Kestrel Flex advice for future saddle hunter

[Cotton-Eye]

Hi All, I just recently joined up here after lurking for a while. Been looking into saddle hunting for a few years now and am finally ready to make the plunge. A good friend let me try his kestrel in my yard last year and I became hooked. He thinks I’d be happiest with the flex. I am about to pull the trigger on it but was just reading that the rope is bulky and might be better off not ordering the “kit”. Any thoughts, recommendation, or advice on this?

Thank you in advance..

 

[swapfox1862]

i would do the swen on webbing an no kit build my own ropes

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[Cotton-Eye]

i would do the swen on webbing an no kit build my own ropes

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Just out of curiosity, what is your thinking? Shave weight? Cost? Ease of use?

 

[swapfox1862]

less metal ...i have a flex with a swen in bridge now it the only one i havent replaced with amsteal wich i prefer

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[GTel]

I had webbing with carabiner which was great. Sewn on both sides would probably be even better as I never disconnected the biner once. Either way, webbing is definitely a great option compared to rope. Besides, you'll have plenty of time to change your mind before it ships!

Sent from up in a tree

 

[Cotton-Eye]

This is great advice. Thanks fellas!

 

[NikoTheBowHunter]

Go with the rope bridge option!! You end up getting a free climbing carabiner, prusik loop and climbing rope which can be used a tether. All of which I ended up selling off to recoup some funds. I use a fixed amsteel bridge connected via two triangle petals d links on my flex. My bridge is 18”.

 

[Cotton-Eye]

Go with the rope bridge option!! You end up getting a free climbing carabiner, prusik loop and climbing rope which can be used a tether. All of which I ended up selling off to recoup some funds. I use a fixed amsteel bridge connected via two triangle petals d links on my flex. My bridge is 18”.

That‘s brilliant. Is it difficult to splice Amsteel if I wanted to make my own spliced eyes?

 

[swapfox1862]

That‘s brilliant. Is it difficult to splice Amsteel if I wanted to make my own spliced eyes?

1/4 not at all very easy there are youtube videos

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[Cotton-Eye]

Yep. Found this video:

thanks for the tip!

 

[Newhunter1]

I would go with the flex...and the removeable bridge. I replaced my bridge with oplux rope and love it.

 

[Cotton-Eye]

I would go with the flex...and the removeable bridge. I replaced my bridge with oplux rope and love it.

is there an advantage of OpLux over Amsteel? Having the ability to splice the Amsteel to avoid bulky figure 8 knots I would think is a big plus. I have zero experience with saddle hunting so please forgive my ignorance on this....

 

[Newhunter1]

is there an advantage of OpLux over Amsteel? Having the ability to splice the Amsteel to avoid bulky figure 8 knots I would think is a big plus. I have zero experience with saddle hunting so please forgive my ignorance on this....

No problem...we all have started out as having zero experience.

I've gone the amsteel route and while it is light, and you have the ability to splice it does have some drawbacks. The biggest drawback for me was how it felt on under load. When I'm hunting in my saddle and and I happen to lean up against the amsteel it felt as though the rope was to thin and that it was cutting into my arms. When I would use the predator ropes as my bridge then it felt just more comfortable to me. When I switched to the oplux rope the knots do not even matter and as far as bulky goes...there's no comparison. The bulkiness of the knots and rope is almost non-existent. It is not an issue with the oplux...at all.

 

[TA20yds]

Do yourself a favor and get the Tethrd system. It’s all there and no need to buy a bunch of stuff piecing together the system. Plus the Amsteel bridge is the way to go.

 

[Brian_goes_hunting]

I started out with a mantis which I sold to a friend and now have a flex. It’s all going to be personal preference. Personally I went with the flex with the fixed adjustable webbing bridge. Less bulky than the rope bridge. I also like the safety comfort of having a heftier belt and rated leg straps on the flex. Unnecessary to some I’m sure, but as a new saddle hunter I wanted to be as safe as possible. Personally I don’t think a new saddle hunter should be doing a lot of DIY changes to their gear. I think it is more important to learn the system and once you are comfortable with your climbing and saddle system, then you can start customizing and doing DIY stuff. Crawl before you walk so to speak. The flex is super comfortable. As for the ropes, I used the Tethrd ropes and am very happy with them. Hope this helps.

 

[Yodan]

is there an advantage of OpLux over Amsteel? Having the ability to splice the Amsteel to avoid bulky figure 8 knots I would think is a big plus. I have zero experience with saddle hunting so please forgive my ignorance on this....

When I ordered my flex I was unsure of rope or webbing for a bridge. I went with a rope and also bought the whole package. After one hunting season and a lot of practice, this was my first year for a saddle, changes are coming to my set up. First I wish I would had gotten the webbing bridge and now have to change it. My tether and linesman belt are also going to be changed. I'm going to use the 8mm oplux. There isn't anything wrong with the predator rope that Aero Hunter supplies, it's just bulky. If I used this daily for my job I would go with the predator ropes. As @NikoTheBowHunter said I'll quality spare parts. As far as bridge ajustability goes being my first year hunting, I like having the ability to adjust the length. But once I started hunting I rarely changed the bridge length. My next saddle I'll do what @swapfox1862 said and build my own ropes. This was my first year and I learned a lot.