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Can/do you walk in with your saddle?

MattMan81 said:
So far my biggest concern has been I can't walk 10 feet with my Kestrel on or it will be on the ground. So far i found if I wrap my bridge around my neck it holds it up. But not sure if I would want to walk a long ways with that. I am sure the phantom or other mesh style saddles are lighter. But is it enough?
Any pair of pants I have needs a tight belt or suspensors or they will not stay up. I have to use bibs or my pants fall down when hunting. I could go get some cosmetic surgery and have some roundness added back there. But I'm to cheap.
So is this just the nature of all saddles? I'm not convinced even the phantom would stay up. Do you guys pack them in? Or can you wear it? I have no problem packing it if am gonna be walking a long distance and then setting up. But most local spots and my primary hunting area is going to be no more than 800 yards of walking.
What's going on with you guys?
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I had a mantis last year. wore 2 pouches on it. i put it on at the truck before i walked in for the morning, and i would log 4 to 6 miles walking with it and usually a drive to a new spot without every taking it off. i had no problems with it falling down. however, saddles fit us all differently. that is both the blessing and the curse of saddle hunting. haha.
 
Walk in like this. No problem. Some have added a battle belt to a commercial saddle. I'm not going into battle so a tool belt works fine. :D
 
Gotta wear it. That way, you know when you leave the truck that everything is all set. Getting to the tree and goofing around in the dark is inviting a screw up. More chance to get busted, too...Because now it takes more time to get up the tree.
Saddles have built in suspenders. Just sling the lineman belt over your shoulder. I can walk for hours with zero sag.
 
MattMan81 said:
So far my biggest concern has been I can't walk 10 feet with my Kestrel on or it will be on the ground. So far i found if I wrap my bridge around my neck it holds it up. But not sure if I would want to walk a long ways with that. I am sure the phantom or other mesh style saddles are lighter. But is it enough?
Any pair of pants I have needs a tight belt or suspensors or they will not stay up. I have to use bibs or my pants fall down when hunting. I could go get some cosmetic surgery and have some roundness added back there. But I'm to cheap.
So is this just the nature of all saddles? I'm not convinced even the phantom would stay up. Do you guys pack them in? Or can you wear it? I have no problem packing it if am gonna be walking a long distance and then setting up. But most local spots and my primary hunting area is going to be no more than 800 yards of walking.
What's going on with you guys?
Click to expand...
Tighten up the belt on your saddle. That's never been an issue with any of my Kestrel saddles. Even with 2 pouches carrying a few things.
 
I think one of the big advantages of using a saddle is wearing it in. Leaving the pack in the truck is great. I think people tend to load them down with too much. I had that issue with my H2 saddle. Had a Trophyline pouch on the back loaded down. Also I believe leaving the leg straps unbuckled while walking in helps keep the saddle from sliding down. If nothing else, use your lineman's belt as suspenders.
 
I wear mine in, but I usually take if off and put in the pack for the way out. Never had an issue with falling down, but I wear it up higher when walking and I cinch down the belt pretty good.
 
I wear my mantis in on every hunt and don't have problems with it sagging down. I do put my linemans belt up over my shoulders though.
 
onestringer said:
I don’t want to sound mean. I think it has to do with waist size. I have a 32-33 waist. I have always walked in wearing my saddle. Saddles I have worn in are kestrel, kite, flex, mantis and H2. Always with 2 pouches full of various crap.


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same. I don’t wear a backpack so mine is loaded down. I walk for miles with no issues in my mantis.
 
Wear it in with linemans belt over the shoulder clipped to other side loop. Didn't see anyone post about having a Doyles tree hoist also attached to the saddle. I have the hoist and 2 rope pouches attached. Couldn't walk 40yds without it falling down. Linemans belt over the shoulder works every time!
 
BackSpasm said:
I just watched this.... do you have NINE carabiners on your set up? That puts batman's belt of gadgets to shame!
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You can't have too many carabiners...or slings. I took this video after a hunt so I must have had all those carabiners with me.
I had enough. :D I won't know if I'll need them until I do. I am not an ultralight freak so a few extra grams is of no consequence to me. It might ruin someones hunt although I can't imagine why.

Edit: Actually, thinking about this, I don't know why I had so many. Usually, I like to have an accessory carabiner on each side and one locking each for my ascender and descender. I was using one carabiner for a belt buckle on my climbing sling belt that day. I wouldn't walk back to the car to drop off a few carabiners if I discovered I had too many.
 
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Like others have stated, I put it on at the truck and can walk to the end of Earth and never notice I'm wearing it. And that's with two dump pouches, one containing my ros and the other with my tether. I also keep a few carabiners and my paracord pull up rope attached to the molle loops. I just tighten the belt and leg straps then tuck my bridge under the belt and off I go.
 
I just purchased the Phanton Friday and spent 2 hours walking with it on today.very impressed with how comfortable it is.
 
I got a battle belt and attached my rope pouches to it; should have done that from the get-go! No more issues!
 
I wear mine in too, but I turn it backwards so my haulers are in front of me. Kind of like wearing a fanny pack so it doesn’t sag on me. I don’t use the leg straps anyway, so it’s pretty easy.
 
I wear mine in, (Mantis). I don't hang a bunch of stuff off of it. Everything that gets attached is attached at the base of the tree.
 
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