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What's going on at AeroHunter?

elk yinzer said:
Pretty sure their arborist saddles are only sold through retailers now. The New Tribe website directs to Monkey Beaver, not sure if it is related to them in ownership or partnership, I have no idea. Honestly I can't imagine the hunting market was all that profitable and we are the biggest whiners.

The Flex was a really, really good saddle that hit all the right notes for the broadest part of the market. People whined because an immaterial facade fabric coating was rubbing off, so they ruined that design by making it double the fabric. Then the Shrike design was deeply flawed overcomplication and the Revo is a niche of a niche of a niche design. I don't think internally they really knew a lot about the SH market and I think they had some questionable advisors on the design side.
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Serious question. How did AE ruin the flex by making the doubling the fabric?
 
They put a rubber coating inside the first Gen flex to make it grip to stop it from ridding up. Bad idea it stopped air flow through the saddle. A swamp ass generator that peeled off. Then they had issues with the fabric tearing. It was also a very floppy first attempt at a pleat. The beginning of their downfall was also the best thing they created…a pleat. That would be copied and perfected many times over.
 
I had one of the very first Flexes shipped, and the overall quality of that saddle compared to their previous builds was junk (major issue - seat material was fraying after just a few climbs, not just the rubber coating coming off - which was not whining by us owners, just a damn poor choice on their part to put out a product that literally falls apart in your hand each use).

They were industry leaders, much like K-Mart compared to Walmart back in the day, but lost what made them leaders. It's part of the business life cycle, and very few companies have what it takes to make it truly long-term. This is actually a good thing for consumers and means the competition has surpassed them and made them irrelevant, and we have better products to buy.

As to the contant love of the Kite, I get the nostalgic feelings, but I also loved my original Bear Whitetail with ll the metal cables and pulleys, but it lost its place in the woods pretty quickly. There is nothing the Kite offers that a Lonestar, and most others, doesn't beat now!
 
Bwhana said:
I had one of the very first Flexes shipped, and the overall quality of that saddle compared to their previous builds was junk (major issue - seat material was fraying after just a few climbs, not just the rubber coating coming off - which was not whining by us owners, just a damn poor choice on their part to put out a product that literally falls apart in your hand each use).

They were industry leaders, much like K-Mart compared to Walmart back in the day, but lost what made them leaders. It's part of the business life cycle, and very few companies have what it takes to make it truly long-term. This is actually a good thing for consumers and means the competition has surpassed them and made them irrelevant, and we have better products to buy.

As to the contant love of the Kite, I get the nostalgic feelings, but I also loved my original Bear Whitetail with ll the metal cables and pulleys, but it lost its place in the woods pretty quickly. There is nothing the Kite offers that a Lonestar, and most others, doesn't beat now!
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Point taken but it’s not nostalgia for me. Granted I haven’t tried THAT many saddles but of the ones I have the Kite has been my favorite and the one I use. So yeah, I’m happy with it as is. Now the TX5 warrants consideration given the positive reviews.
 
I will take a latitude classic over the kite any day of the week.

Kite and the kestrel were great for their time and they owned the market but there has been substantial improvements with the influx of companies making saddles now. Saddles being made by people that hunt. The designer at aerohunter didn’t even hunt…lol
 
enkriss said:
I will take a latitude classic over the kite any day of the week.

Kite and the kestrel were great for their time and they owned the market but there has been substantial improvements with the influx of companies making saddles now. Saddles being made by people that hunt. The designer at aerohunter didn’t even hunt…lol
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I'll admit I have not tried all the newer saddle offerings to directly compare to my Kite experience. I went to Lattitude's site to see if that was the new Kite. That rope belt and amsteel bridge sent me packing. Maybe they're great, but I still miss my Kite. I hear you on the deigned by hunters part.

Sent from my SM-S901U using Tapatalk
 
TNSTAAFL said:
I'll admit I have not tried all the newer saddle offerings to directly compare to my Kite experience. I went to Lattitude's site to see if that was the new Kite. That rope belt and amsteel bridge sent me packing. Maybe they're great, but I still miss my Kite. I hear you on the deigned by hunters part.

Sent from my SM-S901U using Tapatalk
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Same. I'm not satisfied with any of the commercial saddle bridges. I just assume that I'm going to immediately remove theirs and put my own on.

Things I look at:
Saddle shape
Waist belt
Leg loop connections
Saddle material
Price
 
enkriss said:
I will take a latitude classic over the kite any day of the week.

Kite and the kestrel were great for their time and they owned the market but there has been substantial improvements with the influx of companies making saddles now. Saddles being made by people that hunt. The designer at aerohunter didn’t even hunt…lol
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Kestrel is hard to improve IMO. Haven’t found a current saddle I like by comparison.
That said, the Kestrel, Flex, and Kite were designed largely by Bobby Boswell who absolutely hunts, and Casey Jones at AH was the lead stitcher who brought Bobby in to really do the bulk of the design. This is how I understand it.
 
DelaWhere_Arrow said:
Kestrel is hard to improve IMO. Haven’t found a current saddle I like by comparison.
That said, the Kestrel, Flex, and Kite were designed largely by Bobby Boswell who absolutely hunts, and Casey Jones at AH was the lead stitcher who brought Bobby in to really do the bulk of the design. This is how I understand it.
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The Kestrel definitely wasn't minimalist by most people's standards, but I'm glad it was my first saddle. It was simple and the build quality helped me feel comfortable.

Sent from my SM-G975U using Tapatalk
 
DelaWhere_Arrow said:
Kestrel is hard to improve IMO. Haven’t found a current saddle I like by comparison.
That said, the Kestrel, Flex, and Kite were designed largely by Bobby Boswell who absolutely hunts, and Casey Jones at AH was the lead stitcher who brought Bobby in to really do the bulk of the design. This is how I understand it.
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Bobby was prostaff… His feedback was taken seriously and incorporated into the kestrel/kite/flex…. Then they blew him off when he gave feedback on the Merlin…. Here we are… Casey Jones knows better…
 
enkriss said:
Bobby was prostaff… His feedback was taken seriously and incorporated into the kestrel/kite/flex…. Then they blew him off when he gave feedback on the Merlin…. Here we are… Casey Jones knows better…
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I didn’t think it was CJ who gave Bobby the boot and all kinda guff. Based on my interactions with AH and Bobby on social media, there was a newer employee at AH who was flubbing with their professional relationships. I’m by no means an insider, but I did go ahead and sh!+ on AH when Bobby got blocked from their socials, and someone from their PR team did reply to me, saying that they love Bobby on a personal level despite their professional need to put a little distance between him and them, and that they had no ill will even though it was in response/right around the time the Merlin (or new flex, idr) was released and he gave them a not-so-stellar review on YT. They told me that a new employee was handling some things improperly, and that they were dealing with that employee quite properly as a result, as well as un-blocking Bobby (which they promptly did).
But I could be 100% off-center on all the real goings on.There are DEFINITELY some people on here who know the real-reals.
 
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