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Predator Platform broke on me last night

I just reread this whole thread from front to back and I realize how much this place has changed in my short time here. I honestly feel a little sad at the state of it. I want to take back anything harsh I have implied against Tethrd in any way. Greg and Ernie used to live here. I always loved watching their videos and reading their posts. I mean, how in the world can Greg move his hands so much while he is talking? haha.

It is also sad to see that we've come from a state that saddle hunters didn't have any resources for a platform and always had to DIY to have something available and then Ernie, Greg, and Carl go off and do more for the saddle hunting community than anyone in it's history(to my knowledge) and now look at what's happening. Sure, there are some Gen 1's that have broke and I own one that I would like replaced, but I don't necessarily believe it will break on me, especially if I use my brain while camming it over. But, what about before there was a gen 1?

I hadn't considered all of the stuff that Kyler1945 posted about the hit it would have likely put on them and even so much as to have possibly put them out of business. With all that in mind, I will gladly wait until after season and try to exchange my Gen 1 then.

Just reminiscing on the old days I guess...
 
I just reread this whole thread from front to back and I realize how much this place has changed in my short time here. I honestly feel a little sad at the state of it. I want to take back anything harsh I have implied against Tethrd in any way. Greg and Ernie used to live here. I always loved watching their videos and reading their posts. I mean, how in the world can Greg move his hands so much while he is talking? haha.

It is also sad to see that we've come from a state that saddle hunters didn't have any resources for a platform and always had to DIY to have something available and then Ernie, Greg, and Carl go off and do more for the saddle hunting community than anyone in it's history(to my knowledge) and now look at what's happening. Sure, there are some Gen 1's that have broke and I own one that I would like replaced, but I don't necessarily believe it will break on me, especially if I use my brain while camming it over. But, what about before there was a gen 1?

I hadn't considered all of the stuff that Kyler1945 posted about the hit it would have likely put on them and even so much as to have possibly put them out of business. With all that in mind, I will gladly wait until after season and try to exchange my Gen 1 then.

Just reminiscing on the old days I guess...

It is sad, just the times we live in I suppose. Some of these new fellas probably could care less if they drove two good guys out of business. My guess is the biggest risk some of them have ever taken personally is to determine if the milk on their cereal is still good.

But with the few bad eggs there are always a lot more good folks just eager to learn. Lets focus there, the others will probably disappear whenever they face even a little adversity.
 
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I really never read about anyone bashing the guys. Just about their choice of recourse on the Gen 1. I'd hate to see them build up a business only to lose everything fighting litigation and possibly paying out a settlement. Big business can afford to pay lawyers for questionable choices. Is Ttherd big enough to suck up that hit and keep on trucking?
 
If anything, I'd say that folks have bent over backwards to make exceptions for Tethrd that would not be made for other companies.

Name another saddle company that held onto people's money for months, continuously promised that they would ship product "any day now," finally shipped a product that immediately required a redesign, and then left the early adapters and supporters hanging with that product while they continued to take other folks' money and give them the improved design?

That, and a few other blunders, prevented Tethrd from being the absolute darling and favorite child of the saddlehunting world. Folks have been remarkably civil about the whole affair but they've burnt through some good will their first year. They've proven to be way more focused on building hype than meeting expectations and providing customer support. Don't believe that? Go to their "customer support" page:


Whaddaya see? Marketing speak. No number, no email. No money in the budget for that. Rest of the site looks pretty spiffy though. Here's the Predator "Development Story:"


Wonder where in the "evolution" the gen 1 fits in? Maybe the "great minds" who helped develop it refers to the folks who paid for the privilege of testing what was essentially prototypes for the finalized design?

I hate to talk about negative stuff, but dang if there ain't plenty of new guys who watched the youtube videos, read the facebook posts, drank the koolaid, financed the toys with Affirm, and feel like Tethrd is just a GAME CHANGER, man.

It ain't all sunshine and butterfly farts, folks. Platforms still breaking and a company not acknowledging it a year after the fact can't be spun in a positive light.
 
If anything, I'd say that folks have bent over backwards to make exceptions for Tethrd that would not be made for other companies.

Name another saddle company that held onto people's money for months, continuously promised that they would ship product "any day now," finally shipped a product that immediately required a redesign, and then left the early adapters and supporters hanging with that product while they continued to take other folks' money and give them the improved design?
I reckon you weren't here for it but we all went through it with the original Kestrel, that's why I laugh when everyone talks about how its always sunny at Aero hunter.
I also think Tethrd is the only saddle company everyone is able to openly bash, not trying to ruffle feathers but its true
 
Whaddaya see? Marketing speak. No number, no email. No money in the budget for that.
Well, there's the "contact us" link which gives an email which they sometimes answer, although social media seems to be much more effective...
Rest of the site looks pretty spiffy though. Here's the Predator "Development Story:"


Wonder where in the "evolution" the gen 1 fits in? Maybe the "great minds" who helped develop it refers to the folks who paid for the privilege of testing what was essentially prototypes for the finalized design?

I hate to talk about negative stuff, but dang if there ain't plenty of new guys who watched the youtube videos, read the facebook posts, drank the koolaid, financed the toys with Affirm, and feel like Tethrd is just a GAME CHANGER, man.

It ain't all sunshine and butterfly farts, folks. Platforms still breaking and a company not acknowledging it a year after the fact can't be spun in a positive light.
Honestly, I (tried to) enter saddle hunting with Tethrd. In retrospect, I guess I got suckered by a "fake" lead time reduction, and scared away by Aerohunter's honest lead times. I need to spend some money with them as way of thanks at some point. (luckily in hindsight?) I decided I wanted to hunt right away and sniped a Kestrel on the forums while waiting. I ended up pretty much far preferring that used saddle (all the way down to the ropes and biners!) to the tethrd gear, which I mostly wrote off as a "thanks for recruiting me G2" and should probably sell at some point. Tethrd's marketing and overall evangelism is something that I appreciate for its part in convincing me to move into the saddle world, and they certainly are driving a ton of growth in this method of hunting (for better or worse) and pretty much drove this community to crisis. The whole rolling delivery date issue...man that's a tough one, and not uncommon among startups, kickstarters, etc. We've seen supplier after supplier have delivery issues in this community - and I've been on the other side (in the middle between suppliers and customers) more than once at work. That situation sucks all around, with no great way (r certainly no comfortable one) to handle it.

I can't say I like the situation, but I can certainly understand step by step how just about everything unfolded.
 
Funny, I never directed my comments at anyone..... made general statements. Another childhood lesson.... "If the shoe fits...."

Finally, there is nothing stopping all the "critics" from starting their own company and showing us all how it's done.
 
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I keep hearing about poor customer service at Tethrd. I broke my Gen 1 Predator and it was dealt with and replaced quickly. I ordered a Mantis and was originally told to expect 6-8 weeks but I got mine in 4 weeks. Opened up my box and noticed that my MicroFit Adjusters were missing. I emailed them after work at 2:00 am and when I woke up later that morning I had a reply in my inbox taking care of the situation. They ran out but will rush them to me as soon as they come in. Every order I have ever placed with them has had great communication. No issues whatsoever.

Sounds like exceptional customer service to me. Guess I’m one of the lucky ones.
 
Can we not be Facebook petty? Also not directed at anyone....... I really enjoy this site! I like the open dialogue & discussion about all these topics. But why do “we” need to take sides on this. Most , not all have had our experience with the product that this thread is named after. If we were all having a beer around the campfire it wouldn’t sound like this. Let’s cut the crap we don’t have to hold hands, but stay on topic respect differing points of view or shut up! Now go kill some deer from your favorite saddle gear of choice.
 
I'm pretty sure a policy was put in place that if someone had an issue with a company to contact them directly, and to stop these kind of posts. I'm wondering why that's never enforced when it's about Tetherd?

I saw nothing wrong with the OP. Just stated his experience. But then the usual players show up and start the same old posts and its allowed until one of them gets his feelings hurt. If you dont want it to be Facebook like, a suggestion would be to not allow the bashing to start... again... for the hundredth time.
 
I keep hearing about poor customer service at Tethrd. I broke my Gen 1 Predator and it was dealt with and replaced quickly. I ordered a Mantis and was originally told to expect 6-8 weeks but I got mine in 4 weeks. Opened up my box and noticed that my MicroFit Adjusters were missing. I emailed them after work at 2:00 am and when I woke up later that morning I had a reply in my inbox taking care of the situation. They ran out but will rush them to me as soon as they come in. Every order I have ever placed with them has had great communication. No issues whatsoever.

Sounds like exceptional customer service to me. Guess I’m one of the lucky ones.
They appear to be a successful business, and I would say generally well-intentioned - with their success in marketing at times exceeding their ability to keep up with production and customer service, as well as occasional huge supply chain issues. My mantis arrived with overnight delivery on a Saturday morning...like 2 months later than promised after they dropped stated lead times before that matched reality. Many of these characteristics appear to be shared with many of the companies that we deal with in this niche. These are all small businesses serving a volatile market. And generally good guys stretched thin can give a mixture of great service and *** - promptly resolving what they can, but maybe not able to handle everything, and balls can be dropped.

What does surprise me is anyone suggesting that what appear to be legitimate safety concerns involving equipment failing under load at height, should be swept under the rug. That stinks.
 
What does surprise me is anyone suggesting that what appear to be legitimate safety concerns involving equipment failing under load at height, should be swept under the rug. That stinks.

no one has implied that.
 
Another forgotten casualty left in Tethr's wake is Boswell. Boudreaux Boswell has been one of the biggest assets to the saddle hunting community. His videos were instrumental in getting me up to speed with my Trophyline saddle. He was on this site regularly offering advice, reviewing products and leading the saddle hunting community in shepherding green horn saddle hunters on safe practices as well as moving saddle hunting towards becoming mainstream. He was involved in discussions on here where us saddle hunters often discussed what we all really wanted in a saddle. Boswell worked tirelessly with Aerohunter developed prototype saddles after prototype saddles until the Kestrel was developed. No sooner than the Kestrel appeared, meeting most everything we as a community were asking for, than Tethrd was born. Tethrd's Mantis was a blatant copy of the Kestrel with a few tweaks to make it lighter. Most, including, Boswell took that as a slap in the face by members of the community that he had worked with to meet their needs. It hurt Boswell enough that he left this site and hasn't been back. He is truly missed.
The Predator is all Tethrd's and is a real contribution to the saddle hunting community. Myself, I'm surprised that they didn't react differently to their customers who purchased the Gen 1 platforms but that decision is their alone to make. When I got my Gen 1 platform, I voiced my concern that there was no way I could feel comfortable in it due to what I perceived as too fragile of a platform. I sent it back or a refund and waited for the Gen 2 which I feel was a big improvement. Every former saddle producer on the planet except Aerohunter has been litigated out of business and I'd hate to see that happen to Tethrd.
 
What does surprise me is anyone suggesting that what appear to be legitimate safety concerns involving equipment failing under load at height, should be swept under the rug. That stinks.
What surprises me is that guys are “legitimately” worried about there safety, complaining on a website, with no affiliation with the company that made the predator WHILE STANDING ON THE PREDATOR!
If I was worried about the predator breaking I wouldn’t be standing on the dang thing I would send it back to Tethrd. I wouldn’t use the gen1 until my gen 2 showed up. That’s freakin ridiculous!



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Another forgotten casualty left in Tethr's wake is Boswell. Boudreaux Boswell has been one of the biggest assets to the saddle hunting community. His videos were instrumental in getting me up to speed with my Trophyline saddle. He was on this site regularly offering advice, reviewing products and leading the saddle hunting community in shepherding green horn saddle hunters on safe practices as well as moving saddle hunting towards becoming mainstream. He was involved in discussions on here where us saddle hunters often discussed what we all really wanted in a saddle. Boswell worked tirelessly with Aerohunter developed prototype saddles after prototype saddles until the Kestrel was developed. No sooner than the Kestrel appeared, meeting most everything we as a community were asking for, than Tethrd was born. Tethrd's Mantis was a blatant copy of the Kestrel with a few tweaks to make it lighter. Most, including, Boswell took that as a slap in the face by members of the community that he had worked with to meet their needs. It hurt Boswell enough that he left this site and hasn't been back. He is truly missed.
The Predator is all Tethrd's and is a real contribution to the saddle hunting community. Myself, I'm surprised that they didn't react differently to their customers who purchased the Gen 1 platforms but that decision is their alone to make. When I got my Gen 1 platform, I voiced my concern that there was no way I could feel comfortable in it due to what I perceived as too fragile of a platform. I sent it back or a refund and waited for the Gen 2 which I feel was a big improvement. Every former saddle producer on the planet except Aerohunter has been litigated out of business and I'd hate to see that happen to Tethrd.

Cool story. Do you believe all that? The kestrel was a blatant copy of my Trophyline and my sitdrag. Let’s get real there hasn’t been anything less than a Trophyline copy sense Trophyline came out. Tethrd came out almost a year after the Kestrel


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Another forgotten casualty left in Tethr's wake is Boswell. Boudreaux Boswell has been one of the biggest assets to the saddle hunting community. His videos were instrumental in getting me up to speed with my Trophyline saddle. He was on this site regularly offering advice, reviewing products and leading the saddle hunting community in shepherding green horn saddle hunters on safe practices as well as moving saddle hunting towards becoming mainstream. He was involved in discussions on here where us saddle hunters often discussed what we all really wanted in a saddle. Boswell worked tirelessly with Aerohunter developed prototype saddles after prototype saddles until the Kestrel was developed. No sooner than the Kestrel appeared, meeting most everything we as a community were asking for, than Tethrd was born. Tethrd's Mantis was a blatant copy of the Kestrel with a few tweaks to make it lighter. Most, including, Boswell took that as a slap in the face by members of the community that he had worked with to meet their needs. It hurt Boswell enough that he left this site and hasn't been back. He is truly missed.
The Predator is all Tethrd's and is a real contribution to the saddle hunting community. Myself, I'm surprised that they didn't react differently to their customers who purchased the Gen 1 platforms but that decision is their alone to make. When I got my Gen 1 platform, I voiced my concern that there was no way I could feel comfortable in it due to what I perceived as too fragile of a platform. I sent it back or a refund and waited for the Gen 2 which I feel was a big improvement. Every former saddle producer on the planet except Aerohunter has been litigated out of business and I'd hate to see that happen to Tethrd.


Sorry RR, but this is not true at all. When Aero hunter released their original saddle they asked for feedback. There were many of us they told them they should look into a minimalist saddle. Bobby Boswell was the very one that criticize every 1 of those comments. He didnt like it so he shot them all down.

So we started developing minimalist DIY saddle, and Bobby started his constant criticism. We were long down the minimalist saddle journey before aerohunter realized they missed an opportunity. If anything aero hunter copied our ideas on this site not vice versa. Greg and Ernie were at the very beginning of all the minimalist saddle DIY's. They didnt copy anyone, they were part of the original developement. Aerohunter, then tried, with Bobby's help, to jump in first. They got beat. They should have listened to their customers from the beginning. Bobby bashed a lot of people on this site and criticized folks for camoflauging sticks, making platforms, low tethers, to lecturing how silly we were about deer vision. Truth is he was good at making youtube videos and that's all. he had no original ideas just made the first youtube videos of DIYS and ideas everyone else came up with.... and it started long before this site was here.

Not meaning to stir up old wounds, but if we are going to start the whole copy gossip then some actual facts are helpful.

I hunted from an aerohunter and I pushed their original saddle. but it was flawed in many's opinions. Had they listen to some of us, instead of Bobby, who knows Tether'd may not have ever happened.
 
Cool story. Do you believe all that? The kestrel was a blatant copy of my Trophyline and my sitdrag. Let’s get real there hasn’t been anything less than a Trophyline copy sense Trophyline came out. Tethrd came out almost a year after the Kestrel


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I think the beef was that the Kite was being developed as the Mantis was released. Tethrd basically beat them to the punch and put out an almost identical mesh saddle. That’s when Boswell dropped out here.

It’s too bad. I really miss his input here as well. He was a great spokesperson for saddle hunting and did whatever he could to help everyone out.
 
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