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DIY Saddle testing methods and equipment

drew13

Well-Known Member
Joined
Sep 11, 2014
Messages
1,095
Location
Maine
A lot of good-looking DIY saddles are being made these days - I've even made a couple myself. I've been racking my brain trying to come up with a good way to test a saddle at home with easily accessible/obtainable items as I don't own a tractor, forklift or other industrial equipment and I don't want to pay for TMA testing like Tethrd did!

What have you guys done to verify the strength of your DIY saddles before use? All ideas welcome....
 
Trucks and really big trees make good, although unverifiable, tests. Or two trucks.
 
The hard part is any testing will end up destroying your work. I guess you could make a prototype just for sizing and testing and then make the real one after confirming everything holds up well enough. I'd say get the biggest guy you know to tie off at ground level and then start having more people sit in his lap until it breaks!
 
Quick reminder that if you "test" gear above the working limit, you should not put it back in service. It sucks, but make multiples, destructively test the first and last. If you followed your procedures throughout, and everything tests fine, your middle run is good.
 
Kyler and DanO, you guys are spot on that testing to determine breaking strength (or close to it) will render your saddle unusable at the end of the test. Im afraid it’s not realistic though to expect people to make 3 saddles in order to get one usable one at the end. Not many people would do that.... So is there a test that verifies a minimum strength needed for safety without compromising the saddle?

One of Tethrd’s tests was a 300 pound dummy dropped 6 feet. I would certainly say that if your DIY saddle could hold the dummy up through that, then it is strong enough. But is that saddle still usable? Is it enough to visually inspect the materials and stitching? If you found no damage, would you still use it?

What if you used a dummy that was your own weight dropped 6 feet? Would that be sufficient?

Hope this doesn’t sound argumentative or pissy at all - I honestly don’t have all the answers and am looking for help and ideas...
 
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First just pulled it with f150 in 4low till tired were half buried, no damage but could play a fiddle on it. Then snatched it 4 times, maybe 1-2 ft snatches. Then it broke at the hitch ball, main box stitch was fine, few other stitches popped but just a few, and there are a crap ton more on the finished saddles, this is obviously just the seat belt, main webbing. Guess next I should test my webbing bridge. It’s tubular with a overhand bight knot. I know the knot could weaken it 40% or so. Then I’ll do a test with the bridge sewn on loops.

Anyways, unscientific but it gave me a lot of confidence in hanging in what I built
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@drew13. The problem with an uncontrolled test like that is that, well, it’s uncontrolled. You don’t know the amount of force being applied. Sure, you could do some math and get a guestimation, but there are a lot of variables to account for. If you run that same test a second time will it lead to failure in one of the components. Are you willing to take a chance at a fall knowing the only thing keeping you up has already been subjected to a test of unknown forces.

I think if a person is making a saddle with rated materials the only thing that needs to be tested is the stitching. This could be done with pieces or segments of a saddle like the lineman loops/belt connection, the stitching joining the waist belt to the buckles or the leg strap connection to the seat. The way I see it you wouldn’t have to build and destroy an entire saddle. Let’s face it, if you fell and the seat material ripped from the webbing and your butt was hanging out the bottom would you fall? There are really only a few areas of concern IMO. Mock up replicas and destroy those with minimal material/time loss and sew with confidence.


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Kyler and DanO, you guys are spot on that testing to determine breaking strength (or close to it) will render your saddle unusable at the end of the test. Im afraid it’s not realistic though to expect people to make 3 saddles in order to get one usable one at the end. Not many people would do that.... So is there a test that verifies a minimum strength needed for safety without compromising the saddle?

One of Tethrd’s tests was a 300 pound dummy dropped 6 feet. I would certainly say that if your DIY saddle could hold the dummy up through that, then it is strong enough. But is that saddle still usable? Is it enough to visually inspect the materials and stitching? If you found no damage, would you still use it?

What if you used a dummy that was your own weight dropped 6 feet? Would that be sufficient?

Hope this doesn’t sound argumentative or pissy at all - I honestly don’t have all the answers and am looking for help and ideas...

Not argumentative or pissy- you’re rightfully annoyed by having to do unnecessary work. I disagree that building three life support devices and testing two to failure is unnecessary.

If I did a test of a piece of equipment or experienced a serious fall, I’d retire the piece of equipment.

The whole point of destructive testing and really conservative math on life support is to minimize risk to an acceptable level for the folks who have to foot the bill. When you make your own, that’s you. Only you can decide what level of risk is acceptable.

My advice remains the same - if You have to ask a person on the Internet what to do, I wouldn’t be hanging in your own gear.

That’s not meant to be insulting or snarky either. I’d tell it to my own momma.
 
Kyler and DanO, you guys are spot on that testing to determine breaking strength (or close to it) will render your saddle unusable at the end of the test. Im afraid it’s not realistic though to expect people to make 3 saddles in order to get one usable one at the end. Not many people would do that.... So is there a test that verifies a minimum strength needed for safety without compromising the saddle?

One of Tethrd’s tests was a 300 pound dummy dropped 6 feet. I would certainly say that if your DIY saddle could hold the dummy up through that, then it is strong enough. But is that saddle still usable? Is it enough to visually inspect the materials and stitching? If you found no damage, would you still use it?

What if you used a dummy that was your own weight dropped 6 feet? Would that be sufficient?

Hope this doesn’t sound argumentative or pissy at all - I honestly don’t have all the answers and am looking for help and ideas...

As far as a watered down test to confirm strength and then put back in service - I look at it this way - I would never hang in a saddle I built that I need to test halfway to be confident in. I would just hang in it without testing. How would I get that confidence? I’d destructively test one, then follow the same procedure to build another.
 
@drew13. The problem with an uncontrolled test like that is that, well, it’s uncontrolled. You don’t know the amount of force being applied. Sure, you could do some math and get a guestimation, but there are a lot of variables to account for. If you run that same test a second time will it lead to failure in one of the components. Are you willing to take a chance at a fall knowing the only thing keeping you up has already been subjected to a test of unknown forces.

I think if a person is making a saddle with rated materials the only thing that needs to be tested is the stitching. This could be done with pieces or segments of a saddle like the lineman loops/belt connection, the stitching joining the waist belt to the buckles or the leg strap connection to the seat. The way I see it you wouldn’t have to build and destroy an entire saddle. Let’s face it, if you fell and the seat material ripped from the webbing and your butt was hanging out the bottom would you fall? There are really only a few areas of concern IMO. Mock up replicas and destroy those with minimal material/time loss and sew with confidence.


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I like your thinking with this in that sewing up some webbing connections in the same way as you would do the key connection points would save a lot of effort for something you are going to destroy. Now... any ideas on how to test the strength of it in a controlled and measurable manner?

As you and others have said, snatching it with a truck and a tree MIGHT give you an IDEA but not a measurement. Doing that with a big game scale in the middle would just break the scale as I’m assuming (hoping) that you would surpass the 300 lb weight limit of one of those scales.

In trying to think about a drop test with 300 lbs (that’s what the TMA test used), I was thinking that a container that you lifted by the strap to be tested and then filled with water from a hose might be the easiest way to get 300 lbs up off the ground - that would require 36 gallons of water. I am drawing a blank on what kind of container(s) to use though - any ideas? Regular bucket handles would just break... Needs to be sturdy and have a single attachment point.

Keep in mind, my hope is to come up with some ideas for testing all the DIY saddles and straps that people are sewing up and trusting their lives to. All ideas welcome.
 
I like your thinking with this in that sewing up some webbing connections in the same way as you would do the key connection points would save a lot of effort for something you are going to destroy. Now... any ideas on how to test the strength of it in a controlled and measurable manner?

As you and others have said, snatching it with a truck and a tree MIGHT give you an IDEA but not a measurement. Doing that with a big game scale in the middle would just break the scale as I’m assuming (hoping) that you would surpass the 300 lb weight limit of one of those scales.

In trying to think about a drop test with 300 lbs (that’s what the TMA test used), I was thinking that a container that you lifted by the strap to be tested and then filled with water from a hose might be the easiest way to get 300 lbs up off the ground - that would require 36 gallons of water. I am drawing a blank on what kind of container(s) to use though - any ideas? Regular bucket handles would just break... Needs to be sturdy and have a single attachment point.

Keep in mind, my hope is to come up with some ideas for testing all the DIY saddles and straps that people are sewing up and trusting their lives to. All ideas welcome.
I was thinking plastic 55 gallon drum for the largest hunters. Maybe a 30 gallon for smaller testing. Strap that baby in the saddle hanging from a tree and start filling.:)
 
when we test gear at work we would always go 2- 1/2 times heaver than what we want it rated for a basic load test but in this type of scenario you really want to know how it reacts to a fall so really it will be a one time deal, hang your weights in the saddle and use a a tether as it should be but with a secondary tether to release to drop test and see how it fairs if your that concerned, any good stitching with the right thread and materials will hold up to general use, it will be in a fall situation you need to know everything is ok,regards wayne
 
I have built five different models over the last few years and I tested by using a climbing harness under it and letting the slack out on the climbing harness where there was no pressure on it. I got one foot off the ground and tried to the best of my ability to fall and break stitching. I added as much weight to myself as possible with weights off of my weightbench. If the saddle failed the harness would catch me and I had some family members standing by just in case. I used a RC harness the first season underneath my saddle until I felt comfortable without it. To each his own. I feel much safer in my DIY harness than I ever did in commercial tree stands. I check my stitching everday before I go hunting just in case to see if anything is fraying or coming loose or if a mouse got a hold of it. You never know.
 
I feel good about the integrity of my saddle build. If anyone has doubts I’d say just take a page from the sit drag book and wear a rock harness. I know it’s a bit uncomfortable but if it saves you from falling to the ground it’s more than worth it. I don’t remember where I read it but here’s a pretty simple equation for how much stitch length is needed per pound. I just used that equation and and went over kill. Also I agree with using segments to test the load bearing components in mock ups. I. E. You could sew a continuous loop with the same stitch that you spliced your bridge loops with and test that. Of course there’s still the question of what’s a good way for a controlled test.
 
A lot of good-looking DIY saddles are being made these days - I've even made a couple myself. I've been racking my brain trying to come up with a good way to test a saddle at home with easily accessible/obtainable items as I don't own a tractor, forklift or other industrial equipment and I don't want to pay for TMA testing like Tethrd did!

What have you guys done to verify the strength of your DIY saddles before use? All ideas welcome....
I test my saddles off of the bedpost of my bed.
 
In doing my own research in preparation for amassing the materials and machine needed to begin making my own diy saddles I came across this youtube video on how to mathematically calculate the strength of your stitch. I'm not saying this is all you need to go by as there are other factors such as material quality and craftsmanship but at the least you'll have a minimum parameter to guide you.
 
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