-
The SH Membership has gone live. Only SH Members have access to post in the classifieds. All members can view the classifieds. Starting in 2020 only SH Members will be admitted to the annual hunting contest. Current members will need to follow these steps to upgrade: 1. Click on your username 2. Click on Account upgrades 3. Choose SH Member and purchase.
-
We've been working hard the past few weeks to come up with some big changes to our vendor policies to meet the changing needs of our community. Please see the new vendor rules here: Vendor Access Area Rules
Saddle Expiration Date
- Thread starter Spartan
- Start date
I won’t speculate on why those things aren’t done when you purchase those saddles because I don’t know.
I can tell you this, the liability insurance required us to show them our warnings in a presentation before giving us a final cost quote. Also the actual certified third party drop testing facility offers a review of your procedures and warnings paperwork when you do the tests and include recommendations for things that should be updated or changed.
International race car standards:
The FIA standard is five years starting on January 1 of the year following the year of manufacture.
FIA homologated belts are typically used in sedan style race cars or open wheel formula cars that are well maintained and see very little exposure to harsh elements such as water, dirt, and mud. This standard is for a 5 or 6 point belts (5point belts will be disallowed by the FIA starting in 2018). The FIA homologation requires seat belts to pass certain breaking loads, elongation rates, abrasion resistance, and corrosion resistance as well as pass a dynamic crash sled test. Nearly all FIA seat belts use polyester webbing instead of nylon webbing. Polyester webbing has a much higher UV resistance than nylon as well as more resistance to water, oil and other contaminants. Polyester webbing is also superior to Nylon webbing in controlling elongation rates with less stretch and 'rubber band effect'. Nylon webbing has a standard elongation of 25% where polyester webbing can be manufactured with specific elongations ranging from 6% to 16% depending on the application requirement. Due to the predominant use of Polyester webbing as well as the typical application for an FIA belt, the FIA homologates the safety of its belts for 5 years plus the year of production. FIA testing and approval procedures are more costly - therefore FIA belts are typically more expensive than SFI belts. Over the useful life of a harness system, the price of an FIA belt, with up to six years validity compared to multiple sets of SFI belts may end up at a break-even or less expensive than the SFI belts over the same period of time. FIA does not permit re-webbing on their seat belts.
Ye
Seat belts are not constantly supporting your hanging weight either. They shouldn’t be subjected to static or dynamic loads unless you crash. Your saddle is out in the weather, suffering wear and tear from branches, thorns, sweat all while being statically loaded through out your hunt. So it’s not an apples to apples comparison.
Yes and no. Perhaps there is not one listed however your car warranty covered your safety belt, but since your car is for recreational use, they can’t make you replace seatbelt just like they can’t make you replace your tires or trade in your car. If there is a known issue, they send out recall notices but they can’t make you take the car in to get the replacement part either.
Seat belts are not constantly supporting your hanging weight either. They shouldn’t be subjected to static or dynamic loads unless you crash. Your saddle is out in the weather, suffering wear and tear from branches, thorns, sweat all while being statically loaded through out your hunt. So it’s not an apples to apples comparison.
My kestrel has 3 seasons in it at about 50 hunts per season. It looks brand new. For some reason seems like the stitching would be the first thing to fail on an old saddle? I dunno. I was just shocked that all the stitches looked flawless after 150 walks through briar patches ext. The fraying in the last pic on the bottom right is where I cut off the adjuster straps.
Seatbelt webbing has to be certified to CFR standards. Do we know if the saddles using "seatbelt webbing" are even using certified stock to begin with?
No I don’t know because we have no clue where they are purchasing the seat belt webbing from. The strap works webbing is different than, TNwebbing, and they are both different than Sgt Knots. It’s tough to tell without knowing the distributor or manufacturer the webbing is being bought from. This is one of the reasons I only utilize the milspec webbing. I know it is required to meet certain strength and size requirements. Plus the color options are consistent and nylon can stretch a little to help absorb a dynamic event. Sure it costs a lot more than seatbelt webbing, but in my mind the additional cost is worth it due to the benefits.
You're the one who goes by Maverick.
I mostly drive a minivan. It's currently illegal to hunt from it.
I get all this but there is no way I’m ditching a perfectly good saddle (after inspections of course) with just typical hunting use. When it starts to look sketchy, and most of us are very reasonable people, then I will do ch it. Otherwise it just seems very much over the top.
What do you mean by point of reference? G2 Outdoors on Youtube which is made by the Tethrd guys stated this in one of their videos. Also due to normal wear and tear and degradation of materials over time they have to put a expiration date on them so they're not held liable, even if the saddle is completely fine. Its all to cover their ace if they were sued.
The Mantis saddle, Tethrd's first, was introduced in 2018 I believe, so those saddles haven't even reached 5 years. So when they make the claim "most materials will last for 20 years if cared for properly", I'm wondering what the basis for the claim is and exactly what it means.
Reportedly there's been some problems with their balls. I'm not really comfortable asking about that. Probably not cared for properly. Gotta take care of your balls if you want it to last.
My comfort channel is making me uncomfortable (tethrd phantom)
Literally 25’ up a tree as I type this; yeah I failed to check my gear before climbing (more than once it seems....) that’s something I probably should fix more than anything. so I just got this saddle not long ago, brand new first owner, tonight is the 8th sit (fall bear is open in the NW) -...
saddlehunter.com
Last edited:
I just purchased 2” seatbelt webbing from sailrite
It has a lot of certifications.
One of which is
Please Note: This webbing is certified for automotive use according to the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS 302). The webbing is made to specifications, however due to the weaving process the width can vary up to ± 5/64”.
Tan Polyester Seat Belt Webbing
DetailsThis polyester webbing is resistant to rot, mold, mildew and abrasion. It's also highly resistant to shrinking and stretching. Made for outdoor use, this webbing is intended to reinforce the edges of shade sails and other shade structures. It can also be used for hiking straps, bag...
www.sailrite.com
Not for nothing, but when I am sourcing materials (thread, webbing, ropes, biners, etc. …) to hold my self safely at height, sgt knots, strapworks, Amazon, Ali express, eBay or the likes are on my no-shopping list. That is just me.
Got my thread from wawak, got my webbing from sailrite. Going to order d-rings soon to make a wraptor. Not sure where I am going to source them. I have to do a little research first.
Commercial saddles I have and use aero hunter kestrel flex. I’ll save money elsewhere, but not life safety.
Just my 0.02
Mantis saddle??? That one was purposely made uncomfortable so they wouldn't have to worry about anyone using it long term.
Interestingly today, I was looking at the heavy duty full body harness that came with the XOP platform and it says to discard it if it is 2 years beyond the manufacturer date. That is the shortest time frame I have ever seen
I've had some stands and sticks that I recall also saying two year expiration, and with at least one of them, that was with the additional caveat that they also could not be left placed in the woods for more than two months at a time. Oh brother....
If your steel is so cheap and your paint jobs are so poor that your products can't be outside for more than two months without rotting away, then maybe you're just in the wrong line of work.
At the end of the day it all boils down to the manufacturers trying to limit their liability in a blanket form, as others have mentioned. But it's also worth noting that depending on jurisdiction, such caveats may or may not be held up by a judge or jury. If they find them to be unreasonable or unrealistic, they can and will toss such things out if these matters ever end up in a court.
Last edited: