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Community Saddle (Where's Sally?)

Ok, got to spend a little time with Sally. First off I want to thank @always89y for coming up with this idea and sending her out. Great idea and fun. Wish I had thought of it as this is going to be a great addition to any man cave and a great conversation starter.

Great job on Sally, with the double stitching I would "almost" feel comfortable at height with her. (The older I get the more "I dont want to end up in a wheelchair" baby I get)

I really like how you did the linesman loops. Sewing quality is good. Straight and with good stitching. I had trouble doing that with my 4452, you have seemed to master that machine.
Interesting to me is how Sally is slightly smaller than the ones I made but there was no real comfort difference for me. Both seem comfortable. I like the mantis I have as well but it does ride up my backside on me more so than these do. @always89y you have been very helpful for the rest of us guys doing cloning and DIY projects, Thanks again. Loved my time with Sally.

P.S. to all of the 12 year old boys in us, Sally came from Beaver Island and is leaving Underwood soon.:)
 
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I'm anxiously awaiting her arrival here in NY, I'll post when she arrives.
 
Sally showed up at my doorstep yesterday so we hung out for a bit. . .

To be honest if I didn't already know that she was diy project you could have passed her off as a commercially made saddle and I wouldn't have doubted it. Very nice craftsmanship throughout, kudos @always89y!

So after easily passing my initial safety inspection and hang at ground level to warm up and get to know her, it was time to put her to work. I dressed her up with my gear just as if I was going hunting and took her to my practice platform 22' up for some real world testing. She performed flawlessly during my shooting and I found her very comfortable while leaning and sitting. She stayed in place the entire time too, I didn't have to reposition her once. I rappelled a few times and one stick climbed a couple of trees and was impressed at how comfortable the design really is. If Sally was ever orphaned I would welcome her to my home with open arms.

I have no legitimate complaints about the saddle but there are things I will change to better suit me when I get around to cloning this clone. I have little use for the comfort channels on the bridge loops. They did change the pressure on the straps a bit but the saddle is so comfortable I would never move the bridge once I found my sweet spot so I will not add them to my clone. My pet peeve is tight molle loops and unfortunately for me all of my current saddles have them too. I prefer "loose" loops that allow me to place and remove biners easily while I'm leaning or sitting. I've also grown accustomed to running two bridges on my saddles which to me makes the adjustable length bridge seem like a gimmick. I'm not one who needs infinite adjust-ability in my gear, once I find what I like it's pretty much set for life. While I was in the tree I did run into an issue with the prussic coming into contact with my tether biner stopping my rotation due to the bridge being adjusted too short. No big deal during practice time but had that happened while Mr. Big came in. . . Yeah, I like the K.I.S.S approach, short bridge for rappelling, longer for hunting and besides I'm not a fan of having to manage that excess length of tether. I'm 5'10" and 165#'s so the bridge loops were too long for me which probably accounted for the biner/prussic interference and I had the belt adjusted as small as it could go and it still wasn't tight enough to keep the saddle from slowly sliding down while walking around but it was fine while hanging. I would need to order a smaller sized Sally. . .

Overall, if I purchased this saddle sight unseen would I be happy with the product, hell yeah! It's a great saddle that's well made and has a lot of nice features, some I like and some I would change which is the nature of us saddlehunters, to modify and personalize equipment to what works best for each of us.

Thanks @always89y for giving me/us the opportunity to spend time with Sally. You did a great job with her and I look forward to your next creation!

Unless otherwise instructed, I will reach out to the next in line (rakbowhunter) and send her out by Thursday the latest.
strongside.jpgweakside.jpgstrongside 2.jpgrappel.jpg
 
Awesome and very detailed feedback. Thank you sir! Love the pics! Please be sure to make your mark on her!
 
It was my pleasure really and you deserve the in depth review, it's the least I could do! I've "tatted" her and am boxing her up now for her trip to Illinois to visit @rakbowhunter. She'll be dropped off at the post office tomorrow.

I was unable to add my location to Sally's travel map (I'm tech dumb) so maybe one of you IT gurus out there can add Poughquag NY to her list of places visited.

Thanks again @always89y!!
 
Got to enjoy Sally today here in IL. Excellent build @always89y !! I wanted to try out a phantom before I got rid of my kestrel and this gave me the perfect opportunity. I love the utilibridge and saddle didn't ride up at all. The quality is top notch. I will however be keeping my kestrel as I still found it to be more comfortable for me. Appreciate the opportunity! She will be on her way to @Blinginpse this afternoon!
 

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Got to enjoy Sally today here in IL. Excellent build @always89y !! I wanted to try out a phantom before I got rid of my kestrel and this gave me the perfect opportunity. I love the utilibridge and saddle didn't ride up at all. The quality is top notch. I will however be keeping my kestrel as I still found it to be more comfortable for me. Appreciate the opportunity! She will be on her way to @Blinginpse this afternoon!
Awesome! Be sure to make your mark on her! Where are you located, for the map?
 
Saddle has arrived today. I just got in boys. Been a long day in hayfield trying beat the rain. Ill try get in tree with it tomorrow and mail monday

Sent from my SM-G970U using Tapatalk
 
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