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Giving saddles another look

Where I live we have tall trees and the big limbs with nice green leaves that fall has me believe what the tree guys say, “there are no safe branches “. The risk may be minimal but not one I want to assume. I ave watched quite a few videos and it seems like a lot of work and risks. I’m not sure why it’s so popular, maybe I’m watching the wrong videos.
There are a few people on other bow hunter sites that prefer that kind of climbing.
Maybe you should watch the NY Saddle hunter videos. One of the duo is an arborist climber.

Its the second safest climbing method in my opinion with 2TC being the safest. The dangerous part is really in the knocking down of dead/weak limbs as you're getting the ropes set up.

With sticks, you always risk having kick outs and gashing yourself on them if you fall.
 
Maybe you should watch the NY Saddle hunter videos. One of the duo is an arborist climber.

Its the second safest climbing method in my opinion with 2TC being the safest. The dangerous part is really in the knocking down of dead/weak limbs as you're getting the ropes set up.

With sticks, you always risk having kick outs and gashing yourself on them if you fall.
I have been using sticks for so many years I feel quite safe, especially with the newer sticks on the market, safe, simple and fast. I find looking at these climbing techniques interesting, but it’s not for me.
 
Check out JRB channel utilizing SRT method on YouTube. One long rope, a couple carabiners, a webbing foot loop, and a few knots. I bought a 20ft telescopic pole on Amazon to set my rope height around the trunk, and if a good branch exists, I’ll hang the rope over that, and then wrap around the trunk from below. For the canopy anchor around the tree up above, he preaches the Maverick hitch knot, but one could simply use a climbing ring as your “eye” to feed the climbing rope through. Attach some paracord to that ring and you can pull your ring down outta the tree once you come down. You could also use your pole to hook the ring and pull that way, just not sure how much tension those can endure. As I see it, you need his longhorn agile hitch to ascend the rope, and his garda hitch(2 carabiners in parallel) for the foot strap to “step” yourself up the rope, then sliding the agile hitch upward you capture your progress. It all seems kinda confusing, but watch a couple of his videos. He goes in depth and slow, it’s all very straightforward and simple once the main tether knot is tied.
 
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Check out JRB channel utilizing SRT method on YouTube. One long rope, a couple carabiners, a webbing foot loop, and a few knots. I bought a 20ft telescopic pole on Amazon to set my rope height around the trunk, and if a good branch exists, I’ll hang the rope over that, and then wrap around the trunk from below. For the canopy anchor around the tree up above, he preaches the Maverick hitch knot, but one could simply use a climbing ring as your “eye” to feed the climbing rope through. Attach some paracord to that ring and you can pull your ring down outta the tree once you come down. You could also use your pole to hook the ring and pull that way, just not sure how much tension those can endure. As I see it, you need his longhorn agile hitch to ascend the rope, and his garda hitch(2 carabiners in parallel) for the foot strap to “step” yourself up the rope, then sliding the agile hitch upward you capture your progress. It all seems kinda confusing, but watch a couple of his videos. He goes in depth and slow, it’s all very straightforward and simple once the main tether knot is tied.
I seen the video and it is overcomplicated and way more involved, too many steps and extra gear. I also would never trust a branch as a support.
For me four sticks, a lineman‘s belt, backed up with a tether is safe and easy.
 
I seen the video and it is overcomplicated and way more involved, too many steps and extra gear. I also would never trust a branch as a support.
For me four sticks, a lineman‘s belt, backed up with a tether is safe and easy.
I get it, but the rope actually goes around the trunk, the branches just guide the rope to a specific height before cinching down around the trunk. I’ve yet to dive into this myself, but think I have a way to simplify his method. No knot tying after the initial agile hitch is created on a brand new rope. This knot stays on the rope between hunts. Equipment would only be a rope, a pole, foot strap, and paracord. Again, with the pole, you can set your tree anchor where ever you want around the trunk, branch or no branch. Ymmv.

Like I said, I’m going to try this myself but with less knots than JRB uses. I’ll post a video of it seems worthwhile. Either way, I’ll report back even if it fails to be simple/easy.
 
I get it, but the rope actually goes around the trunk, the branches just guide the rope to a specific height before cinching down around the trunk. I’ve yet to dive into this myself, but think I have a way to simplify his method. No knot tying after the initial agile hitch is created on a brand new rope. This knot stays on the rope between hunts. Equipment would only be a rope, a pole, foot strap, and paracord. Again, with the pole, you can set your tree anchor where ever you want around the trunk, branch or no branch. Ymmv.

Like I said, I’m going to try this myself but with less knots than JRB uses. I’ll post a video of it seems worthwhile. Either way, I’ll report back even if it fails to be simple/easy.
I think it has a lot to do with your experiences with sticks. With my Skeletors I can get up a tree without breaking a sweat in warm weather pretty quick.
 
I think it has a lot to do with your experiences with sticks. With my Skeletors I can get up a tree without breaking a sweat in warm weather pretty quick.
I’m definitely a novice with sticks, but I could see your method being great once perfected. For me they add clinky noises and tree scraping noise that I’d prefer to avoid. I’ve gone so far to avoid sticks lately that I’ve opted for a 15ft telescopic ladder to use instead! Weighs 22lb, but is stupid simple/fast/quiet to setup and take down. With the repelling option of the SRT method, I’m hoping this can be just as fast, but at a huge weight savings.
 
What about sizing, I’m 220#? I heard to reduce hip pinch to get the largest size saddle.
That all depends on your build. I’ve tried xls I’m 200-210 up and down and if I wear an xl I’m swimming and uncomfortable. Ontop of that I never really got hip pinch from any saddle so like everything else in this sport it’s only going to pertain to the consumer
 
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