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Question about the Mantis

Letemgrowitllshow

Letemgrowitllshow

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jun 23, 2018
Messages
1,311
Location
Saint Francis MN
Wondering if the leg straps on the Mantis are weight rated? I was sitting in my rock climbing harness adjusting my lonewolf hand climber strap wondering this.

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No they are not. I personally think they don’t need to be. Some don’t even use them. I use them in case of a fall to keep everything in place until the rope and saddle tighten up. At that point I’m not going anywhere if they do break.
 
If you were to fall off the platform and the waist belt wasn't tight enough and the saddle started to slide up your body, the leg straps would stop it from riding up. But what if the buckles broke? Could the saddle slide up to your armpits?

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Letemgrowitllshow said:
If you were to fall off the platform and the waist belt wasn't tight enough and the saddle started to slide up your body, the leg straps would stop it from riding up. But what if the buckles broke? Could the saddle slide up to your armpits?

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Wondering if anybody can answer this for me? I'm torn between the mantis or a kestrel. I want the mantis but this is my hesitation...

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You're asking if the leg straps broke, and the waist belt wasn't tight or on at all, would you get caught? More than likely the saddle wouldn't go anywhere. If it did slide, you'd probably slide down to your armpits and stop.

It's difficult to fall out of a unmodified stidrag. A modern saddle with additional material that cups better will be even more difficult to fall out of and that is not even taking into account the waist belt and leg straps.
 
I agree that needing leg loops is unlikely. It's surprisingly difficult to squirm out of my kestrel, even with the waist belt loosened all the way.

That being said, I like having them there. I imagine it's one of those things you'd rather have and not need than need and not have.
 
Its a struggle to wiggle out of a sitdrag with your weight in it, without any leg straps, it kinda of squeeze's you
 
If you encounter a scenario where your leg straps need to be "load rated" - in other words, let's say hold 10x your weight, You're probably not going to make it to tell us about it on the other side. If you're climbing properly and safely, and hunting properly and safely, there is no scenario where the leg straps on any saddle should be required to handle an impulse force much higher than double your body weight. Even that is a stretch.

The leg straps on the kestrel are not "load rated" for your protection - it's for New Tribe's. They are basically acknowledging that some person will use the equipment improperly, and hurt/kill themselves, and said person and their family will take advantage of US legal system to gain compensation from said misuse. In order to get complete insurance that covers against all of this, you make it impossible for the saddle to be even a tiny percentage of why a person is hurt.

That said - I do think have leg straps to help keep your saddle in place in the event of a fall or slip, will probably make things more comfortable for you, if not a wee bit 'safer'. To accomplish that, they need not be load rated. by the time the force gets that high on them, your saddle should be taking over and handling the fall. If it isn't, you're doing some weird stuff...
 
Agree with above posts. I love the leg straps just because it makes the Mantis more comfortable for me. Without them, most of the pressure is on my waist where the top belt is on the saddle. With the leg straps on in the bottom hook-up position, I can evenly distribute my weight across the mesh part of the saddle, which is where all the comfort is. I keep my waist buckle comfortably snug, but not crazy tight.
 
It'll be interesting how this all plays out as the lawsuits start trickling in. It's just a matter of time.

But as others said for the leg straps to be load bearing require some pretty serious falls. Not so much saddle hunting but more akin to using a saddle as treestand safety harness....

Lawsuit safety versus real world common sense safety are two entirely different worlds unfortunately, so we'll eventually see how those two interplay with respect to saddle design.

Something that struck me as strange was the New Lone Wolf Assassin ATA video with the creator. Correct me if I am wrong here, but I believe the original LW Assassin was TMA approved. But the thing had no lineman's belt, so my assumption was that dude was free climbing up onto the platform before tethering in. Okay, so the thing was TMA approved but free climbing is the riskiest part of the hunt. How does that make any sense?
 
So are
elk yinzer said:
It'll be interesting how this all plays out as the lawsuits start trickling in. It's just a matter of time.

But as others said for the leg straps to be load bearing require some pretty serious falls. Not so much saddle hunting but more akin to using a saddle as treestand safety harness....

Lawsuit safety versus real world common sense safety are two entirely different worlds unfortunately, so we'll eventually see how those two interplay with respect to saddle design.

Something that struck me as strange was the New Lone Wolf Assassin ATA video with the creator. Correct me if I am wrong here, but I believe the original LW Assassin was TMA approved. But the thing had no lineman's belt, so my assumption was that dude was free climbing up onto the platform before tethering in. Okay, so the thing was TMA approved but free climbing is the riskiest part of the hunt. How does that make any sense?
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So are law suits trickling in. I have never heard of one with a saddle. There is always risk when hunting.
 
elk yinzer said:
But as others said for the leg straps to be load bearing require some pretty serious falls. Not so much saddle hunting but more akin to using a saddle as treestand safety harness....
Click to expand...
Maybe with traditional climbing methods. We are seeing a lot more non-traditional climbing methods lately, some with a higher risk of falls.
 
redsquirrel said:
Maybe with traditional climbing methods. We are seeing a lot more non-traditional climbing methods lately, some with a higher risk of falls.
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I think one of the other issues would be a miss clip of sorts while climbing in the dark. LB accidentally clipped to leg loop, "felt solid" until there is a fall and hook buckles, or whatever fails....
 
I can’t see how someone can fall in a saddle but then again I can’t see how anyone can shoot someone by mistake while hunting.
 
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