As I've previously stated, I'm not a big fan of the cam buckle straps supplied with most of the current saddle platforms for attachment to the tree. The buckle feels big and bulky to me and, worse yet I always seem to clank it off the metal platform at the most inopportune times. For the last couple of years I've used an Amsteel daisy chain with my Tethrd Predator and it has worked pretty well. The only downside is that it is only incrementally adjustable so you can never really cinch it fully tight before camming.
This year I bought a couple of Out on a Limb platforms to try and because they cam more like a Wild Edge stepp, the attachment strap needs to be tight to really hold them securely to the tree. That pretty much rules out the use of a daisy chain for me on those. To that end I started looking or alternative hookup methods. I tried a whoopie sling but also had difficulty getting the tension correct on that. I ended up stumbling back across @Nutterbuster's video showing his use of a timber hitch for securing climbing steps to trees and thought I'd give that a try.
Well I've been trialing it for a couple of weeks and have been impressed with the results. When done right that hitch creates a rock solid attachment to the tree. It's worked well enough I thought I'd post a video to share it with you guys.
Remember, always safety first. If you try this, do so at low height first until you're comfortable that it works for you. And, ALWAYS be securely tethered to the tree before transitioning to any platform or ROS regardless of how its attached to the tree.
Thanks for watching and I hope this helps some of you that are struggling with the cam buckles like I have.
EDIT: I've been getting this question a lot so I'll post a general reply here. The amteel I'm using is 3/16" although I've also used 1/4" and it works as well. Length after splicing the eye on mine is about 9 feet. You need enough to pretty much encircle the bigest tree you're planning on sitting in twice. A reasonable approximation for length in feet required to get two wraps around a tree is to simply divide the tree's diameter in inches by 2, for example an 18" diameter tree will require about 9 ft of rope to go around twice.
This year I bought a couple of Out on a Limb platforms to try and because they cam more like a Wild Edge stepp, the attachment strap needs to be tight to really hold them securely to the tree. That pretty much rules out the use of a daisy chain for me on those. To that end I started looking or alternative hookup methods. I tried a whoopie sling but also had difficulty getting the tension correct on that. I ended up stumbling back across @Nutterbuster's video showing his use of a timber hitch for securing climbing steps to trees and thought I'd give that a try.
Well I've been trialing it for a couple of weeks and have been impressed with the results. When done right that hitch creates a rock solid attachment to the tree. It's worked well enough I thought I'd post a video to share it with you guys.
Remember, always safety first. If you try this, do so at low height first until you're comfortable that it works for you. And, ALWAYS be securely tethered to the tree before transitioning to any platform or ROS regardless of how its attached to the tree.
Thanks for watching and I hope this helps some of you that are struggling with the cam buckles like I have.
EDIT: I've been getting this question a lot so I'll post a general reply here. The amteel I'm using is 3/16" although I've also used 1/4" and it works as well. Length after splicing the eye on mine is about 9 feet. You need enough to pretty much encircle the bigest tree you're planning on sitting in twice. A reasonable approximation for length in feet required to get two wraps around a tree is to simply divide the tree's diameter in inches by 2, for example an 18" diameter tree will require about 9 ft of rope to go around twice.
Last edited:
