Thanks for all the good thoughts. I’m not phased in the least. I had a couple screw in steps in my pack to get me through the morning sit. This afternoon I’m sitting in a rocky bluff in a blowdown. I’ve actually got a couple brackets I can swap the broken one for. Last year when the platform itself broke they did overnight me a replacement platform, no questions asked. With this one, I’m just gonna make a repair to get through till I can find something else.
As for camming it over, I try and do it the way the manufacturer recommends. But there’s a fine line between two hard and that bracket not making contact. I find that trees that aren’t perfectly cylindrical are trickier to obtain the perfect amount of contact and tension. And really it shouldn’t be that fussy and delicate. We are attaching these things from an elevated position and often in the predawn hours.
The point about amsteel is a good one. I only went that route because the stock strap was nowhere near long enough for my needs.
Both platforms broke under minimal loading. I wasn’t applying brute force. Check out the photo below, there’s barely any material surrounding the mounting bolt.
And hey, last year the day after I broke my platform I shot a buck standing on a branch. So at this point I’m excited for tomorrow.