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Tethrd Predator CFX

Hlzr said:
Has anyone ever considered where the saddle industry would be without Tethrd? I'll go out on a limb and say they have greater sales than any other company in the industry, which means they've put more hunters in the tree than any another factor, now you guys that have clogged this thread, and others, up with underhanded comments and retreaded jokes tell me that without Tethrd doing more to increase the customer base where would all the start up companies that manufacture cookie cutter platforms, sticks, and saddles be? Non existent that's where. When I started down the saddle hunting path I joined this forum to educate myself and to be honest I was overwhelmed by the terms, the techniques, and the choices, Tethr was the only company that manufactured and sold it all, while doing their best to educate the newbie like me. Am I a fanboy, No, as my Tethrd gear wears out or needs replaced I'll look at all the options available, and when I drop $400 on a custom made saddle from a smaller company run out of someones garage or when I replace my platform with one from a company that manufacturers a fraction of what Tethrd produces those companies will owe those sales to Tethrd. Leave a positive mark and you all have a happy and safe holiday season.
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I love my Tethrd accessories, as I’ve said many times, and used to really like the guys who started the company. I’ll just address what I’ve bolded, as your response is generally well-thought-out and well-meaning.
-Yes, discussed ad nauseum on this forum
-not necessarily a good thing. Quality hasn’t outweighed quantity, and quantity doesn’t mean a whole lot if they’re uneducated and more than half are influencers who get free gear and promote honest customers to part with their money over products they don’t necessarily understand or have any business sharing “knowledge” of
-what started out as true education with G2 and Tethrd’s original YT content, has become increasingly based on superlative marketing: “this is the lightest” and “this is the lowest drag” and “the most game changingest” and “we helped you all ditch those heavy treestands” and “the Michael Jordan of sewing” and “the godfather of saddle hunting”…It’s all quite exhausting and not altogether educational. If educating hunters was paramount to them, they’d make sure the hunters on their own & sponsored videos have all their safety/gear P’s & Q’s sorted before releasing that footage. Whenever I see red flags on safety in hunting videos and such, it’s almost always a person with a Tethrd kit that got sent to them at a discount or for free, rarely did they pay full price but sometimes they do, and they always have zero instruction. You can’t say they’ve educated us; they haven’t. At least, not in several years.
-then Tethrd owes its sales to AeroHunter, Trophyline, Lone Wolf, Anderson, Treesuit, Hawk, let’s not forget Sit-Drag, and numerous companies that made saddle/sling products before they did, not to mention this very forum that they used to be active on, until people started calling them out for their BS. We can play the who-owes-who game all we want but you’re only owed what you actually earned and Tethrd didn’t earn those other companies’ sales just because they were the loudest about being the “first” to offer complete saddle kits. They didn’t do the R&D to make products that may be better or worse than theirs, despite whether they’re inspired by Tethrd or not. Each company earns their own sales on their own terms and Tethrd has drawn their terms in the sand. They’d love you to THINK they are owed all this credit, what with the rampant patent-gobbling they’re doing on things they clearly did not invent.
And as I’ve also said, they have not seen their last dollar from me. That’s the catch, lots of cool stuff still on their site. Not bad products overall. Sucks when you want to support a company but feel kinda greasy when you do…
 
DelaWhere_Arrow said:
I love my Tethrd accessories, as I’ve said many times, and used to really like the guys who started the company. I’ll just address what I’ve bolded, as your response is generally well-thought-out and well-meaning.
-Yes, discussed ad nauseum on this forum
-not necessarily a good thing. Quality hasn’t outweighed quantity, and quantity doesn’t mean a whole lot if they’re uneducated and more than half are influencers who get free gear and promote honest customers to part with their money over products they don’t necessarily understand or have any business sharing “knowledge” of
-what started out as true education with G2 and Tethrd’s original YT content, has become increasingly based on superlative marketing: “this is the lightest” and “this is the lowest drag” and “the most game changingest” and “we helped you all ditch those heavy treestands” and “the Michael Jordan of sewing” and “the godfather of saddle hunting”…It’s all quite exhausting and not altogether educational. If educating hunters was paramount to them, they’d make sure the hunters on their own & sponsored videos have all their safety/gear P’s & Q’s sorted before releasing that footage. Whenever I see red flags on safety in hunting videos and such, it’s almost always a person with a Tethrd kit that got sent to them at a discount or for free, rarely did they pay full price but sometimes they do, and they always have zero instruction. You can’t say they’ve educated us; they haven’t. At least, not in several years.
-then Tethrd owes its sales to AeroHunter, Trophyline, Lone Wolf, Anderson, Treesuit, Hawk, let’s not forget Sit-Drag, and numerous companies that made saddle/sling products before they did, not to mention this very forum that they used to be active on, until people started calling them out for their BS. We can play the who-owes-who game all we want but you’re only owed what you actually earned and Tethrd didn’t earn those other companies’ sales just because they were the loudest about being the “first” to offer complete saddle kits. They didn’t do the R&D to make products that may be better or worse than theirs, despite whether they’re inspired by Tethrd or not. Each company earns their own sales on their own terms and Tethrd has drawn their terms in the sand. They’d love you to THINK they are owed all this credit, what with the rampant patent-gobbling they’re doing on things they clearly did not invent.
And as I’ve also said, they have not seen their last dollar from me. That’s the catch, lots of cool stuff still on their site. Not bad products overall. Sucks when you want to support a company but feel kinda greasy when you do…
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No reason to feel greasy about it. I realize they've made some mistakes. I think they're learning. And getting better. Hope so, like it or not they are big player now. They are a good company overall, I'm no expert here. If they want to be great they've got to learn from they're mistakes. Let them. Inform them. This constant bashing for bashing's sake gets old. I know it's kinda fun to bang on keys and reach so many. Some will never be convinced nor minds changed. Sadly hunting is nearly done and guys now haven't much to do but...
 
I think tethrd makes some good products. I still have their backband I use. Light, simple and effective. The predator XL is one of my favorite platforms. Aside from the gen1 predator issues the Predator has been a great platform. The sticks they seem to have gotten right on the third attempt. I think this platform is going to need a little time to work out the bugs. I also think they should drop the weight rating on it. It’s not for me. Their customer service is excellent. They overnighted me a replacement.
 
Swampwalker said:
No reason to feel greasy about it. I realize they've made some mistakes. I think they're learning. And getting better. Hope so, like it or not they are big player now. They are a good company overall, I'm no expert here. If they want to be great they've got to learn from they're mistakes. Let them. Inform them. This constant bashing for bashing's sake gets old. I know it's kinda fun to bang on keys and reach so many. Some will never be convinced nor minds changed. Sadly hunting is nearly done and guys now haven't much to do but...
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Finding it hard to refute anything here. I may not 100% agree but I’m in the high 90th percentile for sure. I don’t think what I personally do is bashing, though my sardonic inclinations towards Tethrd topics may suggest it, but it warrants introspection.
That said, this particular product has come with extra “baggage”, which I largely feel is due to Tethrd’s inconsistent promise-to-product track record. It’s unfortunate for Tethrd if they are in fact getting better, but they may have made the bed that way and we are all now laying in it.
I feel greasy because I have had such a varied experience with the company from my first Predator in 2019 to my last SYS Hauler in 2022, and the more you read on here, the more it seems the inconsistency is the consistent product from Tethrd.
To be extra clear, I wish Tethrd no harm. I also can’t just be an outright cheerleader like I used to be.
 
enkriss said:
I think tethrd makes some good products. I still have their backband I use. Light, simple and effective. The predator XL is one of my favorite platforms. Aside from the gen1 predator issues the Predator has been a great platform. The sticks they seem to have gotten right on the third attempt. I think this platform is going to need a little time to work out the bugs. I also think they should drop the weight rating on it. It’s not for me. Their customer service is excellent. They overnighted me a replacement.
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Their backband is pretty sweet.
I like my Gen2 Predator for size and simplicity but the batwing has not kept its bite and the platform does squeak in the cold. I have used my LW batwing with success though.
Haven’t bought their sticks or other platforms because I don’t like all this multiple-generations stuff. They’re doing their Gen-testing with real peoples’ lives, not to mention those same peoples’ money and time and allegedly some first-aid costs as well. I understand these products need to be tried and failed, but I don’t see Trophyline or LWCG toying with “our” lives to test their products in-market.
I really want to like this platform. A platform is often all I carry to the woods besides my bow and backpack, and having a lighter, quieter, “warmer” Predator would suit my hunting needs quite well. I don’t want to be a guinea pig for the first few generations for almost twice the cost of my comfy-as-hell Mission or super light Predator though. And when I see 200# dudes flexing it on YT reviews, well I’m about 200# all geared up to hunt so, yeah lol.
 
gcr0003 said:
Will you video yourself stepping on it for the first time and breaking it
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It definitely makes some crackly noises the first time stepping around the outer perimeter. I am not exactly sure it’s “the layers settling” though.

The first one I didn’t even strap to a tree. It had a bunch of cracks in it. So I highly recommend a good inspection upon receiving it.
 
enkriss said:
It definitely makes some crackly noises the first time stepping around the outer perimeter. I am not exactly sure it’s “the layers settling” though.

The first one I didn’t even strap to a tree. It had a bunch of cracks in it. So I highly recommend a good inspection upon receiving it.
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Imagine if you glued together a bunch of layers and then moved them around and heard them crack. You'd assume that the weaker glued areas were micro-fracturing. It stops making noise once all the weakest links are popped.
 
raisins said:
Imagine if you glued together a bunch of layers and then moved them around and heard them crack. You'd assume that the weaker glued areas were micro-fracturing. It stops making noise once all the weakest links are popped.
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Is that statement terrifying to just me?

I really don't want to think about anything micro fracturing underneath my feet.
Positioning device or not...
Can someone tell me if my tree hopper platform is microfracturing?
I'm sitting on the ground...
Maybe they should have stressed/QC before sending these out?
 
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Swingin' Free said:
Is that statement terrifying to just me?

I really don't want to think about anything micro fracturing underneath my feet.
Positioning device and not...
Came someone tell me if my tree hopper platform is microfracturing?
I'm sitting on the ground...
Maybe they should have stressed/QC before sending these out?
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Well....a big caveat here is....I'm kinda talking out of my butt because I've never worked with these materials.

However, this stuff is just a fiber embedded in some sort of epoxy matrix. What could possibly be "settling" within them? I think "settling" here might be a euphemism.

I have several Spyderco pocket knives with handles made of nylon with fiberglass embedded in it. Those don't pop in hard use. Bowtech makes entire bow risers out of carbon embedded in a resin....they don't pop.
 
raisins said:
Well....a big caveat here is....I'm kinda talking out of my butt because I've never worked with these materials.

However, this stuff is just a fiber embedded in some sort of epoxy matrix. What could possibly be "settling" within them? I think "settling" here might be a euphemism.

I have several Spyderco pocket knives with handles made of nylon with fiberglass embedded in it. Those don't pop in hard use. Bowtech makes entire bow risers out of carbon embedded in a resin....they don't pop.
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It’s just small pieces of carbon fibers mixed into a plastic. What is cracking are the fibers, where there is too much stiffness. It will stop cracking when the fibers are no longer adding rigidity, essentially returning it to being a plastic platform.

Carbon fiber is supposed to prevent flexing… if there is flexing there is a miss somewhere in the design(not enough plastic or not enough fibers, insufficient mixing, or just not enough material. Since it’s already overweight, I don’t think they can add material.
 
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Swingin' Free said:
Is that statement terrifying to just me?

I really don't want to think about anything micro fracturing underneath my feet.
Positioning device and not...
Came someone tell me if my tree hopper platform is microfracturing?
I'm sitting on the ground...
Maybe they should have stressed/QC before sending these out?
Click to expand...
Most aluminum stands, especially welded and cast ones, will undergo micro fracturing after extend cyclical loading. Rest assured that the longer you use a stand the higher risk you have of stress fracturing to failure. Also know that the closer you are to the weight limit, the more you increase your risk of eventual failing the stand. There’s just not much for margin on hunting stands, and I can guarantee you that next to no one is doing fracture or fatigue analysis. :)
 
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