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"Saddle" Hunting with a Rock Climbing Harness

Y

yoda4x4

Active Member
Joined
May 19, 2021
Messages
136
So I'm looking into buying a one sticking and rappelling setup and most likely using my Beast treestand for hunting, but I keep hearing that I should dump the stand for a saddle. I've got severe reservations about saddle hunting because I don't like to shoot my xbow facing the tree; I much rather be facing away and shoot while sitting on my stand. In order to one stick, at a minimum I'll need to get a rock climbing harness. So this got me thinking... From what I understand, you can fairly comfortably sit in a rock climbing harness much like you do with a saddle. Is this true? Has anyone else tried this? And what were your results? If it's fairly comfortable, I can switch between using my stand and no stand without needing an extra device. Thoughts???

David

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Pair the RCH with a Sit Drag seat, and put an extra bridge and prusik knot on your main main tether to adjust the seat comfort. DIY Sportsman had a great YouTube video on the concept a few years back. Then for minimal cost you’d have some of the feel of a saddle, with the option to drop it if you prefer to only wear the RCH in a traditional stand.

I haven’t done it myself but I don’t imagine one sticking or sitting/leaning for a long period in an RCH alone in a saddle position would be comfortable.
 
Another option is the saddle fall arrest harness combo by XOP. It’s a saddle and fall arrest stand harness all in one
 
There is a video on here for making a DIY fleece saddle. It would be paired with you RCH. That is what I have used the last couple of years and works just fine. Last year I exclusively one stick climbed and rappelled with no problems at all. I carry the fleece saddle in my pack and hook it up once I am up the tree. I would not want to hunt facing the tree in just the RCH for long periods but it would work for short hangs or positioning when hunting from a traditional stand.

Dano has the sitdrag stuff on his website at Eastern Woods Outdoors as well.
 
To try out saddle hunting for a minimal investment I think a fleece saddle and rock climbing harness is the way to go.

DIY Fleece Saddle DaveT Inspired

Well, it looks like I am not alone in getting excited for my first ever saddle (Mantis) to arrive. That said I too have decided to delve into making a fleece saddle. I watched DaveTs video and proceeded to go out and buy a couple yards of Fleece from Wally World! I bought some 1/4" Amsteel...
saddlehunter.com
 
If your current tree stand harness has linesman's loops on it you can fashion a short bridge for it that would make it possible to one stick and rappel with if you have no interest in actually hunting from a saddle. This option can also be paired with a fleece sitdrag/saddle to make a cheap starter option. A RCH is going to probably be more comfortable for climbing/positioning but I ran a HSS harness and fleece saddle for 2 seasons with no issues

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I used a rock-climbing harness as a safety system for years when using a Lone Wolf Hand Climber, but I was not putting weight in the harness. I was just hooked up to the tree. I have DRT climbed, a rope climbing method, in the same harness and it was not comfortable at all.
 
I started out with a RCH paired with a Dryad Drey. One sticking with the RCH was not comfortable at all. Do-able but not ideal. At hight, you are not going to be comfortable in it without a fleece saddle or sit drag to distribute your weight. The main pain comes from the belt part digging into your back while hanging. I have shot a deer with the Xbow from a saddle and it’s awesome. When it’s not on the bow hanger, I hold it with my trigger hand and let it lean vertically upward on the tree. Then peak out from behind the tree to shoot. Just make sure you lean out enough that the limbs won’t contact the tree when fired.
 
I have a RCH that I had cgm add lb loops and used. I wanted to see how it worked before a big investment. worked fine and I still use it on occasion
 
yoda4x4 said:
So I'm looking into buying a one sticking and rappelling setup and most likely using my Beast treestand for hunting, but I keep hearing that I should dump the stand for a saddle. I've got severe reservations about saddle hunting because I don't like to shoot my xbow facing the tree; I much rather be facing away and shoot while sitting on my stand. In order to one stick, at a minimum I'll need to get a rock climbing harness. So this got me thinking... From what I understand, you can fairly comfortably sit in a rock climbing harness much like you do with a saddle. Is this true? Has anyone else tried this? And what were your results? If it's fairly comfortable, I can switch between using my stand and no stand without needing an extra device. Thoughts???

David

Sent from my moto g(7) power using Tapatalk
Click to expand...

Be sure to get an RCH with lineman's loops. If you do it.
 
Fuse Dude said:
Be sure to get an RCH with lineman's loops. If you do it.
Click to expand...

You can also add the EWO Linesman's Belt + a battle belt. I think EWO sells the 1Tigris, but I went to the Condor because I can just velcro it around my RCH instead of having to feed anything through. Along those lines, I tied my LB out of tubular webbing, caught the descending portion of the leg loops in the linesman's loops, so everything's tied together and solid.
 
S
Iron_llama said:
You can also add the EWO Linesman's Belt + a battle belt. I think EWO sells the 1Tigris, but I went to the Condor because I can just velcro it around my RCH instead of having to feed anything through. Along those lines, I tied my LB out of tubular webbing, caught the descending portion of the leg loops in the linesman's loops, so everything's tied together and solid.
Click to expand...
Please provide pics inquiring minds want to know.

Happy weekend y'all!
 
bodark said:
can you recommend a RCH with load rated gear/lineman’s loops?
Click to expand...
Yeah I need to clarify that. When I said load rated I meant for more than gear hanging like most RCH's. I use a Metolius Safe Tech and the gear loops are rated to 4.5kn. The gear loops are not rated or meant to take a fall on but I feel safe using them for linemans use. I think the military line of Misty Mountain harnesses are built similarly but would want to verify that. The Metolius is a little bit of a pain to put on and take off but is a really comfortable harness in use both walking and climbing.
 
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Manual actually says 10kn for the gear loops. While they are certainly not designed specifically to be used for linemans rope I am not depending on them for fall restraint, only work positioning. I am always connected to my main tether/rappel rope.
 
BTaylor said:
Yeah I need to clarify that. When I said load rated I meant for more than gear hanging like most RCH's. I use a Metolius Safe Tech and the gear loops are rated to 4.5kn. The gear loops are not rated or meant to take a fall on but I feel safe using them for linemans use. I think the military line of Misty Mountain harnesses are built similarly but would want to verify that. The Metolius is a little bit of a pain to put on and take off but is a really comfortable harness in use both walking and climbing.
Click to expand...
Since the LB is in a basket configuration, there is a total of 9kN of break strength of the loops.
 
Brocky said:
Since the LB is in a basket configuration, there is a total of 9kN of break strength of the loops.
Click to expand...
This is assuming each loop ends up receiving the fall force evenly which is often rare. Thank you for pointing that out to them Brocky
 
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