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Dryad Saddles

colic

Member
Vendor Rep
Joined
Nov 13, 2015
Messages
61
Hey guys this is Dane, the owner. Didn't know it made it here till Joel called me up.

Theres a lot of questions here and I'll try to hit some. Feel free to call me if you want.

Lot of people talking about noise.. we went through a bunch of material looking for a quiet material and we landed on a really soft in the hand ripstop nylon. Its very high quality (we loaded these with 400 pounds of sand and dropped em 9.5 feet from the air and they never flinched). It's not noisy at all, suprisingly. It's not like the stuff you're familiar with like at, say, Hobby Lobby. If someone doubts me, I'll send em a swatch of scrape material to feel themselves. We hunted with em all last season and never scared a critter because of material noise.

Seems like guys are concerned with getting wrapped up and confused at 4 am in the morning trying to pull this thing out of the pouch. This is a valid concern and one that I can't really defend against except to say that with practice comes familiarity. You can tell which side is up and which side is down by looking at the girth hitches on the hammock (one side of grosgrain is longer than the other, and the back adjusters are located on the top as well - easy to spot). For how comfortable this thing is I would fight this thing for 30 minutes if I had to. I keep telling this to people who ask: when I can sit for 3-4 hours straight and read a book without shifting my weight -- I'll pay double for it. I told Joel when we were iterating on this thing I never had a plan to bring it to market... but it turned into something we love so I figured why not, I'll throw my hat in the ring.

That brings up the next point, cost. We priced out product pretty low actually compared to the market. We've got 3 continuous loops of amsteel (one for the main support to the d-ring, and two that girth hitch onto the hammock). The reason for the two on the hammock is so that it grabs the material and doesn't put any weight on the stitching (we verified this point when load testing). We also have two long pieces of 1/4in amsteel (one for the main support and one for the hammock bridge). I don't know if you guys have ever worked with amsteel but it's rough, slow, and expensive. But its lightweight, sleek, packs great, and is strong. Add on a BIG piece of hammock material, and a very expensive buckle... Anyway, I beg one of you guys to go make one of these by yourself and tell me how many hours it takes you. We have way more labor involved in our product and more than likely more material costs and we still are pricing our product right alongside everyone else.

Yeah, you could make one with a rock climbing hardness and fleece. But this thing allows modular parts like the loop de' loop, modular molle, and underquilts that you see on the website. Also, when we start doing different patterns of hammocks you don't have to buy anything else but the hammock if you've already invested in our system. Not to mention, when you stand up on your platform and the fabric drapes down, it hangs at your waist (we sew it to the pouch) and you can sit right back down without having to pull it back up. If you want to get close to what we've made, it'll require a lot of work and you've still got to get behind a sewing machine. And you don't get removable leg straps and a quick attach buckle.

Someone mentioned putting it away when you are at climbing height. It's not bad actually. I thought it was gonna be the achilles heal but you can slide the pouch over to your hip and tuck it in. If you hate doing that, just drape the bridge around your head/neck and climb on down and put it away at the base of the tree.

Now most importantly.. concerning my pants: my wife found those for me (she is a vintage thrifter). They are true genuine winchester vintage pants and no I'm not selling em!
 
Last edited:
Hey guys this is Dane, the owner. Didn't know it made it here till Joel called me up.

Theres a lot of questions here and I'll try to hit some. Feel free to call me if you want.

Lot of people talking about noise.. we went through a bunch of material looking for a quiet material and we landed on a really soft in the hand ripstop nylon. Its very high quality (we loaded these with 400 pounds of sand and dropped em 9.5 feet from the air and they never flinched). It's not noisy at all, suprisingly. It's not like the stuff you're familiar with like at, say, Hobby Lobby. If someone doubts me, I'll send em a swatch of scrape material to feel themselves. We hunted with em all last season and never scared a critter because of material noise.

Seems like guys are concerned with getting wrapped up and confused at 4 am in the morning trying to pull this thing out of the pouch. This is a valid concern and one that I can't really defend against except to say that with practice comes familiarity. You can tell which side is up and which side is down by looking at the girth hitches on the hammock (one side of grosgrain is longer than the other, and the back adjusters are located on the top as well - easy to spot). For how comfortable this thing is I would fight this thing for 30 minutes if I had to. I keep telling this to people who ask: when I can sit for 3-4 hours straight and read a book without shifting my weight -- I'll pay double for it. I told Joel when we were iterating on this thing I never had a plan to bring it to market... but it turned into something we love so I figured why not, I'll throw my hat in the ring.

That brings up the next point, cost. We priced out product pretty low actually compared to the market. We've got 3 continuous loops of amsteel (one for the main support to the d-ring, and two that girth hitch onto the hammock). The reason for the two on the hammock is so that it grabs the material and doesn't put any weight on the stitching (we verified this point when load testing). We also have two long pieces of 1/4in amsteel (one for the main support and one for the hammock bridge). I don't know if you guys have ever worked with amsteel but it's rough, slow, and expensive. But its lightweight, sleek, packs great, and is strong. Add on a BIG piece of hammock material, and a very expensive buckle... Anyway, I beg one of you guys to go make one of these by yourself and tell me how many hours it takes you. We have way more labor involved in our product and more than likely more material costs and we still are pricing our product right alongside everyone else.

Yeah, you could make one with a rock climbing hardness and fleece. But this thing allows modular parts like the loop de' loop, modular molle, and underquilts that you see on the website. Also, when we start doing different patterns of hammocks you don't have to buy anything else but the hammock if you've already invested in our system. Not to mention, when you stand up on your platform and the fabric drapes down, it hangs at your waist (we sew it to the pouch) and you can sit right back down without having to pull it back up. If you want to get close to what we've made, it'll require a lot of work and you've still got to get behind a sewing machine. And you don't get removable leg straps and a quick attach buckle.

Someone mentioned putting it away when you are at climbing height. It's not bad actually. I thought it was gonna be the achilles heal but you can slide the pouch over to your hip and tuck it in. If you hate doing that, just drape the bridge around your head/neck and climb on down and put it away at the base of the tree.

Now most importantly.. concerning my pants: my wife found those for me (she is a vintage thrifter). They are true genuine winchester vintage pants and no I'm not selling em!
I could hear that material every time you moved in the video.
 
For those that asked about LB loops
That's no good for me. It reminds me of a modified Anderson I acquired from @Vtbow. Everything connected front and center was much more frustrating to advance up a tree. The larger the tree got the more frustrating it became. Now I use a separate lineman's belt purchased from @DanO, swing my Andersen across my back like a gun belt until I get to climbing height when I use it. Lineman hookups definitely need to be on the hip in my humble opinion.
My other concern would be compressing insulating layers when it's cold. Anybody that's ever tried to sleep in a hammock without some sort of insulating layer on the outside knows how cold it can get. I've heard talk on the other thread about an underquilt but that just seems like more aggravation to carry(not as much for all day sits). I guess it would be a decent option for early-season as long as you didn't have a million mosquitoes that can bite through ripstop fabric straight into your back. I'm definitely keeping an eye on this cuz it has piqued my interest but still got me scratching my head a little I'll be honest.
As far as cost everything's holds different values for different people. Depending on how much Blood Sweat and Tears they have in it or how much they think it will change things for the better if they make that purchase. That's something for each person to decide. I don't think we need to rip on this guy for where he priced his product. And he obviously feels it's worth what he's selling it for. I didn't make it so who am I to argue. It's in line with most most other Saddles I'd say.
 
I could hear that material every time you moved in the video.
Those are added sound effects, actually. My video guy told me it's more to create an atmosphere if that makes sense. None of the sounds are actually original audio because he would have to rig up mics everywhere to get clean audio. That's a great criticism though maybe I'll have him cut that audio out because it's not true to the product.
 
I’m not crazy about the lineman’s belt alternative loop thing but I’m still curious to see it in use. Do you have a video climbing your sticks with it? How do you get around your sticks as you climb up? How do you get around limbs?
 
Those are added sound effects, actually. My video guy told me it's more to create an atmosphere if that makes sense. None of the sounds are actually original audio because he would have to rig up mics everywhere to get clean audio. That's a great criticism though maybe I'll have him cut that audio out because it's not true to the product.
That seems odd. My initial thought was that since you were wearing a mic it was hypersensitive to the sounds of the fabric. Lapel mics are notorious for this. You could always make a video standing say ten feet back from the saddle and recording the sound. That would give people a better idea.

That said people will always be critical of new designs, rightfully or wrongfully so. Don’t let it get under your skin! It’s hard to not be defensive of something you’ve put blood, sweat and tears into. At the end of the day you want to sell your product and guys like @Bigterp getting their hands on the gear will do a lot to highlight the benefits of your product.

I always have to tip my hat to the entrepreneurs, as an engineer the business side of things seems overwhelming to me.
 
That's no good for me. It reminds me of a modified Anderson I acquired from @Vtbow. Everything connected front and center was much more frustrating to advance up a tree. The larger the tree got the more frustrating it became. Now I use a separate lineman's belt purchased from @DanO, swing my Andersen across my back like a gun belt until I get to climbing height when I use it. Lineman hookups definitely need to be on the hip in my humble opinion.
My other concern would be compressing insulating layers when it's cold. Anybody that's ever tried to sleep in a hammock without some sort of insulating layer on the outside knows how cold it can get. I've heard talk on the other thread about an underquilt but that just seems like more aggravation to carry(not as much for all day sits). I guess it would be a decent option for early-season as long as you didn't have a million mosquitoes that can bite through ripstop fabric straight into your back. I'm definitely keeping an eye on this cuz it has piqued my interest but still got me scratching my head a little I'll be honest.
As far as cost everything's holds different values for different people. Depending on how much Blood Sweat and Tears they have in it or how much they think it will change things for the better if they make that purchase. That's something for each person to decide. I don't think we need to rip on this guy for where he priced his product. And he obviously feels it's worth what he's selling it for. I didn't make it so who am I to argue. It's in line with most most other Saddles I'd say.

Thanks for the kind words and valid critique. I will say my opinion is different but I am biased, I know. I really enjoy the front and centered attachment. The linesmans belt does not slip down even when you release load (unless you give the line slack; I mean release load by moving closer to the tree). If you view the end of the video Bigterp posted where I move back and forth, it allows you to slide around the rope without having the rope move. I told Bigterp a buried eye tethrd would allow you fully circumnavigate the tree without touching the rope. I, myself, like having the hard stop as seen in the video.
I feel better connected to the tree with it attached to the d-ring. There is less slack and movement of the rope and I feel more "centered" for lack of a better term. I can't explain it really well. It might not be for everyone, I fully admit. When going around sticks you may have to be a little slower but personally I don't feel a time difference.
There is a ton of labor involved in these things, let me tell you. Working with that silky ripstop nylon is NOT fun. There is a ton of finish work, from surging and rolling the edges on the pouch and hammock, to sewing zippers, sewing in the back adjusters and plastic buckles, the list goes on and on. Those buckles ain't cheap and that big piece of hammock isn't either! Go look at em on Austrialpins website or amazon or ebay.
 
I’m not crazy about the lineman’s belt alternative loop thing but I’m still curious to see it in use. Do you have a video climbing your sticks with it? How do you get around your sticks as you climb up? How do you get around limbs?

That seems odd. My initial thought was that since you were wearing a mic it was hypersensitive to the sounds of the fabric. Lapel mics are notorious for this. You could always make a video standing say ten feet back from the saddle and recording the sound. That would give people a better idea.

That said people will always be critical of new designs, rightfully or wrongfully so. Don’t let it get under your skin! It’s hard to not be defensive of something you’ve put blood, sweat and tears into. At the end of the day you want to sell your product and guys like @Bigterp getting their hands on the gear will do a lot to highlight the benefits of your product.

I always have to tip my hat to the entrepreneurs, as an engineer the business side of things seems overwhelming to me.

Oh man that's two guys noticed the audio! I gotta fire my video guy (yeah right he is a wizard but golly he ain't cheap!). I watched him make some of the sounds by taking random audio clips from his library and slowing/speeding them up to match whatever I was doing in the film. It was fascinating.

I actually do have a bunch of drone footage of me climbing with it but it wasn't included for time. We plan on taking that same video and making a ~4 minute one with all the clips in that teaser video being extended out and expanded upon. The amount of work that went into making that video blew my mind. Many, many hours of late night oil burning not to mention shooting it.

A certain youtube review guy has purchased it, I'm not sure if I'm at liberty to share who, but you'll see his video soon. I shipped his order out this morning. He is a thorough honest guy in my dealings with him so far and I'm certain because of the stark difference of the whole system he'll show him climbing with it.
 
Those are added sound effects, actually. My video guy told me it's more to create an atmosphere if that makes sense. None of the sounds are actually original audio because he would have to rig up mics everywhere to get clean audio. That's a great criticism though maybe I'll have him cut that audio out because it's not true to the product.
Didn't mean to criticize. I always try to listen carefully when watching these type of videos because being silent is so very important for gear being used while hunting. I absolutely hate music during these types of videos cause I want to be able to hear if a product is quiet or not.
 
I switched from a fleece saddle because I wanted an all in one solution that packed and wore into the tree better.. I like your solution for it.

Do you have a good way of getting your ropes and carabiners in compared to a pouch hanging off the back of a saddle?

Marketing wise, I can't imagine showing you pulling it up over your head or even shoulders is going to help sell it, unless you say it's to take a nap before shooting light. I don't wear hoods because it effects my peripherals, let alone wrap myself up like a cacoon. I would also show you shooting a bow with it, guys wouldn't believe me when I said I could shoot without any issues out of my fleece saddle. Just my 2 cents, for what it's worth.

The thing is cool, hope it does great, and people get over their fear of the new.

Oh yeah, adding noisy sound effects?!?!?! Haha, fire that guy ;) good videos otherwise





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Didn't mean to criticize. I always try to listen carefully when watching these type of videos because being silent is so very important for gear being used while hunting. I absolutely hate music during these types of videos cause I want to be able to hear if a product is quiet or not.

I need to find another word for criticism because I mean it in a positive way. That's why I'm here talking to you guys. I'm indebted for your input and the time you take out of your day to look at my product and talk with me about it. So, thanks!

Anyway this stuff does make a bit of noise but so does a cotton shirt. It's hard for me to distinguish what you think is loud what I think is loud. Even watching a video can be deceiving because microphones are all placed at different ranges and process input differently. You can whisper to a friend in a tree with a deer 20 yards away and they won't hear you. Noise isn't as simple as "loud". How high is the pitch of the sound? How much treble and bass? How far does it travel? You see what I'm getting at. I think this fabric is quiet enough to move around in without spooking deer. Now if your raking it with your fingernails and thrashing around sure it'll spook a deer but I've dropped out of my hammock with deer inside 20 yards and never had a problem. Slow and steady makes it quiet, but I practiced that process consistently before I started using these hammocks. It's no change for me to slowly come out of the drey (if I get caught by one sneaking in) and start getting into position for a shot. My movements are slow and methodical. Maybe the way you move doesn't lend itself to this style of hammock though, I don't know!
 
I switched from a fleece saddle because I wanted an all in one solution that packed and wore into the tree better.. I like your solution for it.

Do you have a good way of getting your ropes and carabiners in compared to a pouch hanging off the back of a saddle?

Marketing wise, I can't imagine showing you pulling it up over your head or even shoulders is going to help sell it, unless you say it's to take a nap before shooting light. I don't wear hoods because it effects my peripherals, let alone wrap myself up like a cacoon. I would also show you shooting a bow with it, guys wouldn't believe me when I said I could shoot without any issues out of my fleece saddle. Just my 2 cents, for what it's worth.

The thing is cool, hope it does great, and people get over their fear of the new.

Oh yeah, adding noisy sound effects?!?!?! Haha, fire that guy ;) good videos otherwise

That's a very interesting take. The whole point is yeah, get in the stand early and get comfortable. Sight doesn't help when its 4AM and pitch dark. You don't have to go all the way over the head, you could just stop at your neck. Once that golden hour starts creeping up, ease yourself out and put it over your shoulders or down below your arms or just a sliver on your butt. I admit I'm a little disappointed that the video didn't have more action shots (getting that drone footage was a RODEO) but I'll get back to it and fix it at some point I promise. There is only one shot of me taking a shot out of it and it's on our instagram. I wasn't happy with how it looked in high res but I'll be getting video of it.

As for ropes and carabiners in pouches, check out this: https://dryadsaddles.com/product/modular-molle/
Pay attention to where the carabiners are clipped in and notice that you can put it on either side of the belt and still retain access to all the molle. You can put a pouch/bag on that molle and slide it to the back or on your hip. You could also put a bag onto the integrated molle located on the belt. What I love most about the modular molle is that you get really quick access to it and you don't have to twist your body and get all contorted to access it. Just tug on it till its right in front of you, and slide it back out of the way when you don't need it. I'll be putting a video together for this as well.

Other than witchcraft I haven't found a different, better way to carry my gear except in my backpack :laughing:
 
Thanks for the kind words and valid critique. I will say my opinion is different but I am biased, I know. I really enjoy the front and centered attachment. The linesmans belt does not slip down even when you release load (unless you give the line slack; I mean release load by moving closer to the tree). If you view the end of the video Bigterp posted where I move back and forth, it allows you to slide around the rope without having the rope move. I told Bigterp a buried eye tethrd would allow you fully circumnavigate the tree without touching the rope. I, myself, like having the hard stop as seen in the video.
I feel better connected to the tree with it attached to the d-ring. There is less slack and movement of the rope and I feel more "centered" for lack of a better term. I can't explain it really well. It might not be for everyone, I fully admit. When going around sticks you may have to be a little slower but personally I don't feel a time difference.
There is a ton of labor involved in these things, let me tell you. Working with that silky ripstop nylon is NOT fun. There is a ton of finish work, from surging and rolling the edges on the pouch and hammock, to sewing zippers, sewing in the back adjusters and plastic buckles, the list goes on and on. Those buckles ain't cheap and that big piece of hammock isn't either! Go look at em on Austrialpins website or amazon or ebay.
To be honest with you some guys may like your way better but I guarantee you there will be some guys who definitely won't. I would offer the traditional-style lineman loops. Honestly for me it wouldn't be a deal-breaker for me but I would have to consider a secondary lineman's belt or modifying what you have. Your way is probably better in a scenario where you would slip or fall. Way less likely that you will slide for down the tree hooked in like that. But this is also the reason I don't care for it because it makes advancing your lineman's belt more difficult or at least adds more fiddle Factor.
I definitely think you have a good product here. I'm excited for you and I hope you do well. I may end up buying one eventually but if I buy another saddle when one just came in the mail I may have to start sleeping in a hammock for real. Looking forward to some reviews.
 
Following this to see what else comes up before I order.

This may be what I “need” in addition to my other saddles...

Seems like this would be a great option for getting in the tree 1.5-2 hours before light.

Eager to see additional videos of it in action.


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They’re out of Tennessee, so probably smokies but I’ll let @colic give the official. Mine is in transit (wallowing around in a usps hub)
 
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