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Tether height with Kestrel?

justsomedude

justsomedude

Well-Known Member
Joined
Sep 10, 2014
Messages
2,514
Location
Nashville, TN
I FINALLY got to hang in mine for a while (I've been sick all week).
There is a bit of a feeling you are falling forward out of it compared to the EVO. Good news is that it isn't cutting into your legs.
Very happy with it so far.

Any opinions on tether height? I am starting high so I have extra rope available and I am going to be using a GriGri a lot and it gets too into the tree with a short tether.

I also like the option of standing very tall to stretch, hanging 'nuts to bark' to rest, letting my grigri down lower to squat and bend my knees. The Kestrel feels good in all of those positions.

It will be interesting to hear from some big guys. I am moderately big. 6'1" 205# 35" waist, 46 jacket. At some angles, the bridge can kind of get into your ribs a bit. Will take a little experimenting to understand the math.
 
First sit today. Had it above my head. Felt like it wasn't covering my butt as much as I wanted. I think starting with top belt lower will help.


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jpetri11 said:
First sit today. Had it above my head. Felt like it wasn't covering my butt as much as I wanted. I think starting with top belt lower will help.
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Click to expand...

That is by design. But you have to get it just right so it doesn't cut into your legs if you go too far
 
First sit today. Had it above my head. Felt like it wasn't covering my butt as much as I wanted. I think starting with top belt lower will help.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
justsomedude said:
I FINALLY got to hang in mine for a while (I've been sick all week).
There is a bit of a feeling you are falling forward out of it compared to the EVO. Good news is that it isn't cutting into your legs.
Very happy with it so far.

Any opinions on tether height? I am starting high so I have extra rope available and I am going to be using a GriGri a lot and it gets too into the tree with a short tether.

I also like the option of standing very tall to stretch, hanging 'nuts to bark' to rest, letting my grigri down lower to squat and bend my knees. The Kestrel feels good in all of those positions.

It will be interesting to hear from some big guys. I am moderately big. 6'1" 205# 35" waist, 46 jacket. At some angles, the bridge can kind of get into your ribs a bit. Will take a little experimenting to understand the math.
Click to expand...

Im 6' 180 lbs 32" waist and the Kestrel is very comfy for me , I can see the sliding forward thing everyone is saying but that sensation goes away for me and I think its just a mental thing. I keep my tree tether at eye level and I shortened the bridge some. I find as long as my boys are left alone I am very comfy. The kestrel was super easy to get used to but I did spend months with my Evo learning what worked for me... my Kestrel and Evo are going to be a game changer... Friday is the opener for me ! Cant Wait !


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@jpetri11 that has been my assessment so far is it feels high on my back side. I had my tether high. With a shorter bridge. I'm going to try and keep a short bridge but lower the tether to get a little more diagonal pull the vertical.
 
Carcher87 said:
@jpetri11 that has been my assessment so far is it feels high on my back side. I had my tether high. With a shorter bridge. I'm going to try and keep a short bridge but lower the tether to get a little more diagonal pull the vertical.
Click to expand...

Yea I think I need to shorten the bridge some. This will help some I think. At 6'2 240 im pushing the envelope on comfort in this thing. Evo was better for that but can't beat the ease of use of the kestrel so far.


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I'm 5 10 and 175 so different structure. But after thinkING about it a more vertical pull is going to increase pressure higher. I'm going to try another sit tomorrow to fine tune. I'll let you know my findings
 
I did some testing with my new kestrel and found that it is cutting into the back of my legs. It seems that the lower tether and shorter bridge may help this. Any thoughts? There were some comments about posting their findings, but no one has posted any. :)
 
eye level to chin level and I now use a 24 inch bridge and very little tether - makes is so easy to control movement, far more comfortable, and the tether/bridge does not interfere in bow drawing.
 
DaveT1963 said:
eye level to chin level and I now use a 24 inch bridge and very little tether - makes is so easy to control movement, far more comfortable, and the tether/bridge does not interfere in bow drawing.
Click to expand...
Thank you for the reply. What do you do when the tree is leaning? Do you setup on the side that is leaning toward you or the side that is leaning away from you?
 
if it leans a lot, I set up on the top side of leaners - otherwise you are fighting gravity. and you will need to lengthen your tether with prussic or ropeman.
 
I know from my first couple of times last year, Fighting gravity sucks... even a small lean imo.
 
DaveT1963 said:
eye level to chin level and I now use a 24 inch bridge and very little tether - makes is so easy to control movement, far more comfortable, and the tether/bridge does not interfere in bow drawing.
Click to expand...

I am the same. Sometimes, I wish I could go shorter than my setup allows.
 
Without shortening the bridge I had to set mine pretty high. As the season progressed I went shorter and shorter with the bridge and a tether height just above my eyes. The kestrel belt needs to be slightly below where your regular belt will ride.
 
I think I know the answer, but now am questioning myself. When everyone is talking about tether height, they are talking about where the rope goes around the tree, not where the ropeman or prusik knot is on the tether and clipping into the bridge correct?
 
Cory said:
I think I know the answer, but now am questioning myself. When everyone is talking about tether height, they are talking about where the rope goes around the tree, not where the ropeman or prusik knot is on the tether and clipping into the bridge correct?
Click to expand...
That is correct. Once the tether height is set your bridge length will control where the ropeman/prussic affixes.
 
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