Dryad Saddles

[colic]

@Bigterp was supposed to get his Monday but apparently there is a USPS hub holding things up. Everything I shipped out over the weekend and past couple days is not being delivered in the priority mail time window.

Yeah that spot worked out great didn't it? It's in Standing Stone, TN. I run those big woods a lot (11k acres of heaven). That spot was a secondary point of a major ridge whose side was clear cut so it allowed us to get on the edge of the cut and get drone footage. He was having drone issues and a big storm was rolling in so it was a major rodeo. I'm wanting to go back and get better footage. Everyone keeps asking for me to get footage of shooting my bow so I'm gonna kill two birds one stone I guess. That sunset footage was off the cuff too, we just happened to be there at the right time.

 

[bloodsoakedberber]

Ordered mine and shipped a few hours later. Hard to beat that.

 

[_Dario]

Man the more I keep looking at this thing...it just looks so comfortable. Just put an order in and can’t wait to try it out.


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[colic]

Man the more I keep looking at this thing...it just looks so comfortable. Just put an order in and can’t wait to try it out.


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They're not on here I don't think, but I'll quote someone who just got their's the other day: "It's stupid comfortable"

Now, that said, a common theme: some guys are saying they took a quick sit in it and they were getting pressure from the edge of the material on their thighs if they were in a leaning position. The other common theme is everyone who says that has their tethers way up above them. The consensus is moving the tether down to eye level and playing with the location of your prusik/ascender will remedy it. I like mine with my ascender very close to the hitch; my buddy Jason prefers his further down. It's kind of hit and miss where most guys find that sweet spot so it may take some time to find. Also, try and play with how the material is pulled out (not bunched up, essentially) so that load is evenly distributed. If you're primarily a sitter, it won't matter. Just know that you may have to play around a bit to find that sweet spot if you're a leaner.

Also, I've been getting feedback from some big guys (Over 6'3") who cannot fully contain their heads into the material. They can get the back of their head in there for head support, but they cannot get it over their head like a hood (which is nice during late season). It looks like we may have to start having to offer an extra-large option to cover those guys. I wonder if we could just add extra material and keep it one size fits all.

Anyway, I'll be shipping your order in the morning Dario. Thanks for all you guys support; I'm humbled and grateful.

 

[_Dario]

I’m 5’9” so I wouldn’t need the California king hammock. I don’t know what saddle wouldn’t require some tinkering around to dial in so I am fully prepared for that. What’s unfamiliar to me will be the main line that attaches to the d ring and how that adjustment coincides with the hammock bridge and then also the single point attachment LB. I consider myself pretty open minded so I am up to give everything....most things a fair shot.


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[Bigterp]

They're not on here I don't think, but I'll quote someone who just got their's the other day: "It's stupid comfortable"

Now, that said, a common theme: some guys are saying they took a quick sit in it and they were getting pressure from the edge of the material on their thighs if they were in a leaning position. The other common theme is everyone who says that has their tethers way up above them. The consensus is moving the tether down to eye level and playing with the location of your prusik/ascender will remedy it. I like mine with my ascender very close to the hitch; my buddy Jason prefers his further down. It's kind of hit and miss where most guys find that sweet spot so it may take some time to find. Also, try and play with how the material is pulled out (not bunched up, essentially) so that load is evenly distributed. If you're primarily a sitter, it won't matter. Just know that you may have to play around a bit to find that sweet spot if you're a leaner.

Also, I've been getting feedback from some big guys (Over 6'3") who cannot fully contain their heads into the material. They can get the back of their head in there for head support, but they cannot get it over their head like a hood (which is nice during late season). It looks like we may have to start having to offer an extra-large option to cover those guys. I wonder if we could just add extra material and keep it one size fits all.

Anyway, I'll be shipping your order in the morning Dario. Thanks for all you guys support; I'm humbled and grateful.

Oh now you mention the plus sized version, ha still waiting on our lovely postal svc…..

 

[colic]

I’m 5’9” so I wouldn’t need the California king hammock. I don’t know what saddle wouldn’t require some tinkering around to dial in so I am fully prepared for that. What’s unfamiliar to me will be the main line that attaches to the d ring and how that adjustment coincides with the hammock bridge and then also the single point attachment LB. I consider myself pretty open minded so I am up to give everything....most things a fair shot.

I'm excited to get your feedback Dario, you seem like a straight shooter.
The hammock bridge has prusiks on either side, and so does the main line to the d-ring. If you end up bottoming out the main line just take up a little bit of the hammock bridge and you'll be right where you need to be.
As far as the single point attachment LB, theres two ways we've found to use it. You can actually rig up a tether and clip the biner right to the d-ring, while keeping the tether as high as you can above the stick. If you use an aider this might not work for you if you put the top stick cleat above your hitch.
Using it like shown in the youtube video, I let out a good amount of slack and flip it like a real linemans belt while holding both sides of the rope and using it to stabilize/climb with. I've watched my friend Jason climb with it and he is a little more skiddish in the tree so he doesn't like to let too much slack out and stays tight to the stick. You'll need to go a little slower and watch that you don't catch the rope on the steps and fold them back up.

Interestingly and somewhat coincidentally, we were trying to shoot some video yesterday and Jasons stick actually kicked out (we were climbing a hickory) when he had slack in his line in the LB configuration. He's 240 pounds and came down hard. He got scuffed up pretty good but the system worked without flaw. I think if he would have been in a traditional saddle with it located on the hips, it woulda ended up must worse. I've attached a picture as proof, because this is the internet. Notice the nice scuff on his left bicept and forearm.

 

[colic]

Oh now you mention the plus sized version, ha still waiting on our lovely postal svc…..

Bigterp if you're a big guy and it doesn't cover you enough, I'll take care of you. I don't feel right if you get it and felt lied to or mislead. I'll make it right.

Also, sorry about the post office. I would have shipped it FedEx had I known.

 

[Bigterp]

Bigterp if you're a big guy and it doesn't cover you enough, I'll take care of you. I don't feel right if you get it and felt lied to or mislead. I'll make it right.

Also, sorry about the post office. I would have shipped it FedEx had I known.

Just busting your chops, I’m not worried about a thing! Unless you privatize the usps I think you made the right choice. It’s all good I’m out of town closer to you in southern va near Bristol.

 

[denots]

I'm excited to get your feedback Dario, you seem like a straight shooter.
The hammock bridge has prusiks on either side, and so does the main line to the d-ring. If you end up bottoming out the main line just take up a little bit of the hammock bridge and you'll be right where you need to be.
As far as the single point attachment LB, theres two ways we've found to use it. You can actually rig up a tether and clip the biner right to the d-ring, while keeping the tether as high as you can above the stick. If you use an aider this might not work for you if you put the top stick cleat above your hitch.
Using it like shown in the youtube video, I let out a good amount of slack and flip it like a real linemans belt while holding both sides of the rope and using it to stabilize/climb with. I've watched my friend Jason climb with it and he is a little more skiddish in the tree so he doesn't like to let too much slack out and stays tight to the stick. You'll need to go a little slower and watch that you don't catch the rope on the steps and fold them back up.

Interestingly and somewhat coincidentally, we were trying to shoot some video yesterday and Jasons stick actually kicked out (we were climbing a hickory) when he had slack in his line in the LB configuration. He's 240 pounds and came down hard. He got scuffed up pretty good but the system worked without flaw. I think if he would have been in a traditional saddle with it located on the hips, it woulda ended up must worse. I've attached a picture as proof, because this is the internet. Notice the nice scuff on his left bicept and forearm.

The single point LB is going to act more like a tether in a fall. Way less likely to slide as far down the tree in comparison to a traditional LB system. Kickouts happen quick. Glad your buddies injuries were minor, and your system keep him safe.

 

[_Dario]

The saddle came in today. I didn’t have time to put it on a tree but maybe tomorrow. My first impressions were kind of up and down at first but definitely up now.

What struck me the most out of the box was how light it is. When you are holding the pouch it almost feels like nothing is in it. The fabric itself is almost unbelievably light weight. Intuitively it doesn’t seem like it would be load bearing but I watched the videos of it dropping 9ft at 400lb even with a tear in the fabric without failing.

Putting it around my waist and trying to deploy the hammock for the first time was definitely not as easy as it looked in the YouTube tutorial but this very well may have been how it was folded up to begin with. After deploying it and putting it away about 10 times now it is very easy and with even more practice it seems like it would be a non issue even in the dark. Just be patient at first and watch the tutorial.

The fabric doesn’t really seem to be noisy. In fact I scratched my nails on the webbing portion of a cruzr xc and overwatch transformer and it was noisier. So the noise factor doesn’t seem to be an issue like I may have suspected it could be with all that fabric.

I only messed with the leg loops briefly but at first impression there is some fiddle factor and time will tell if I use them or not. I am sure with practice they will work fine.

For SRT/one sticking I like to run a short bridge. This saddle has a triad style bridge so that shouldn’t be a problem to shorten up the hammock bridge on both ends and then shorten up the main line bridge. I will likely put a prusik tender on the main line and possibly switch it to a Schwabisch hitch.

I don’t run dump pouches on my saddle but this may be a problem for those that do because I don’t see how you could effectively use them while the hammock is deployed but I could be totally wrong on that.

I am very excited to get this on a tree. The fabric covers my entire body from head to back of the knees. I can only imagine I will feel like a baby kangaroo in it’s mother’s pouch.

One last thing that I want to mention. It was not a huge deal to me personally but I would have preferred to not see it - there was a stitch that had grabbed the middle pouch loop where you run your belt through. I simply cut this and it was fine. It’s not a structural stitch or anything but again I’d prefer obviously if that didn’t happen.

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[colic]

The saddle came in today. I didn’t have time to put it on a tree but maybe tomorrow. My first impressions were kind of up and down at first but definitely up now.

What struck me the most out of the box was how light it is. When you are holding the pouch it almost feels like nothing is in it. The fabric itself is almost unbelievably light weight. Intuitively it doesn’t seem like it would be load bearing but I watched the videos of it dropping 9ft at 400lb even with a tear in the fabric without failing.

Putting it around my waist and trying to deploy the hammock for the first time was definitely not as easy as it looked in the YouTube tutorial but this very well may have been how it was folded up to begin with. After deploying it and putting it away about 10 times now it is very easy and with even more practice it seems like it would be a non issue even in the dark. Just be patient at first and watch the tutorial.

The fabric doesn’t really seem to be noisy. In fact I scratched my nails on the webbing portion of a cruzr xc and overwatch transformer and it was noisier. So the noise factor doesn’t seem to be an issue like I may have suspected it could be with all that fabric.

I only messed with the leg loops briefly but at first impression there is some fiddle factor and time will tell if I use them or not. I am sure with practice they will work fine.

For SRT/one sticking I like to run a short bridge. This saddle has a triad style bridge so that shouldn’t be a problem to shorten up the hammock bridge on both ends and then shorten up the main line bridge. I will likely put a prusik tender on the main line and possibly switch it to a Schwabisch hitch.

I don’t run dump pouches on my saddle but this may be a problem for those that do because I don’t see how you could effectively use them while the hammock is deployed but I could be totally wrong on that.

I am very excited to get this on a tree. The fabric covers my entire body from head to back of the knees. I can only imagine I will feel like a baby kangaroo in it’s mother’s pouch.

One last thing that I want to mention. It was not a huge deal to me personally but I would have preferred to not see it - there was a stitch that had grabbed the middle pouch loop where you run your belt through. I simply cut this and it was fine. It’s not a structural stitch or anything but again I’d prefer obviously if that didn’t happen.

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Dario that pains me to see. The hammocks are being sewed at a separate location and I've been in a bit of rush lately trying to juggle everything. That, honestly, is not a valid excuse and I'm sorry that slipped through my Q&A process. You are right it isn't structurally significant but if you have any issues with that stitch coming undone, I will replace the entire hammock and ship it to you it at my cost. I'm very sorry about that and I promise to do a more thorough job double checking those stitches.

I'm not sure if you've noticed, as some people have called in not knowing, but we left plenty of room in that pouch for stuffing ropes, carabiners, and leg straps in there. I personally carry a linemans, a tether, two mechanical ascenders, two carabiners, and my leg straps in there, negating any need for me to run dump pouches.

I'm excited to see your full opinion on the saddle. If you are a leaner and are having issues with pressure on your thighs at the end of the fabric, fold the bottom edge back up to your butt while leaving fabric on your thighs. Also, lower your tether and play with your prusik/ascender location on your tether. Please don't hesitate to call me at 931-326-4787 if this doesn't make sense and I will walk you through it.

And again, I am very sorry about that hung stitch. Thanks for your honest feedback and I hope everything else is the quality to which I strive to bring to my customers.

Also, I want to reiterate that the hammock is NOT meant to be your main line of support. Always have the 1/4" full bury amsteel main line attached to your tether at climbing height or be tied in to your harness in the linemans configuration. The hammock portion itself does not have high enough safety margins nor does it have proper buckles and webbing to contain you; that is the job of the built in harness. Our load tests were just to reassure everyone that this fabric is high quality, can support a lot of weight, and will last through a lot of abuse.


-Dane

 

[bloodsoakedberber]

Mine showed up a day early as well. Don’t have nearly as much to add at this point but can confirm I have zero concerns with fabric noise. Will take it to work with me tomorrow and give it a more thorough examining when I have more time.

 

[DroptineKrazy]

Mine showed up a day early as well. Don’t have nearly as much to add at this point but can confirm I have zero concerns with fabric noise. Will take it to work with me tomorrow and give it a more thorough examining when I have more time.

HaHa! Take it to work where I'll have more time to check it out. I want your job.

 

[bloodsoakedberber]

HaHa! Take it to work where I'll have more time to check it out. I want your job.

I was wondering if anyone would pick up on that lol

 

[Bigterp]

Mine finally quit circling the beltway & arrived today. Initial impression is really light & neatly stitched! Curious to try it after work……..

 

[_Dario]

I was able to sneak out earlier to try it out. There is really no other way to put it other than it’s the same sensation as sitting in a hammock. To me, it is the gold standard of comfort in a saddle. You can tell [mention]colic [/mention]takes pride in his product and the whole thing works as a thoughtfully engineered system. I’m going to continue to tinker around with it but I definitely plan to use it this season.

I made a short bridge out of 10mm HTP and a quick link and SRT’d up in just the harness configuration. I will have to try with sticks and one sticking as well and report back.


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[bloodsoakedberber]

I was able to sneak out earlier to try it out. There is really no other way to put it other than it’s the same sensation as sitting in a hammock. To me, it is the gold standard of comfort in a saddle. You can tell [mention]colic [/mention]takes pride in his product and the whole thing works as a thoughtfully engineered system. I’m going to continue to tinker around with it but I definitely plan to use it this season.

I made a short bridge out of 10mm HTP and a quick link and SRT’d up in just the harness configuration. I will have to try with sticks and one sticking as well and report back.


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Interested to hear about your climbing experiences. It will probably be a while before I get to check it out anywhere other than ground level. I’m very impressed with it so far.

 

[_Dario]

I haven’t tried this yet but just thinking outside the box a little. You could attach just the dryad hammock to the back of any existing saddle on paracord or tubular webbing etc.

The point of this is that if you are used to your current LB loops (2 points of attachment) you’d continue to use them and you could deploy the hammock at hunting height.

You could also one stick/SRT just like you have been with your existing saddle.

I don’t know, I think it’s worth exploring, this saddle is really awesome.

The two pics illustrate it still slides around for easy access.

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[Bigterp]

I haven’t tried this yet but just thinking outside the box a little. You could attach just the dryad hammock to the back of any existing saddle on parachute or tubular webbing etc.

The point of this is that if you are used to your current LB loops (2 points of attachment) you’d continue to use them and you could deploy the hammock at hunting height.

You could also one stick/SRT just like you have been with your existing saddle.

I don’t know, I think it’s worth exploring, this saddle is really awesome.

The two pics illustrate it still slides around for easy access.

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Man I thought the same thing, it would function like a backband on a larger scale. I was working through mods to get traditional linesmen loops b/c that center connection could be in the way for certain climbing methods.