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DIY Saddle

cmbetke

cmbetke

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jun 20, 2019
Messages
290
Location
North Georgia
Well mine may not be as fancy as some of these other DIY jobs, but it'll do the job! This forum is a wealth of knowledge, hats off to you guys!!
I still have some more work I want to put into it, but it's pretty much done!
I did some research on stitching and load bearing and I feel mighty confident in this thing. I have been hanging around in a DIY project I made with the speedy stitcher (like 15 hours of hand stitching) and it works great. Once I finished that I found out that my girls mom has a sewing machine.............sooooo the game was on!! I had to borrow it and give it a go!!

I never machine sewed anything in my life before so I was excited to give it a go. For a rough 1st try and basically eyeing everything, I don't think it turned out too bad!
I foresee making a couple of these now that I kinda got the hang of the sewing machine. Once you have the materials, it is fairly easy...

IMG_1015.JPEGIMG_1017.JPEGIMG_1023.JPEGIMG_1027.JPEGIMG_1028.JPEG
 
fbwguy said:
Great job, practice low and make sure your comfortable and it hold up
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Thanks! Low and slow! Thats the name of the game right now. First initial hang went great but only lasted about 10 mins, on account of being summoned by the ol' lady. If only work wasn't in the way, I'd be hanging all day!
 
Made a quick little drawstring pouch. I just used some small rope as the pull cord and made a prussik on one side to create the "lock". It works pretty good! Again, it may not look as purrty, but it will do the job! Pouch can hold my 11mm linesman rope and some more if need be. I made the bottom pretty slack so it can drop down below the seam if I need to stuff more in there. I also added some lining on the inside ,which I should have done prior.IMG_1034.JPEGIMG_1032.JPEG
 
ThomasHemlock said:
Nice work! Keep us posted on the testing. I've been playing with the idea of getting a machine for a while now.
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I hung around in it for about an hour yesterday...I climbed up a down one stick several times just to see how it felt while climbing. and then just hung around for awhile. It felt way more comfortable than my first DIY made with a speedy stitcher and a old canvas bag.
Not a stretch,rip, or tear was heard. I did some "aggressive" hanging and swinging and it handled it beautifully. Funny thing was, as soon as I "got down" onto the ground I had a couple deer come into my front yard. They didn't hear/see me coming down from 6 feet up in the tree, so I reckon I was quiet enough...without really trying to be! If I would have hung for a few more minutes I could have really tested it out with real deer in view!!!
:p
Once I got my hands on a machine (my ol lady's mom's) I was on a quest to try this DIY saddle thing out!
It was pretty dang simple honestly.
Work slow and methodical and anyone could make themselves a badass DIY saddle.
 
I put together a decent little bag for my primal V-steps. This bag easily holds 8 steps. All steps have the webbing mod done. Removed cam buckle and hooks and just use the webbing and tie WE Knot.
The bag can be hooked to the side of my saddle while climbing or I can just one strap it in front of me to be able to grab another step as I climb. The bag is bottomless as some are moding their WE bags the same way. I may add a half bottom, or cross strap, just as a piece of mind to dropping a step. Nonetheless the bag does the job it was made to do!
Side note: I am really liking these primal v-steps after a bit of practice and persistence!
Strap Mod.jpg

StepBag.jpgStepBag2.jpg
 
Matki15 said:
Great job! Makes me wish I had gone the DIY route instead of just modding a sit drag
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Thanks a bunch! I went the speedy stitcher route first and it worked great to create my first "prototype" you could say. I was able to determine that I'd be into it and be worth the effort to make a nicer more commercial like saddle!
See picture below of DIY Canvas bag saddle
IMG_0942.jpeg
 
cmbetke said:
Thanks a bunch! I went the speedy stitcher route first and it worked great to create my first "prototype" you could say. I was able to determine that I'd be into it and be worth the effort to make a nicer more commercial like saddle!
See picture below of DIY Canvas bag saddle
View attachment 15490
Click to expand...
That one looks good too! And extra points for using only a speedy stitcher on that sucker. What material did you use for the realtree saddle?
 
Matki15 said:
That one looks good too! And extra points for using only a speedy stitcher on that sucker. What material did you use for the realtree saddle?
Click to expand...
It definitely took awhile!! I would say like 15 hours all together. Just killing time in the evenings.
I went to Joann Fabrics and picked up some camo fabric. https://www.joann.com/realtree-ap-jersey-camo/1237023.html#q=realtree&start=1
I know for longevity this cotton material may not last, but this will do me good until I go for another round on the DIY. I would go with 500D ripstop next round and make the whole saddle just a bit wider.
 
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