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Treehopper Recon Adjustable Bridge
- Thread starter iamcorey
- Start date
^^This works pretty well.I put Amsteel bridge on mine.
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The only thing I would do differently is ... on the fixed end, make a slightly larger loop in the Amsteel and cinch it around the plate. Doing that will kinda fill up that slot a little better which will help the plate pull more evenly.
That’s a good point. The way I made it with the small fixed eye is stronger, because girth hitching derates the rope. However, I made the other side with a prussic that is girth hitched, so I contradicted my own logic. Haha.
New bridge and waist belt design? Just got this yesterday from Mark. Seems like the belt runs through the plates a certain way and the same piece of webbing is also the bridge.
Also, note molle camo pattern update...similar to multicam.
Nah...The best thing about a bungee belt is that it self adjusts as you weight, or un-weight the bridge. The sling always stays in place on your body and the individual panels also stay where you put them...no sling sag and no having to re-set where you placed the panels. That belt needs to be bungee, not webbing. I wish Mark would realize that.
New bridge and waist belt design? Just got this yesterday from Mark. Seems like the belt runs through the plates a certain way and the same piece of webbing is also the bridge.
Also, note molle camo pattern update...similar to multicam.
I agree with you completely. My only “issue” so far with this saddle is the belt—it will fall to your knees if you stand up on your platform. The bungee should fix that.
I know you have posted a lot about the bungee belt in other threads but I can’t find your video showing how you have yours setup. Any help you could provide would be greatly appreciated!
I thought it was in the videos section. Let me look around.
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That's really the only fault I could find with the Recon.
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Yeah that’s my issue as well.. Even flipping the panels , I’m still getting sag from the top one. Talked with Mark about it earlier in the week & his stance was that if you both panels up high, especially with pouches, they’ll only sag so far before being caught by the bottom. And pressure on the lineman loops/bridge will alleviate any sag in the tree— NOT..
I’m running my belt tight as possible & still sagging.. Will probably add Tom’s bungee belt, I just shouldn’t have to. That & the fiddle factor every time I pick up the saddle to put it on, has me seriously considering an alternative..
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I’m running my belt tight as possible & still sagging.. Will probably add Tom’s bungee belt, I just shouldn’t have to. That & the fiddle factor every time I pick up the saddle to put it on, has me seriously considering an alternative..
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No, the Recon does not handle ANY weight well. I use the pouch to hold my rappel rope during climbing because I wanted it accessible for emergency. Once i'm setup to hunt, I remove the pouch and attach under the quick link.
The Recon is very RAW and rudermentary with lot of fiddle factor, but because it is more comfortable than any other saddles I tried, that is my deciding factor. Other two panels like the Method, Archon, and Transformer are more rigid which reduced fiddle factor, but I'm excited to try them out at the Maryland meet up next month.
The Recon is very RAW and rudermentary with lot of fiddle factor, but because it is more comfortable than any other saddles I tried, that is my deciding factor. Other two panels like the Method, Archon, and Transformer are more rigid which reduced fiddle factor, but I'm excited to try them out at the Maryland meet up next month.
I didn’t he’d the adjustable bridge. Turns out I was trying to solve a problem I didn’t have.
As far as the sagging saddle, I’ve been using the bungee belt as well. Walking in I use a battle belt that I wear over the recon to haul my water and anything else. It comes off when I’m ready to tether in.
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As far as the sagging saddle, I’ve been using the bungee belt as well. Walking in I use a battle belt that I wear over the recon to haul my water and anything else. It comes off when I’m ready to tether in.
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I think I took the original video down because I've changed the style of yokes (the part that attaches to the plates). I started out making metal hardware yokes from "T" strapping that's used to join wood. They worked well but a lot of people, including me, thought there was a better way than having metal there...could possibly be a safety issue in the event of a fall, etc. Could the metal cut into someone's belly? I don't know, I never had a fall, but why take chances.
So I changed to a soft yokes made from the same webbing as the sling is constructed from. I sewed a slot it the back of it which holds a little piece of 3/16" dowel rod which retains the yoke in the plate. on the other end of the yoke, I melted a hole (with a wood burner) and I ran the bungee thru that. I continued using the zip ties in order to make the belt adjustable. This is working very well for me and I'm satisfied with it.
HOWEVER, @Wolnut came up with another version that I think is probably the best (and easiest) way yet.
We discuss it in this thread. Skip forward to post #8 as the belt design morphs a bit as the thread progresses....
https://saddlehunter.com/community/index.php?threads/recon-belt-mod-feedback.36523/
I confess that I have not actually installed Wolnut's belt on my Recons but I have messed around with the concept of prussics and bungees and they seem to work well together to make a bungee adjustable. These also don't really need a yoke to attach to the plates. I really need to give these a try, but I guess I just got a little complacent with what I'm using because it works for me. The Wolnut belt deserves a try.
I'm not a fan of pouches on any saddle. Pouches are pretty much a "defined purpose" item. I much prefer using a hand muff to hold stuff that I need to regularly access, like my tether, LB, and cell phone. When I'm set up at height and I'm hunting, the muff now becomes a comfortable place to put my hands. We ll know that saddles limit where we can put our hands. The basically make most of our pockets almost unusable.
A muff fixes that. I don't attach the muff to the saddle, I just run a belt thru it and around my waist. This allows me to slide the muff around to any position around my waist...around the back if I'm not needing it or around the front when that's where I need it to be. It's large enough to hold some items, but it puts no weight on the sling, and it does multi-duties. Pouches are strictly pouches... just a container to put stuff. They aren't suitable for hand placement and they are static, in a fixed position as to where they hang on the saddle/sling.
Yeah, the number one attribute of the Recon is comfort. I can't imagine that there is a better design as far as comfort is concerned. That's the reason to use the Recon. If someone's style of organizing their gear requires that they use pouches, then devise some suspenders for the sling. The LB works great for suspenders while walking but if you still want true suspenders, then get some clip-on suspenders. I modified my old Trophyline saddle with clip-ons they worked great...too bad the rest of the (original) TL saddle sucked.
I attempted to go down the 'only pouches' rabbit hole. Gave it up after a dry run of walking, climbing, and hunting with everything I would carry. I think pouches work best with single panel that have a firm belt, for the Recon it is best to play to it's strength of flexibility. Since I also decided with going with a large platform, carrying it with a small pack that carry everything I need work wells for me. I'm as mobile with 20lb (stick/platform/back/bow/etc setup as I can be.
This may be the route I go.. Going by REI later today, I may pick up some shock cord just to try out.. I got used to running my pouch’s for ropes, but may switch to just daisy chaining them on the saddle.
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Thank you for this response! I really appreciate the lengths you went to as you described your belt.
I read through that thread and it got my wheels turning a bit.
I’ll check back in once I play around with my ideas.
I just picked up a muff last winter after season for less than $10. Plan to use it very similar to how you've described, leave my pack with everything I need for post-kill back with the ATV. It is usually just a mile walk where I hunt anyway.