Vtbow
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Mar 21, 2018
- Messages
- 5,516
*** Buy with confidence from these guys fellas!!!! They just offered for me to return it for a full refund--Talk about excellent customer service!!! ***
I have spent a couple hours with the CGM Sidewinder saddle and here is what I have found.
-Construction is top notch, everything looks great
-There are a ton of extra loops(to rappel, backups, etc) which could be a positive or negative depending on how people look at it, I knew they were there going into it, so it was neat to seem them and such
-Linemans loops are a perfect size in my opinion, much better than my original kestrel
-Amsteel belt: This is such a great idea. It took me a bit of getting used to, and at first it kept releasing prematurely. I tied a rubber band around the release end to hold it parallel to the belt section and now it works great. Super slick setup, and sits just above my waist line excellent (they've since added castration bands to keep that tail end in-line and solve that problem from what I understand)
-leg loops--I love that these can be easily removed without modding the saddle. Like I said before, I wish I could remove them without losing the ability to clip the bottom section to the top section. It was a little awkward having to re adjust them after wearing them in "belt" mode then dropping the bottom section., but just something to get used to
-Molle: good number of loops, and sewn with just the right amount of tautness to be easily used, but secure.
-Bridge: as most know, I'm not a huge Amsteel fan. That said, I didn't mod it and left it all as is. Everything seems to function quite well, and performs as it should. The diameter of the bridge is a little small to my liking(not because of trust, but lack of friction, it almost slides too easily for me). Personally, I don't love all the extra pieces on the bridge and the hanging ends. I would prefer and 24" bridge tied in on one side, with a biner on the other--again, probably personal preference.
-Shape: So here I'm having a little trouble. No matter where I set my tether height I feel like it wants to slip up my back. I'm a 34" waist-ish, but have zero A$$. The mesh stretched nice, and tried to grip, but just didn't give my lack of shape enough cup to hold me. At first I thought maybe the size was a little small, but I compared it to my size 2 kestrel and material amount is pretty darn close to the same, the shape is just built into the kestrel. When I added some more layers of clothing, it was actually worse. I think lifters underneath the back of the leg like on the kestrel might really help on the diamondback to change the shape and force the saddle to curve a little more, I'm not sure how well it would work with the mesh, but Aerohunter had them on the kite I believe.
Overall its a really well thought out design, extremely well made, packed with features and a KILLER price point. I bet if I didn't already have a ton of baked-in setup memory(height of tether, length of bridge, etc) I would probably be able to fumble through everything and find a setup that keeps it where I want it to be on my A$$. But, I already have those preferences, especially when shooting a trad bow and I'd be afraid to adjust them too much and throw off how I shoot. Currently I can shoot with my HC MINI, hc full size, recurve, or compound without adjusting my setup(with my kestrel) at all, which I really like. Also it seems that if you were a platform user with a little more weight on your feet the Sidewinder would perform better(even for me)... but I'm a ROS guy and tend to have more of a "Sit" position, even thought not full sit.
I have spent a couple hours with the CGM Sidewinder saddle and here is what I have found.
-Construction is top notch, everything looks great
-There are a ton of extra loops(to rappel, backups, etc) which could be a positive or negative depending on how people look at it, I knew they were there going into it, so it was neat to seem them and such
-Linemans loops are a perfect size in my opinion, much better than my original kestrel
-Amsteel belt: This is such a great idea. It took me a bit of getting used to, and at first it kept releasing prematurely. I tied a rubber band around the release end to hold it parallel to the belt section and now it works great. Super slick setup, and sits just above my waist line excellent (they've since added castration bands to keep that tail end in-line and solve that problem from what I understand)
-leg loops--I love that these can be easily removed without modding the saddle. Like I said before, I wish I could remove them without losing the ability to clip the bottom section to the top section. It was a little awkward having to re adjust them after wearing them in "belt" mode then dropping the bottom section., but just something to get used to
-Molle: good number of loops, and sewn with just the right amount of tautness to be easily used, but secure.
-Bridge: as most know, I'm not a huge Amsteel fan. That said, I didn't mod it and left it all as is. Everything seems to function quite well, and performs as it should. The diameter of the bridge is a little small to my liking(not because of trust, but lack of friction, it almost slides too easily for me). Personally, I don't love all the extra pieces on the bridge and the hanging ends. I would prefer and 24" bridge tied in on one side, with a biner on the other--again, probably personal preference.
-Shape: So here I'm having a little trouble. No matter where I set my tether height I feel like it wants to slip up my back. I'm a 34" waist-ish, but have zero A$$. The mesh stretched nice, and tried to grip, but just didn't give my lack of shape enough cup to hold me. At first I thought maybe the size was a little small, but I compared it to my size 2 kestrel and material amount is pretty darn close to the same, the shape is just built into the kestrel. When I added some more layers of clothing, it was actually worse. I think lifters underneath the back of the leg like on the kestrel might really help on the diamondback to change the shape and force the saddle to curve a little more, I'm not sure how well it would work with the mesh, but Aerohunter had them on the kite I believe.
Overall its a really well thought out design, extremely well made, packed with features and a KILLER price point. I bet if I didn't already have a ton of baked-in setup memory(height of tether, length of bridge, etc) I would probably be able to fumble through everything and find a setup that keeps it where I want it to be on my A$$. But, I already have those preferences, especially when shooting a trad bow and I'd be afraid to adjust them too much and throw off how I shoot. Currently I can shoot with my HC MINI, hc full size, recurve, or compound without adjusting my setup(with my kestrel) at all, which I really like. Also it seems that if you were a platform user with a little more weight on your feet the Sidewinder would perform better(even for me)... but I'm a ROS guy and tend to have more of a "Sit" position, even thought not full sit.
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