CanuckBuck
Member
Let me preface this review by saying I am new to the saddle world. This is my first saddle even with that said I believe this can help anyone looking at purchasing this. I am working on a full comprehensive video review to be released early 2021. These are my initial thoughts.
More and more I am beginning to get over the whole negative vibe of Chinese made products. My menace saddle came with great stitching. Of course some run outs(excess thread) were left but can easily be cut off, no biggie. I was just happy to see that the stitches weren’t sloppy like an NHL player from the 80’s. So build quality was spot on.
I followed Tethrd’s sizing guide and sized up to a large as I am a 34” waste. There is alot of excessive strap material and something i might need to address In early season next year. For the most part it is not an issue with the included elastic excess strap holders. The fit is spot on and definitely could accommodate larger framed individuals.
Walking with the saddle on is great IF!! You do not attach the leg straps. They just seem to get in the way of a healthy stride so i stuff them into my pockets, bingo bango(did i just say that? You bet yer petunias i did!!).
When i was tethered in, it took no time to find a nice comfortable setting. Which was great as when i first leaned back into the saddle i had instant hip pinch! So literally two adjustments had me comfortable. I put the tether at forehead height and my prusik was about 10” from the girth hitch. I must remind the reader that this is a fixed bridge so you are limited to the fine tuning. The amsteel bridge glides great without noise through the carabiner. Sitting or leaning was not a problem. I will say that both were super comfortable. I found the saddle rode up slightly until i made the tether adjustment. Then if i wanted to go from a sitting position to a leaning position i had to adjust it bang on to my settings which i figured out quickly and hand no riding up after this. About 16-18” lead. Anything closer and i will get it riding up, the good news is anything less is not as comfortable and easily noticed.
There is something i will say about this saddle and I bet a few duckets that this issue happens with most saddles. The bridge, lineman and molle loops all stitch to the top section on the saddle. This makes the first 8” or so of the saddle on both sides very stiff. This was annoying as it can create hotspots and guarantee that this is what most newbies might think hip pinch is. I thought that till I actually felt hip pinch and now know the difference in such little time. If somehow a second generation can work around that bunch up of material that would make the initial comfort perfect. This most likely will break-in after a few more sits but something i noticed right away.
Anyways, I think saddles are wonderful and maybe i just got lucky and found settings that were bang on right off the bat. Beginners luck i suppose. My father did say this to me, how comfortable do really want to be? You’re hunting after all. Strong words and something I won’t forget. I dig it so far. Can’t wait to share a full blown review next year. I need to sit in it a bunch more times to get the nitty gritty of this thing. But my initial thoughts are very positive. Keep er tight folks!
More and more I am beginning to get over the whole negative vibe of Chinese made products. My menace saddle came with great stitching. Of course some run outs(excess thread) were left but can easily be cut off, no biggie. I was just happy to see that the stitches weren’t sloppy like an NHL player from the 80’s. So build quality was spot on.
I followed Tethrd’s sizing guide and sized up to a large as I am a 34” waste. There is alot of excessive strap material and something i might need to address In early season next year. For the most part it is not an issue with the included elastic excess strap holders. The fit is spot on and definitely could accommodate larger framed individuals.
Walking with the saddle on is great IF!! You do not attach the leg straps. They just seem to get in the way of a healthy stride so i stuff them into my pockets, bingo bango(did i just say that? You bet yer petunias i did!!).
When i was tethered in, it took no time to find a nice comfortable setting. Which was great as when i first leaned back into the saddle i had instant hip pinch! So literally two adjustments had me comfortable. I put the tether at forehead height and my prusik was about 10” from the girth hitch. I must remind the reader that this is a fixed bridge so you are limited to the fine tuning. The amsteel bridge glides great without noise through the carabiner. Sitting or leaning was not a problem. I will say that both were super comfortable. I found the saddle rode up slightly until i made the tether adjustment. Then if i wanted to go from a sitting position to a leaning position i had to adjust it bang on to my settings which i figured out quickly and hand no riding up after this. About 16-18” lead. Anything closer and i will get it riding up, the good news is anything less is not as comfortable and easily noticed.
There is something i will say about this saddle and I bet a few duckets that this issue happens with most saddles. The bridge, lineman and molle loops all stitch to the top section on the saddle. This makes the first 8” or so of the saddle on both sides very stiff. This was annoying as it can create hotspots and guarantee that this is what most newbies might think hip pinch is. I thought that till I actually felt hip pinch and now know the difference in such little time. If somehow a second generation can work around that bunch up of material that would make the initial comfort perfect. This most likely will break-in after a few more sits but something i noticed right away.
Anyways, I think saddles are wonderful and maybe i just got lucky and found settings that were bang on right off the bat. Beginners luck i suppose. My father did say this to me, how comfortable do really want to be? You’re hunting after all. Strong words and something I won’t forget. I dig it so far. Can’t wait to share a full blown review next year. I need to sit in it a bunch more times to get the nitty gritty of this thing. But my initial thoughts are very positive. Keep er tight folks!
