a bit before caming... that solved the problem and it is rock solid. G2 posted a Youtube video on this earlier today and it helped me. I am very impressed.
Also impressed that I got it so quickly. Here above the border, travel is slowed as dog sleds do not work well without snow and border agents usually inspect and confiscate things they might want to give as Xmas gifts.. I guess none of them are saddle hunters, and the dogs got wheels on their sleds.
The platform and post casting both look great and I see no issues like others have described with insufficient aluminum or warping. When standing on the platform at 230lbs, it feels great. There is some bounce when I stand on the edge at the batwing, but I usually do not stand on the edge. All in all, I feel far more safe on this then on my previous XOP/Ernie platform. While the Ernie mod is great, I never really trusted the XOP little tabs that the strap attached too even when looped over the platform itself. The front of the predator is a bit smooth and may be problematic with rubber boots, wetness, mud and or snow on it. I would have liked some traction built into it like the LW stand surface. I may use some paracord along the front after painting the platform, to give some traction and reduce any potential metal to metal noise. At present this is not an issue as the junction bolt between the platform and the post is tight... there is no chance the platform would "fall" and hit the post. Added weight of some paracord would not be an issue for me as the thing is so light anyway.
I do not think the strap material weight is as heavy as the LW straps... this could be improved upon as with just a few sets trying the new platform, I see wear on the strap. I may use my trusty LW straps.
I cannot wait to use this for hunting. It is an outstanding improvement and should propel saddle hunting forward.
Tom