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Saddle hunter watches as kestrel makes love to phantom and gives birth on his dining room table (GRAPHIC)

BackSpasm

Well-Known Member
SH Member
Joined
Apr 10, 2019
Messages
1,635
Location
Tennessee
Ah, I see you fell for my clickbait title.

Ever since the phantom was unveiled, I have been carefully planning my clone build. Once I got my hands on one, I stenciled it for exact dimension and took photos from every angle. I went home and this is what I came up with at first: (shown with belt etc tacked in place before final assembly)

IMG_4224.jpeg

Same chassis dimensions, same leg loop system with T-hooks, same utilibridge setup with comfort channels, and I was planning on adding the same lineman's. The issue was: it just was not as comfortable as my old kestrel clone no matter what I did. In fact, the real phantom was significantly more comfortable than my imitation. I think the issue may be the mil-spec mesh I used, as well as the way I welded the body to the webbing. I will work on this later and figure out where I went wrong. In the meantime, I have overhauled my kestrel clone saddle to accept the phantom upgrade features while retaining the roomy comfort of the kestrel. I also took the opportunity to upgrade my waist belt etc. I had some microadjusters on the old saddle which I removed as well to replace with comfort channels. Here is what I came up with:


IMG_4289.jpegIMG_4291.jpeg
 

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At first glance I noticed that the stretchy direction of your mesh runs side to side rather than top to bottom. I did this on the first one I made and it's not as comfortable. The next two I made from mesh I changed the stretchy orientation to top to bottom and they're much more comfortable.
1584491587356.png

1584491535840.png
 
At first glance I noticed that the stretchy direction of your mesh runs side to side rather than top to bottom. I did this on the first one I made and it's not as comfortable. The next two I made from mesh I changed the stretchy orientation to top to bottom and they're much more comfortable.
View attachment 26239

View attachment 26238

Wow that’s a great tip! Thanks! Looks like you are running very similar mesh to what I have. I was getting a fair amount of hip punch too, which is new to me in a saddle. I finally know what everyone has been complaining about


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Wow that’s a great tip! Thanks! Looks like you are running very similar mesh to what I have. I was getting a fair amount of hip punch too, which is new to me in a saddle. I finally know what everyone has been complaining about


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Actually that snip above is of Phantom taken from one of their marketing videos. Attached below is a picture of my DIY saddle. The stretchy grain is up down.
1584528863957.png
 
Ah, I see you fell for my clickbait title.

Ever since the phantom was unveiled, I have been carefully planning my clone build. Once I got my hands on one, I stenciled it for exact dimension and took photos from every angle. I went home and this is what I came up with at first: (shown with belt etc tacked in place before final assembly)

View attachment 26227

Same chassis dimensions, same leg loop system with T-hooks, same utilibridge setup with comfort channels, and I was planning on adding the same lineman's. The issue was: it just was not as comfortable as my old kestrel clone no matter what I did. In fact, the real phantom was significantly more comfortable than my imitation. I think the issue may be the mil-spec mesh I used, as well as the way I welded the body to the webbing. I will work on this later and figure out where I went wrong. In the meantime, I have overhauled my kestrel clone saddle to accept the phantom upgrade features while retaining the roomy comfort of the kestrel. I also took the opportunity to upgrade my waist belt etc. I had some microadjusters on the old saddle which I removed as well to replace with comfort channels. Here is what I came up with:


View attachment 26229View attachment 26230
Nice sewing machine.
 
At first glance I noticed that the stretchy direction of your mesh runs side to side rather than top to bottom. I did this on the first one I made and it's not as comfortable. The next two I made from mesh I changed the stretchy orientation to top to bottom and they're much more comfortable.
View attachment 26239

View attachment 26238

I also made a clone of the phantom the other day, and it was terrible. All of the pressure was directly on the seatbelt straps. I couldn't figure out what everybody was talking about saying the phantom and clones are so comfortable. I thought, we all like different things and threw it on the scrap pile. I then read your post, went and checked my saddle, and sure enough the 2-way stretch was side-to-side. So I made another one and this thing is like everyone has been saying. I am amazed at the difference it makes by running it up-and-down.

Thank you!
 
I also made a clone of the phantom the other day, and it was terrible. All of the pressure was directly on the seatbelt straps. I couldn't figure out what everybody was talking about saying the phantom and clones are so comfortable. I thought, we all like different things and threw it on the scrap pile. I then read your post, went and checked my saddle, and sure enough the 2-way stretch was side-to-side. So I made another one and this thing is like everyone has been saying. I am amazed at the difference it makes by running it up-and-down.

Thank you!

I had a lot of ideas of what was wrong and this was not one of them. I’m glad this was pointed out as well


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I had a lot of ideas of what was wrong and this was not one of them. I’m glad this was pointed out as well


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I was right there with you. I had no idea why it was so bad. I sat in the first one for about 15 minutes and knew I wouldn't be using that thing at all.
 
@BackSpasm, working on my phantom clone as well. Did you use the Morse to sew this? Did it do ok with the multiple layers of webbing? Is that a singer 15 clone/copy?
 
@BackSpasm, working on my phantom clone as well. Did you use the Morse to sew this? Did it do ok with the multiple layers of webbing? Is that a singer 15 clone/copy?

It’s no problem with some hand power help! I run a size 18 needle using Gutermann Tera. I’ve gotten way better with it with practice. It’s a singer clone but I think it’s more based off the singer 200 I believe? Made in Japan in the 50’s. I love it


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It’s no problem with some hand power help! I run a size 18 needle using Gutermann Tera. I’ve gotten way better with it with practice. It’s a singer clone but I think it’s more based off the singer 200 I believe? Made in Japan in the 50’s. I love it


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
It is a Singer 15 clone. Some of the Singer 15 variations had an external belt driven motor. If it was a Singer 201 clone it would have a class 66 horizontal drop in bobbin, not the vertical bobbin of the 15 class.
 
Yep, we tested it with the stretch both ways and it definitely made a difference in comfort!


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FYI, I finished two new phantom clones where the only difference from the first one I made is the mesh orientation. The comfort difference based on the mesh alone is staggering. The new ones are immensely better with the correct mesh alignment.
 
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