DIY Kestrel Clone

[POC]

Here are the 32" wide versions as well. After mocking it up it seems like it will be a little bit more comfortable for me with a 38" waist.

"Download failed"

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[JohnnyB38]

This 16 page thread of awesomeness.... Reminds me of the quote, "necessity breeds innovation". I guarantee there are guys in here who hunt private, guys who hunt the highest pressure areas in the US, and guys who will never see another hunter during a full day sit. Guys who are experts in their craft like @ckossuth and @g2outdoors alongside countless rookies in the pursuit of a nearly unanimous singular objective. The Hunt. Guys and gals in forums like this across all hunting spectrums, are the future of conservation, traditions and values that our next generations are going to be hard pressed to get in "normal" society. Just wanted to take a sec and commend everyone who is trying, sewing, thread busting, ordering the wrong sh!t, ordering the right stuff the next time, load testing (at their insurance carrier's dismay) and being able to take some harsh feedback at times. Hats off ya'll. Tighten the straps, climb the tree and nock the arrow!!!

John

 

[POC]

@ckossuth
Could you give a breakdown of how much of each material you used to make this?
I know I'd appreciate it.

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[g2outdoors]

This 16 page thread of awesomeness.... Reminds me of the quote, "necessity breeds innovation". I guarantee there are guys in here who hunt private, guys who hunt the highest pressure areas in the US, and guys who will never see another hunter during a full day sit. Guys who are experts in their craft like @ckossuth and @g2outdoors alongside countless rookies in the pursuit of a nearly unanimous singular objective. The Hunt. Guys and gals in forums like this across all hunting spectrums, are the future of conservation, traditions and values that our next generations are going to be hard pressed to get in "normal" society. Just wanted to take a sec and commend everyone who is trying, sewing, thread busting, ordering the wrong sh!t, ordering the right stuff the next time, load testing (at their insurance carrier's dismay) and being able to take some harsh feedback at times. Hats off ya'll. Tighten the straps, climb the tree and nock the arrow!!!

John

Great post

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[cmatthew80]

Wow. Just wow.

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[bigmac66]

completely enjoyed reading every page! now i want to learn to sew. question i have is, could this be done on a regular sewing machine or does it have to be heavy duty? i will probably have my daughter help with some pouches first

thanks guys for all the good info

 

[cmatthew80]

completely enjoyed reading every page! now i want to learn to sew. question i have is, could this be done on a regular sewing machine or does it have to be heavy duty? i will probably have my daughter help with some pouches first

thanks guys for all the good info

These guys are using industrial machines. Pics are early on. I do have a $100 CDN ($75 USD) Singer and it works, but reversing the stitch when multiple layers of webbing are used doesn't work, so I have to turn the item 180 degrees and sew forward. Bit of a pain, but I make it work.

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[BackSpasm]

completely enjoyed reading every page! now i want to learn to sew. question i have is, could this be done on a regular sewing machine or does it have to be heavy duty? i will probably have my daughter help with some pouches first

thanks guys for all the good info

Hey man, you should browse around this site and look at the sewing resources a bit. You need a machine that can stitch gear which means it needs to be heavy duty. Most newer home sewing machines simply aren't up to the task. There is a lot of info on the site about this stuff. I would advise searching "sewing" in the DIY forum and you can learn more than anyone can tell you in a post reply. Good luck!

 

[m.gonzalez.968]

YES!!!!!! You guys ROCK! so glad you all have made such an awesome thread. I plan to use 2 old Army multicam tops. Reading all these comments and posts really has me wanting to take the rest of the week off and just sew sew sew!!!

What do you think about using the Muddy tether strap? If it's good for a fall arrest system it should be good for saddles right?

 

[sdoyle1]

Making progress on this. Very happy so far. A little more involved than the phantom clone I did but I’d say more fun as well.

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[HeartlandOutdoorLiving]

Making progress on this. Very happy so far. A little more involved than the phantom clone I did but I’d say more fun as well.

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Looks good my friend. I made mine two years ago, so I have hunted with it for two full seasons, average about 45-60 days of hunting with it each year. I am loving this set up for the public land, I still have a couple of other tree stands for private land, but did not use either this past season at all, just my home made rig.
I will go further and say, I can appreciate the companies who make them after making two myself. The first one was a trial run, my second one I made a few mods to make it more comfortable and make it mine, but its a lot of work, and it pays off. So hats off to the guys who make them for living.
I hope you have as much fun with yours knowing you made it, makes it that much more sweeter when you are hanging in a tree and see your next harvest walking in. Keep up the great work and keep us posted on your build as well as your hunts.

 

[BackSpasm]

I also have used my clone extensively and love it. It’s a great diy set up and I just disassembled it and added comfort channels, utilibridge, and phantom style linemans to the old frame. For what it’s worth, I made one with multi panels and one with a single panel seat and, for me, it’s impossible to tell a difference in comfort. I think this is why the panels are not on any newly released saddle. They just aren’t necessary with the right fabric and the rigidity in the multiple layers negates the benefit of the cupped shape in my opinion


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[sdoyle1]

I also have used my clone extensively and love it. It’s a great diy set up and I just disassembled it and added comfort channels, utilibridge, and phantom style linemans to the old frame. For what it’s worth, I made one with multi panels and one with a single panel seat and, for me, it’s impossible to tell a difference in comfort. I think this is why the panels are not on any newly released saddle. They just aren’t necessary with the right fabric and the rigidity in the multiple layers negates the benefit of the cupped shape in my opinion


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I’m waiting on buckles to finish this. I did a phantom clone a few days ago. Looking forward to getting the buckles and comparing the comfort between the two.


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[aarmst95]

Closer look at the lineman’s loop.

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I’ve finally got started on this build thanks to all of you guys! Question on the lineman’s loops...are you just leaving a few inches past the loops on each side, tucking them under and just using bar tacks to stitch all the way down the lineman webbing?

 

[BackSpasm]

I’ve finally got started on this build thanks to all of you guys! Question on the lineman’s loops...are you just leaving a few inches past the loops on each side, tucking them under and just using bar tacks to stitch all the way down the lineman webbing?

Yes, this is essentially what I did. Thats one of the reasons I changed mine to the phantom style lineman's. Feels more secure having the same webbing configuration for my lineman's as my main bridge loops. That little loop on the old style always made me a bit nervous even though it performed flawlessly

 

[aarmst95]

Yes, this is essentially what I did. Thats one of the reasons I changed mine to the phantom style lineman's. Feels more secure having the same webbing configuration for my lineman's as my main bridge loops. That little loop on the old style always made me a bit nervous even though it performed flawlessly

Yeah that makes sense. I appreciate the info man!

 

[onestringer]

Fellas. I need some advice. @colby._attack thank you. I printed off your seat plans. Sewed them up then realized they are much bigger than a size 1, which is what I need. I measured against my real kestrel size 1. It looks like the small panels should be the same height with the larger panels a tad shorter. Then of course the overall length is shorter. Anyone have plans for a size 1 kestrel?

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[cmatthew80]

Fellas. I need some advice. @colby._attack thank you. I printed off your seat plans. Sewed them up then realized they are much bigger than a size 1, which is what I need. I measured against my real kestrel size 1. It looks like the small panels should be the same height with the larger panels a tad shorter. Then of course the overall length is shorter. Anyone have plans for a size 1 kestrel?

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Correct me if I'm wrong but the curved sides are to be sewn together to create a curve / pouch, are they not? At least that is how the original was done from what I read ( and how I did it) Otherwise you could just cut out an oval, no?

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[onestringer]

Correct me if I'm wrong but the curved sides are to be sewn together to create a curve / pouch, are they not? At least that is how the original was done from what I read ( and how I did it) Otherwise you could just cut out an oval, no?

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I guess I don’t understand. However I am very very very new to sewing.


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[sdoyle1]

I guess I don’t understand. However I am very very very new to sewing.


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Yes. The curved sides get sewn together. That makes it a more contoured shape.


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