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Saddle Rebuild/Mod - Advice

HuntNorthEast

HuntNorthEast

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jul 24, 2020
Messages
1,027
Location
Southern Maine
Okay, looking to "build" my Phantom to a better quality/my standards. I am going to cut off the factory bridge loops and get rid of that garbage comfort channel design. I am going to redesign the bridge loops with all webbing and sewn in sections of rope to act as the "comfort channels". By doing this, it should prevent the issues of the balls pushing through the webbing. I will also make less channels because honestly there isn't much of a difference between 1 and 2 as there is from 1 to 3 settings. By spacing the channels out it should be more noticeable and prevent slipping.

My other bridge loop idea is to make daisy chain style bridge loops with sewn webbing. I'd use a removable bridge with this. Either double biner ends or find my sweet spot, do a figure 8 on a bight on one side and biner the other end.

Also, looking for input on bridge ideas. I hate the amsteel bridge. It is a pain to adjust the prusik and annoying that it cannot be removed at all. If I make a bridge, I want to use a thicker rope similar to sampson predator and a prusik that isn't a country mile long. Sometimes I want to be really tight to the tree and a long prusik makes it less than desirable at times.

Any advice or pictures of your setups would be appreciated, thanks!
HuntNorthEast1.png
 
Sorry to say, but I have a bad feeling about this. Cutting off the bridge loops and replacing them with new sections of webbing will introduce 4 additional life-supporting stitched seams that could fail. I just don’t think it’ll be easy to get enough overlap of the webbing to properly get sufficient stitches in there to make it strong. You can’t just go back and forth over the same section a million times as it will weaken the webbing. Will it hold you? Probably. Will it hold you if you fall and get caught by your bridge? . . .

I don’t have a Phantom, but can’t you just cut out the comfort channel balls and use prussiks or girth hitches on the bridge loops? Leave the bridge itself intact and just take out what you don’t like.
 
I would ask for a refund and send it back, if possible. Buy something else that will last longer and doesn't have an obvious design flaw.
 
drew13 said:
Sorry to say, but I have a bad feeling about this. Cutting off the bridge loops and replacing them with new sections of webbing will introduce 4 additional life-supporting stitched seams that could fail. I just don’t think it’ll be easy to get enough overlap of the webbing to properly get sufficient stitches in there to make it strong. You can’t just go back and forth over the same section a million times as it will weaken the webbing. Will it hold you? Probably. Will it hold you if you fall and get caught by your bridge? . . .

I don’t have a Phantom, but can’t you just cut out the comfort channel balls and use prussiks or girth hitches on the bridge loops? Leave the bridge itself intact and just take out what you don’t like.
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I would be using a seam ripper to undo the stitching and resew all new webbing working in all new bridge loops. Sorry I didn't clarify. I would not be chopping and stacking. Also, I wouldn't just run stitching back and forth a million times, everything will be stitched methodically and correct. I'm talking a whole new piece and design, not just doing a hack job.


DB4x4 said:
I would ask for a refund and send it back, if possible. Buy something else that will last longer and doesn't have an obvious design flaw.
Click to expand...

I tried asking for a replacement once things started going south. I was told to glue it...or send it to them so they could glue it...

I'm going to mod it, and if I don't like it I will buy something else.

To everyone else, I wanna see some bridge ideas if you don't mind!!!
 
HuntNorthEast said:
I tried asking for a replacement once things started going south. I was told to glue it...or send it to them so they could glue it...
Click to expand...

Wow, subpar response on their part. I would suggest sewing the bridge loops flat and maybe reinforcing them with another piece of webbing like some other companies do.

Then make your own girth hitched adjustable bridge. The girth hitch does the same thing as the comfort channels, without the need for silly beads that pop out.

Let me find a link real quick...
 
I recommend some rated climbing rope of your choice with an appropriately sized prusik. Something to this effect...

Bridge Options

@Wirrex, what length of oplux and trc did you use for that? Sent from my SM-G975U using Tapatalk I don’t honestly know. Since I made the knots as small as I could and cut the extra, I have no idea.
saddlehunter.com

I don't like Amsteel for a bridge.
 
I agree with above, sell it or keep as a backup, and just build your own. Its a fun process, you will love hunting in it, and you already have a phantom as a template for measurements, which is one of the hardest parts.
 
Also, dont overlook the good ole tubular webbing bridge, and underrated choice and one that is popular among the saddle builders on here. My phantom clone has one that works beautifully and slides like butter through the biner
 
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