Joined the Club - Modified Sit Drag

[Inconel710]

While I'm waiting for my Mantis, I went ahead and pieced together the beginnings of a back-up/loaner system. I still need to get a rock climbing harness, but this is enough for me to start learning on.

I did most of @g2outdoors mods - waist belt, rolled webbing loops, MOLLE webbing, and Amsteel bridge. I'm not the greatest with a sewing machine, but I can run one.

I decided on a set of Wild Edge Stepps and started practicing with them. First thing I did was put them up on a tree and leave them for a couple days. Getting them tight enough is definitely a learning curve. I'm using the tether from my treestand harness as a lineman's belt today. I've got a length of Blue Water Assaultline for my next steps. The black webbing came with the Sit Drag.

Lessons learned from today's trip:
- Plastic tri-glides do not work for Aider/Knaider. Need to find metal ones or pick a length and sew.
- Prussics do suck for adjustability. I need a Ropeman 1 for the lineman's belt at least.
- I can see why some don't bother with the RCH. A Sit Drag with waist belt works. Probably not the safest, but it works.
- More practice! Got to get those Stepps tighter and smoother/faster up the tree.

 

[g2outdoors]

Nicely done. I'm a big fan of the SD.

Sent from my Galaxy S8.

 

[Inconel710]

Thanks, Greg. My sewing is ugly, but it works.

 

[kobudo]

If you are a girth hitching that sit drag back band around the tree and hanging from it, I would not do that. I had my stitching separate on mine and it tore away from the tree and I fell about 3 feet flat on to my back. your pictures show up just a little bit fuzzy in my Tapatalk app so if I am way off base just disregard but I would hate to see somebody get hurt. Good luck this year and I will be also hanging from a Sit drag. My season starts on September 15th so I cannot wait.

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[Inconel710]

If you are a girth hitching that sit drag back band around the tree and hanging from it, I would not do that. I had my stitching separate on mine and it tore away from the tree and I fell about 3 feet flat on to my back. your pictures show up just a little bit fuzzy in my Tapatalk app so if I am way off base just disregard but I would hate to see somebody get hurt. Good luck this year and I will be also hanging from a Sit drag. My season starts on September 15th so I cannot wait.

Sent from my Moto G (5) Plus using Tapatalk

That's a good point on the back band. Glad I didn't stay up long on it.

 

[kobudo]

I just realized that I have almost exactly the same setup as you. I just have to work on setting up my aider and knaider settup. I have not built my knaider yet. I did to practice climbs with no aiders and it is much nicer climbing up four wild Edge steps than it is 10. I was a sweaty mess practicing this summer setting 10 wild Edge steps.

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[Garrett P]

Would a sit drag paired with a climbing harness be safe and comfortable. Is the sown in belt nessacary¿ lastly, does The sit drag come with the bridge and teather.

 

[Garrett P]

Nicely done. I'm a big fan of the SD.

Sent from my Galaxy S8.

Would a sit drag paired with a climbing harness be safe and comfortable. Is the sown in belt nessacary¿ lastly, does The sit drag come with the bridge and teather.

 

[tbowers]

In my practice sits I have been using my RC harness w/ the Sit Drag. I just dont trust the waist belt I sewed into the Sit Drag to prevent a fall. Seems like it would be very easy to tip to far back and fall backwards right out of it. You can hang upside down in it with no RC harness, but you have to have your legs spread out , if your legs are together it seems you would slip right thru it and down you would go. Its just as comfortable with the RC harness anyway, and I just use my linemans belt as the tether to the RC harness so you dont need to worry about any addtional ropes

 

[Garrett P]

In my practice sits I have been using my RC harness w/ the Sit Drag. I just dont trust the waist belt I sewed into the Sit Drag to prevent a fall. Seems like it would be very easy to tip to far back and fall backwards right out of it. You can hang upside down in it with no RC harness, but you have to have your legs spread out , if your legs are together it seems you would slip right thru it and down you would go. Its just as comfortable with the RC harness anyway, and I just use my linemans belt as the tether to the RC harness so you dont need to worry about any addtional ropes

Thanks, does the sit drag come with a bridge and teather

 

[pesqimon]

Thanks, does the sit drag come with a bridge and teather

The SD comes with straps meant to tieit to a treeat ground level and are not suitable for hunting at height. The first thing you’d do is cut those straps off.

That is the only required alteration to the SD. then you would tie on a bridge and use some climb rated rope as a tether.

There’s a bit more to it but that is the gist.

 

[redsquirrel]

Would a sit drag paired with a climbing harness be safe and comfortable. Is the sown in belt nessacary¿ lastly, does The sit drag come with the bridge and teather.

The climbing harness would make it safe. As far as comfortable some guys can use them but I never liked the sit drag. The purpose of the sewn on belt is to hold the saddle at your waist. You don't want it to fall to your ankles when you're setting up at 20 foot up.

 

[ImThere]

In my practice sits I have been using my RC harness w/ the Sit Drag. I just dont trust the waist belt I sewed into the Sit Drag to prevent a fall. Seems like it would be very easy to tip to far back and fall backwards right out of it. You can hang upside down in it with no RC harness, but you have to have your legs spread out , if your legs are together it seems you would slip right thru it and down you would go. Its just as comfortable with the RC harness anyway, and I just use my linemans belt as the tether to the RC harness so you dont need to worry about any addtional ropes

try it at ground level. it will build your confidence

 

[IkemanTX]

I did the same mods a couple years ago and am still running the same sit drag.
My only difference was I put molle webbing strips on both sides for dump pouches.


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[IkemanTX]

Would a sit drag paired with a climbing harness be safe and comfortable. Is the sown in belt nessacary¿ lastly, does The sit drag come with the bridge and teather.

The sit drag / RC harness is absolutely safe. The sewn belt really helps you by keeping the sit drag at your hips any time there isn’t tension on it. Otherwise, it will fall down every time you have slack. I would not use the webbing that comes with the sit drag for a bridge or tether, because it isn’t designed for that. I would use climbing grade rope and carabiners with either a Prussia or Ropeman1 ascender.

In my practice sits I have been using my RC harness w/ the Sit Drag. I just dont trust the waist belt I sewed into the Sit Drag to prevent a fall. Seems like it would be very easy to tip to far back and fall backwards right out of it. You can hang upside down in it with no RC harness, but you have to have your legs spread out , if your legs are together it seems you would slip right thru it and down you would go. Its just as comfortable with the RC harness anyway, and I just use my linemans belt as the tether to the RC harness so you dont need to worry about any addtional ropes

It seems counterintuitive, but you almost can’t fall out of a sit drag. I have simulated it many times in the couple of years I hunted in mine, and have yet to come close to coming out of it. When high pressure is applied, like it would be in a fall, the fabric tightens around you. I have had 2 falls arrested by my sit drag with no RC harness. One of them, my stick wasn’t secured well on the tree thanks to a concave spot where the feet sat. The stick swung around the versa button with me on the top step. I got scuffed hands from my linesman belt slamming me up against the tree, and I got almost upside down before all my momentum was used up. Aside from bruises, I was right as rain. I did it once more on purpose (with leather gloves and heavy long sleeves) when I first started using the Ropeman1 ascender to make sure it performed as well as the Prussia I had been using. Both situations kept me safe. I personally still don’t use an RC harness, but I would recommend it to anyone new to saddlehunting. I have a weight bearing buckle on mine, which I would recommend as an absolute minimum if you do decide to run without an RC harness.


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[DaveT1963]

I hunted out of a sit drag for two years. It is a great option that really requires very minimal DIYing.

 

[Jamieross14]

What RC harness are you thinking of getting? I'm in the same boat. I was going to make something while I wait for my mantis.

 

[Inconel710]

I ordered a Mammut Ophir 3 from Amazon. It was one of the few that would fit me and had a back loop rated at 4kN. Having the rated back loop made me feel a bit more comfortable. I've got some BlueWater webbing on the way to rig the Ophir for a lineman's belt.

 

[Inconel710]

Also - kudos to Summit Hut for selling BlueWater Assault line! Now that I've got it, I like it. Twenty feet of is going to become tree tether and lineman's belt this weekend.

If only Ropeman1 prices would come back down at Amazon!

 

[tbowers]

The sit drag / RC harness is absolutely safe. The sewn belt really helps you by keeping the sit drag at your hips any time there isn’t tension on it. Otherwise, it will fall down every time you have slack. I would not use the webbing that comes with the sit drag for a bridge or tether, because it isn’t designed for that. I would use climbing grade rope and carabiners with either a Prussia or Ropeman1 ascender.


It seems counterintuitive, but you almost can’t fall out of a sit drag. I have simulated it many times in the couple of years I hunted in mine, and have yet to come close to coming out of it. When high pressure is applied, like it would be in a fall, the fabric tightens around you. I have had 2 falls arrested by my sit drag with no RC harness. One of them, my stick wasn’t secured well on the tree thanks to a concave spot where the feet sat. The stick swung around the versa button with me on the top step. I got scuffed hands from my linesman belt slamming me up against the tree, and I got almost upside down before all my momentum was used up. Aside from bruises, I was right as rain. I did it once more on purpose (with leather gloves and heavy long sleeves) when I first started using the Ropeman1 ascender to make sure it performed as well as the Prussia I had been using. Both situations kept me safe. I personally still don’t use an RC harness, but I would recommend it to anyone new to saddlehunting. I have a weight bearing buckle on mine, which I would recommend as an absolute minimum if you do decide to run without an RC harness.


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Good info. Where did you purchase the weight bearing buckle? Even with that, i would wonder if the stitching that holds in my waist belt would rip out. What did you use for sewing thread? I have hung upside down from mine at ground level, and you are right that it does tighten around you but when i put my legs together i started to slide through it a little until my waist belt prevented further slip when it hit my hips. I think if I had stronger thread to sew in the waist strap and a load bearing buckle I would feel a lot better about it.