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Saddle life expectancy

B

Bowtechassassin

New Member
Joined
Mar 10, 2019
Messages
30
How many years can you get out of a saddle before its good practice to replace it? Also what kind of fraying is an immediate replace? I've got a good 2 and half seasons on mine and debating replacing it to be on the safe side although showing no real wear signs. I know it's all person preference.
 
Aerohunter used to say 7 in an average season of about 30 sits per season. Figure it’s more or less depending on condition of saddle. Could be longer if it’s in good shape or shorter if it’s been wet a lot and put away wet and dirty.
 
Lot of experts on the forum. I’m not one of them. That said, I’ve never seen an auto maker have changing your seatbelts in your car in the maintenance schedule. Saddles are made and sewn with similar materials if not the same on some saddles. As with most safety gear, taking care of it to begin with and inspecting it often is the key to longevity. I can’t imagine that you can’t easily get 5 years out of one and probably 5 more if you take care of it and take care of any frays or tears in an expeditious manner. I’m sure some real experts will chime in at some point.
 
That’s an interesting question. Almost goes along with a question I’ve thought about.
How often should you replace your ropes? I have a HSS rappel rope never used it and the tag says replace after 2 years from purchase date. It’s been in the closet since I bought it 3 years ago.
 
Replace every 4 to 5 years or after any shock loading event… we all put that on the warnings as a CYA….. everything is subject to how you treat your gear. If you use ozone machines on your gear, it’s less because ozone degrades plastics. Look for abrasions tears ect… never put your saddle away wet, that will significantly shorten its life span and make it stink. Don’t leave it outside in direct sunlight for any longer than your hunt because of UV degradation. If you are good to your saddle it’ll last you a long time. I don’t suggest doing this but I know guys who have used the same saddle for 15 + years because they never shock loaded it and they take care of their gear.
 
Lazy_trucker said:
That’s an interesting question. Almost goes along with a question I’ve thought about.
How often should you replace your ropes? I have a HSS rappel rope never used it and the tag says replace after 2 years from purchase date. It’s been in the closet since I bought it 3 years ago.
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I'm not sure about rope lifespan however there's some people I consider rope experts that will likely be a long shortly @Brocky sure knows a lot about knots and the like so I'd guess they have good general rope knowledge too, among others i cant remember. I do treat them like a wear item since contact with the tree bark and the ground can work dirt/grit into it and rappelling using friction wears the sheath as well somewhat. Cost to replace a tether is like 50 bucks, a saddle is 250+, so I'd replace ropes every 3-5 years depending on use as saddles whenever I feel like trying a different one/if something happens where it gets damaged (unlikely). I plan to retire and replace my tether, lineman belt, and rapel rope this off-season, they will get demoted to general use items or backups. Likely a bit early for the rope, but I already have a second one.
 
2Sloe said:
Lot of experts on the forum. I’m not one of them. That said, I’ve never seen an auto maker have changing your seatbelts in your car in the maintenance schedule.
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I'm also not an expert. However, I feel like this isn't a fair comparison. There is very little stress put on a seatbelt at any given time. Saddles are being stressed every time you climb. Expanding on that, it would make sense that you would replace a saddle long before you would replace a seatbelt.
 
I really think it is a common sense thing. You should inspect your saddles, ropes, bridge, bridge loops, lb loops, etc. If you know you have taken care of your gear, haven't had a dynamic load event occur to it via a fall or slip or whatever and it has been used as intended, I'm not going to just ditch it because a period of time has passed.
 
I believe that Cruzr recommended that their XC be replaced after 5 years. When I bought mine I spoke to one the guys over there at Cruzr and he told me that even if you don't put a shock load on it was a good Idea to replace it due to weather factor hot/cold , sun and UV will derade the fabric and threads. Not sure if this is all true or just saddle Co. trying to sell more saddles? It does make sense though.
 
Inspect regularly, and especially the bridge most carefully. It depends how much you use and abuse it to put a number on the lifespan. Hunt really hard out of it and climb throughout the year, maybe a few years. Guy that hunts a couple weekends a year and takes care of it could probably last a lifetime.
 
Lazy_trucker said:
That’s an interesting question. Almost goes along with a question I’ve thought about.
How often should you replace your ropes? I have a HSS rappel rope never used it and the tag says replace after 2 years from purchase date. It’s been in the closet since I bought it 3 years ago.
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Classifieds :p
 
Shapeshifter said:
I believe that Cruzr recommended that their XC be replaced after 5 years. When I bought mine I spoke to one the guys over there at Cruzr and he told me that even if you don't put a shock load on it was a good Idea to replace it due to weather factor hot/cold , sun and UV will derade the fabric and threads. Not sure if this is all true or just saddle Co. trying to sell more saddles? It does make sense though.
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My CRÜZR said five years. It has three on it now. I'll probably get a new one in a couple years.
 
dorvaan said:
I'm also not an expert. However, I feel like this isn't a fair comparison. There is very little stress put on a seatbelt at any given time. Saddles are being stressed every time you climb. Expanding on that, it would make sense that you would replace a saddle long before you would replace a seatbelt.
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Fair enough. But in the absence of a dynamic fall event, IMO putting a 180lb load on a material rated for 5K also falls in the ”very little stress” category. Just my .02

Shapeshifter said:
I believe that Cruzr recommended that their XC be replaced after 5 years. When I bought mine I spoke to one the guys over there at Cruzr and he told me that even if you don't put a shock load on it was a good Idea to replace it due to weather factor hot/cold , sun and UV will derade the fabric and threads. Not sure if this is all true or just saddle Co. trying to sell more saddles? It does make sense though.
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I don’t have any inside info on how they come up with the number, but their lawyers may also influence the number of years it is considered safe for use. I have a feeling that no company is going to recommend continued use for the absolute maximum number of years they think it will actually last because they are not in control of the conditions under which it is used or the amount of abuse or neglect it is subjected to. So I’m sure there is some padding built into the recommendation. Also no company wants to be liable for a product forever so it helps to put a number on it. Those are just my personal thoughts.
 
dorvaan said:
I'm also not an expert. However, I feel like this isn't a fair comparison. There is very little stress put on a seatbelt at any given time. Saddles are being stressed every time you climb. Expanding on that, it would make sense that you would replace a saddle long before you would replace a seatbelt.
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Disagree though! There isn’t any more stress unless you shock load your saddle. I do agree the other material might wear out before the seatbelt but even that would be under extreme conditions. If you bought your saddle from a reputable company then you shouldn’t have any worries unless you had a very large shock load. All those companies stress limits are way under what they are rated because they know people don’t follow the limits!
 
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