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How do you position your saddle once you get to hunting height?

Schemeecho

Well-Known Member
Joined
Dec 12, 2020
Messages
313
Location
Gaston, SC.
What's going on everyone? I hope you are ready for the weekend. I have a question for those of you that have a lot of time in the saddle.
What I want to know is how you position your saddle on your body once at hunting height? I currently have the Aero Hunter flex size 2.
What I want to know is who either loosens up the leg straps and waist belt when you are ready to set and hunt? Or do you remove the leg straps?
Does anyone loosen or remove the waist belt as well so you can better position the saddle so it's more comfortable in a sitting or leaning position? I tried loosening mine today just to see if pulling the upper portion of the saddle down below my waist a little bit. What I found was it made a difference in how long I was able to lean and sit without feeling that dreaded hip pinch.
 
Once I'm ready to pull up my weapon, I usually ...

1) knee pads on
2) loosen the waist belt and lower the saddle a bit
3) set tether height
4) sit back, knees to the tree
5) adjust prusik on the tether
6) BACK BAND!
 
I have a flex size 2 as well. What I do is stand up and cinch my tether as short as it’ll go to get me close to the tree. Alternatively if you have a linemans belt throw that around the tree to hold you against the tree. Now reposition as necessary.
I’ll sometimes loosen my leg straps a bit especially if it’s cold and I’m layered up. I may loosen my belt a bit to pull the saddle up or push my coat underneath but then it gets tightened right back down. Sometimes you gotta move stuff around to get comfy.
 
I usually just get up the tree, adjust my bridge to full length, cinch my tether and prusik at the height that allows me to sit with my knees in a perfect 90 degree angle, open my pleat and I’m good. I never loosen my waist belt and I never cinch my leg straps down tight so they stay comfortable loose. When I stand up to lean from time to time, I either close my pleat or just slide up the bottom webbing an inch or two. Either way works well
 
i always keep the waist belt above my hip bones and tight enough that if something crazy happens that i'd have no fear of slipping out (if i somehow inverted)

i sometimes use a back band for lower back support

i lean almost the whole time and i think leaning comfort is easier to achieve and i don't need to mess with much (not that leaning is more comfortable than sitting...i think sitting is harder to dial in)

my leg straps are just tight enough to make contact with my legs but not dig in
 
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I have a Tethrd Predator XL. When I'm sitting, my knees are slightly above parallel to keep pressure off my joints. Back band is a must for the long sits.
 
After I get settled on the platform the first thing I do is swap out my lineman's belt (connected to my bridge loops) for my fixed 30" bridge that I use for climbing/rappelling. The lineman's belt is adjustable and I actually prefer about a 36" bridge while hanging. It helps reduce the hip pinch. I'm carrying and climbing with the linesman's belt anyway so its already there anyway.

I also loosen my waist belt and slide my saddle down a bit more so the upper saddle belt is just below my normal belt. I'm primarily a sitter with knees to the tree so I like the saddle to sit more under my upper thighs like a playground swingset belt. I actually lean forward in that position and rest my head on the bridge (no backband required). Very comfortable for me . . . . Zzzzzzzzz :tearsofjoy:
 
Good feedback guys. I did forget to mention that I one stick climb so what did today was play around and make a few climbs. Here is what I did differently today. On the climb I shortened my bridge to keep me closer to my tether when I have to move it up the tree. I loosened the leg straps a bit more so they felt a lot more comfortable. I put my waist belt just below where my belt for my pants is. I kept the saddle waist belt tight on the climb. I also added in a ring of steps, 3 steps. One at my 12 o'clock in front of me and one on each side of my stick platform. I also dont use a linmans rope when I climb unless I have to go around a branch. I'm not worried about the tether slack when I climb because my right arm goes under my tether and I advance my tether with every step and I move slow so I can be as deliberate and quite as possible. Once I reached hunting height I set my tether at about chin height when standing straight up. I moved my distel hitch up against my quick link for the tether. I did have my linemans belt on at this time to keep me close to the tree so I could work hands free and set my tether. I then adjusted my bridge length to about half its' length. Slowly put slack in my linemans rope just enough that my weight was in the saddle. Removed and stowed my linemans belt. Loosend up my saddle waist belt just a little so I could adjust it up or down if I needed to. Adjust my bridge so that when I wanted to sit my knees were just a little above 90 degrees. Being able to adjust where the saddle was, the length of my bridge and the height of the tether made all the difference in the dreaded hip pinch. But what made the most difference was adding in the ring of steps. when I wanted to sit I could step on the ring of steps and straddle the tree better which made my sit a lot more comfortable. I also use a back band as well Being able to do all this was a game changer. It got dark on me and I just chilled and listened to all the awesome sounds of nature. But I will say that adding the ring of steps is what made the experience
 
Going into my second season so I’m a newbie too. I have a hawk saddle and without realizing it, I went from sitting to leaning most of the time. I stopped using my back band the last month or so of season……in the beginning it was a must! My leg straps will stay on, but I’ll loosen them a good bit and slide my saddle as low as it will go. My saddle does tend to ride up a little, but not too bad. Very comfy!
Maybe the best improvement I made was adding 3 ROSs on my platform strap. This made me start going around the tree a lot more. In order to do that, you need some distance between you and the tree. I think this has a lot to do with me leaning more as again, you need some distance between you and the tree. I use the original bridge which is pretty long, but added a short bridge for rappelling down……the shorter bridge allows me to engage my ATC below main bridge as well.
Have fun and be safe!
 
I pull the saddle down a bit so more of it is under my butt. Of course I suffer from noassitus and DRT/SRT so the saddle gets pulled up on my badly if I forget to tighten leg loops, sometimes when climbing up making repositioning at height more important.
 
I one stick, so at hh I have to readjust my saddle slightly I then also loosen the saddle suspenders up enough to not pull up on my saddle while hunting and that’s about it. I’m mostly a leaner. I still always carry and use a LB so I daisy chain that up once st hh too. My tether is about neck height depending on tree lean etc.
 
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