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Saddle Expiration Date

Plebe said:
He's way more credible on scent control than saddle safety :)

On the latter point, he probably weighs 100lb less than me so I've never legitimized a comparative thought. He is the first I had heard mention saddles are safer...quite awhile ago. Accessibility has really blown up recently, so, for good or bad, we'll learn a bit more soon enough.
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if i remember, how not to highline on youtube (and some others), tested old climbing ropes....and if i recall they did lose strength, but were still strong

something to look up for this discussion, i can't see how a climbing rope can lose strength but webbing doesn't.....rope has more internal 'stuff', so my naive thought is that rope would lose strength slower than webbing as it is more self-protective.....but i could be full of it
 
kyler1945 said:
My point is, if you polled the members of this site, I'm willing to bet that people think they're between 10% and 99% safer than they were before, in your example. In reality, they've probably reduced their risk of injury or death by something more like .1% to .99%. If they didn't actually increase their risk by introducing new methods, gear, and false confidence in said methods and gear.

It's most definitely worth evaluating what you're doing out there. I just don't understand the logic behind spending hours obsessing with which rope to go with between one with 4500lbs MBS and another with 5000lbs MBS. The difference in your risk of injury, keeping all other variables the same, between those two inputs, is most likely statistically irrelevant. Especially when ignoring more obvious, glaring, and significantly larger risks.

A good counter argument to what I'm saying would be "I'm going to climb a tree regardless, so I'll do what I can within that framework." That's reasonable. But I bet if people really understood just how risky that proposition is, and what the true costs are of an accident at height will be long term, They'd give that decision more time and consideration than which rope to use.
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I used to climb with a LW Sit and Climb and no harness. I've read about the bands breaking, thanks to this site. So, I've altered the platform base and climb with a tethered saddle. Am I safer? lol.

Before the S&C, I used to carry a tree lounge. It was probably safer to climb and hunt from it than anything else I've tried. But the heart attack risk carrying it was just too much.

Statistically heart attack ranks #1. Falls rank just behind car crash. Still risky business, but dang, that tree lounge was a tough carry.
 
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raisins said:
if i remember, how not to highline on youtube (and some others), tested old climbing ropes....and if i recall they did lose strength, but were still strong

something to look up for this discussion, i can't see how a climbing rope can lose strength but webbing doesn't.....rope has more internal 'stuff', so my naive thought is that rope would lose strength slower than webbing as it is more self-protective.....but i could be full of it
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Lol, I'm far from expert. There were some cool studies on webbing. I don't remember where I had the info, and don't want to give anyone a false sense of security, but it was interesting to read how various webbings held up over time in adverse conditions.

To be clear, my emoji selection for your posts is enjoyment rather than mockery.
 
Wow, we've saddles that expire and internet poop advice that never will.
 
Weldabeast said:
Direct quote....

Take a 1 1/2 gallon ZipLok bag and either slide your saddle down to your knees or up under your armpits and go in the bag and after you wipe seal it all up and put in your pack. Done it many times and it isn't that difficult.
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i can see maybe keeping the belt safely tight around your waist, undoing leg straps, and then flip the saddle and bridge loops up your back (so inside of saddle is now on outside and bridge loops are upside down and bridge has rotated inside carabiner on tether).....but sliding your saddle down to your knees sounds crazy to me

and i wouldn't catch in a bag.....just drop the MOAB
 
raisins said:
i can see maybe keeping the belt safely tight around your waist, undoing leg straps, and then flip the saddle and bridge loops up your back (so inside of saddle is now on outside and bridge loops are upside and bridge has rotated inside carabiner on tether).....but sliding your saddle down to your knees sounds crazy to me
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At least it's sound scent control. In the end, isn't that the top priority?
 
For the record @kyler1945 I don't disagree with anything you've posted here. Leaving the ground is inherently dangerous. Simply strapping a saddle to your butt when you leave the ground is certainly not eliminating your potential for injury/death completely given the other factors you're putting into play. Hunting from the ground is definitely safer with respect to falls.

However, as bad as humans are at calculating odds and probabilities in our heads, we're the champs when it comes to creating rationalizations that what we're doing is "better". I fully acknowledge that I fall into the trap of using these rationalizations to justify my actions to myself. For instance one would be, "hunting from height makes me safer (and the others around me) due to being above the downward trajectory of bullets/arrows."

Realistically, I choose to hunt from height mostly because of the increased sight advantage I gain (the scent advantage idea is mostly a rationalization for me :tearsofjoy: ). I know it is more dangerous but I am willing to accept that risk. As with anything, individual mileage may vary. As a guy who has fallen from more trees than I can even recall (including the dreaded 4' drop from a one stick kickout) I completely understand the risks involved with climbing trees. Given that I'm still going to hunt from a tree, I will make the statement that I'm definitely safer now hunting from a saddle while even loosely attached to a tree than I was 40 years ago when I hunted sans tree stand perched on a branch wedged into any tree I could find that was remotely climbable. I would even argue I'm even safer than I was when I hunted from a climber or fixed stand 20 years ago without the benefit of any safety harness. Am I completely safe . . . nope, there's no false trust for me that what I'm doing is completely safe. But then again I'd argue that rarely anywhere in this word that you are completely safe. I could be sleeping in my bed and have the big maple next to the house crash down and crush me in my sleep. I will argue though that I've improved the odds of walking away, even if only slightly, over my alternatives given that I am going to elevate when I hunt.
 
I think the whole "saddles are safer" mentality comes from people comparing them to hunters using lock-on stands without a safety harness and without using a linemans belt or safety rope to ascend the tree...which is incredibly common.

If you compared them more fairly, I think you would see some interesting statistics :wink:

They probably also lean on the fallacy of there being less reported saddle hunter injuries compared to traditional stand injuries. Of course, they are not taking into account that there are 10 million hunters using tree stands, and probably only several thousand currently using saddles.
 
raisins said:
button buck to his buddy the 6 points

'dude, do you smell that? it's like someone dropped a deuce but then tried to like smother it in a bag or something'
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Its been a while since this bubbled back to the surface . . . seems like an appropriate moment to revisit maybe my favorite Saddlehunter.com post of all time. :tearsofjoy:

Everybody Poops

I am a trained bowhunter. A summer of practice. 20 yards…30 yards…40 yards…50 yards. Seated…standing…contorted. In cold weather gear…in warm weather gear…in a ghillie suit. Dead on whatever the condition. Public land scouted. I know where they bed. I know where they eat. I know where they do...
saddlehunter.com
 
Let's see some 5 year old saddles......does anybody keep them that long anyway? I have a 3 and 4 year old....little wear and tear but I still use. Mesh frey and linesman loop a couple stitches have looses upScreenshot_20220518-213033~2.pngScreenshot_20220518-213015~2.png
 
This is for liability reasons, hardhats expire as well but everyone still uses them past the date. Saddle manufactures are just covering their ace from a legal standpoint, Tethrd guys said most materials will last for 20 years if cared for properly.
 
Saddle Donkey said:
This is for liability reasons, hardhats expire as well but everyone still uses them past the date. Saddle manufactures are just covering their ace from a legal standpoint, Tethrd guys said most materials will last for 20 years if cared for properly.
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Not to be contentious, but what's the point of reference for them to make such a claim?
 
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