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Aerohunter Kestrel Flex - Issues

NikoTheBowHunter

NikoTheBowHunter

Well-Known Member
Joined
Dec 20, 2018
Messages
564
Location
Cottage Grove, WI
Wanted to start a thread to document the Flex coming apart. Have seen a couple other posts about them coming apart at the seems and the rubber spray coming off. I’m experiencing both and thought why not start tracking it to see where it might lead. Anyways post your Flex issues. If we have another thread for this, please close/my apologies. I’ve only climbed maybe a handful of times since receiving it. Order #4465

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Mine is doing the same with the coating,and I have 3 practice sits but haven't seen any stitching/fraying issue's yet.I have been looking . I also know that AH has turned some around really fast that have issue.
 
Have you contacted the manufacturer?

I dont have a flex I cancelled my order due to getting butt raped on duties. She is lovely and I'm sure she will take care of you.

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I was one of the first to order and get mine...I had the same issues. Rubber coating coming off and seams on the material. I contacted Debbie Hammond there at Aerohunter and they took care of me. They asked for pictures of the concerned area...provided that to them. They asked that I send it in for inspection and Sophia let Debbie know that they would replace it. Mine was replaced with the one with cordova material (same as the kestrel--non-flex) and I like it better. Contact the company as they told me that it was one of the earlier batches that went out. They will take care of you.

BTW...I was told that the safety of the flex was not compromised...but since I didn't feel safe they wanted me to have faith in their products.
 
Good idea on this thread. I was also one of the first to receive the flex. The rubber coating is just about completely gone and the seams are ripping at the front lower portion of the saddle. I posted pics in a thread I created a while back. As stated above neither of these issues affect the safety of the saddle. Just sucks that an expensive product like that is already showing issues. However aero hunters customer service is great and I imagine will help anyone who reaches out. I have also noticed if I hold it up to light I can see a bunch of micro sized holes throughout the cordura seat. I imagine after this season the seat will be pretty destroyed. I use my Yarak now but my wife has adopted the flex so it will still get used all season.
 
This is very unsettling
I have a new kestrel flex


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Well now Im kinda upset. I had one on order but got one through the classifieds (assuming it was first batch) so I contacted them asking if my order, 5309, was made with the cordura or this mysterious “cordova” everyone is talking about. My plan was to keep the order in case it was the new material and either cancel order from classifieds or sell it. Their reply back acknowledged that the rubber coating sucked (which I figured was a gimmick anyway and dont really care) but they came off like the new material, “cordova” and the fiber tearing was non existent. It could have been a lost in translation deal since I originally just emailed saying cancel. Then I emailed asking the quality questions in which the answers would influence me continuing to cancel or not. Sonia explained the material problem then asked if I wanted to still cancel. Before I could respond, I got an email from another lady saying my order was cancelled. I just thought “forget it” The first time I used it, I heard stitches popping. Im not the original owner so I might be as toast as the saddle itself.


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Its good for people to know what they are in for. I imagine a lot of folks will just say forget the wait and cancel. Thank god for fleece and 2 day shipping on RCHs. Backcountry.com is a good source btw


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So.... should we all expect this to happen to our new saddles? I ordered within first few days, so I’m assuming it’ll happen to mine. Kinda bummed about it. I finally found the “ one”. I guess we’ll see what happens. There’s always the Yarak right!
 
The rubbing off of the gimmicky coating used to hold the saddle in place WILL happen. So dont be surprised when it does and our tears only speeds up the process. I cant say for sure about the stitching coming out. Im a bigger guy so that plays a factor. “The one” will probably take years to come out. Right now we are experiencing the experimental phase of saddle manufacturing and bizarre/wonky youtube marketing in which we will continue to be subjected to excruciating wait times but since saddle brands are so few, we cant do anything but continue to purchase them. At least AH is said to have descent customer service. I chalk my experience up to them being frazzled with a thousand emails and phone calls about everyones hunting season start date.


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Aeds151 said:
The rubbing off of the gimmicky coating used to hold the saddle in place WILL happen. So dont be surprised when it does and our tears only speeds up the process. I cant say for sure about the stitching coming out. Im a bigger guy so that plays a factor. “The one” will probably take years to come out. Right now we are experiencing the experimental phase of saddle manufacturing and bizarre/wonky youtube marketing in which we will continue to be subjected to excruciating wait times but since saddle brands are so few, we cant do anything but continue to purchase them. At least AH is said to have descent customer service. I chalk my experience up to them being frazzled with a thousand emails and phone calls about everyones hunting season start date.

You’re right

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I haven’t bothered to contact AH yet as my season start date is this coming Saturday. I honestly could care less about the coating, almost wish it came without to start with. I don’t foresee the saddle defects being life threatening or having any issues with the safety of it. I’ll give AH a call here one of these days and see what they want to do. I’ll continue to document it for myself and others.
 
Aeds151 said:
The rubbing off of the gimmicky coating used to hold the saddle in place WILL happen. So dont be surprised when it does and our tears only speeds up the process. I cant say for sure about the stitching coming out. Im a bigger guy so that plays a factor. “The one” will probably take years to come out. Right now we are experiencing the experimental phase of saddle manufacturing and bizarre/wonky youtube marketing in which we will continue to be subjected to excruciating wait times but since saddle brands are so few, we cant do anything but continue to purchase them. At least AH is said to have descent customer service. I chalk my experience up to them being frazzled with a thousand emails and phone calls about everyones hunting season start date.


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I understand you're upset but give AH a chance to make things right. They have a good history of taking care of us guys.
 
This is Sophia, owner of New Tribe/Aero Hunter. We asked our printer to apply the black coating to our camo fabrics, just to tone down the white on that side of the cloth. Like you, we expected it to wear much better than it does. Fortunately, this wear is superficial and will not affect the life-safety or durability of the saddle. And the camo print on the outside of the fabric is applied in a permanent process that will last.

We also see fraying where the fabric has pulled away from the webbing at a couple of high stress points. It's good to remember that the life-safety strength of the saddle is in the webbing, not in the fabric. Because of the way the webbing reinforces the fabric overall, the fabric can fray a little but then stop. It's scruffy-looking, but this is not a weakness in the Flex saddle.

We are modifying the construction of the Flex seat to prevent this. We want our saddles to meet our high standards for the appearance of our products. But a nice appearance is our fourth goal, after we've assured that a product is safe, functional, and comfortable to use. You can safely use your scruffy Flex for years.

New Tribe/Aero Hunter is committed to holding the high ground in all we do. We stand behind our products. We encourage everyone to come to us directly when you have a concern. Thanks for your confidence in us!
 
Gibbon said:
This is Sophia, owner of New Tribe/Aero Hunter. We asked our printer to apply the black coating to our camo fabrics, just to tone down the white on that side of the cloth. Like you, we expected it to wear much better than it does. Fortunately, this wear is superficial and will not affect the life-safety or durability of the saddle. And the camo print on the outside of the fabric is applied in a permanent process that will last.

We also see fraying where the fabric has pulled away from the webbing at a couple of high stress points. It's good to remember that the life-safety strength of the saddle is in the webbing, not in the fabric. Because of the way the webbing reinforces the fabric overall, the fabric can fray a little but then stop. It's scruffy-looking, but this is not a weakness in the Flex saddle.

We are modifying the construction of the Flex seat to prevent this. We want our saddles to meet our high standards for the appearance of our products. But a nice appearance is our fourth goal, after we've assured that a product is safe, functional, and comfortable to use. You can safely use your scruffy Flex for years.

New Tribe/Aero Hunter is committed to holding the high ground in all we do. We stand behind our products. We encourage everyone to come to us directly when you have a concern. Thanks for your confidence in us!
Click to expand...

Amen!
Thanks for noticing and being willing to stand behind the product!


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Thanks for replying , the flex is my third AH saddle. Looking forward to using the crap out of it this year. My tool pouches I use for work are about the same cost if not more than the saddle and I’ve never worried about keeping them pretty. So I’m looking forward to making it scruffy! Form follows function!
 
Gibbon said:
This is Sophia, owner of New Tribe/Aero Hunter. We asked our printer to apply the black coating to our camo fabrics, just to tone down the white on that side of the cloth. Like you, we expected it to wear much better than it does. Fortunately, this wear is superficial and will not affect the life-safety or durability of the saddle. And the camo print on the outside of the fabric is applied in a permanent process that will last.

We also see fraying where the fabric has pulled away from the webbing at a couple of high stress points. It's good to remember that the life-safety strength of the saddle is in the webbing, not in the fabric. Because of the way the webbing reinforces the fabric overall, the fabric can fray a little but then stop. It's scruffy-looking, but this is not a weakness in the Flex saddle.

We are modifying the construction of the Flex seat to prevent this. We want our saddles to meet our high standards for the appearance of our products. But a nice appearance is our fourth goal, after we've assured that a product is safe, functional, and comfortable to use. You can safely use your scruffy Flex for years.

New Tribe/Aero Hunter is committed to holding the high ground in all we do. We stand behind our products. We encourage everyone to come to us directly when you have a concern. Thanks for your confidence in us!
Click to expand...
Thanks for taking the time to reply personally Sophia. I believe of us who have had interactions with Aero Hunter customer service can attest to the fact that we have had nothing but a positive experience. Thanks for providing such a positive customer experience!
 
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