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Watch your straps!!!!

@Razorbak66 question for you. Has this experience changed how you check your gear? What advise would you add to a newer saddle Hunter like me to make sure I check certain things maybe you over looked? I hear check your gear often. But it's kinda a general statement.
I am definitely going to look at the stitching on my platforms straps closer now. It's pretty easy to check my ropes on my sticks as I pull them out. I will definitely look at the stitching on my tethers even closer. If those were to pull apart. Yikes. One less saddle Hunter. Check my carbines for cracks or missing paint. I want to learn from what happened to you, to make sure it dosent happen to me. Hopefully someone else reads this an makes them check there gear even close than before and saves this from happening.
how hard was the impact to your saddle? Manufacture recommends you replace it after a hard fall if I recall.
 
A public service announcement for folks to double check their safety straps is not a waste of time, nor s it controversial as some here seem to think. It’s what people in this community should do more often.

Not outing the mfg is a classy way to handle it. For folks who want names and pics they are missing the point, your post isn’t about publicly shaming small business owners who happen to also be fellow saddle hunters, it’s about a first hand close call being used as a reminder for folks that double checking gear is important.
I certainly respect that. The challenge here is that when a strap fails after minimal use with no "close call" observed by inspection it's not fully clear HOW to inspect.

My best guess - the strap was damaged during camover, and inspection after camming but before standing might have revealed the issue (but I can't say for sure)

I've had OCBs come lose when I did not adequately cam them over (specific concern - camming on to a strap that prevents it from reaching full cam)

I've heard of OCBs breaking on occasion - so inspect all mechanical joints and monitor how tight/loose they are.

I've heard of handles falling off of a safeguard (no fall issue, but leaving you up a tree with an unusable device). Maybe it was loose beforehand?

We've discussed failure modes through novel-length threads for carbon bolts.

Maybe this is something that should be aggregated and posted in another thread? "How stuff fails and how to inspect it" It's easy to inspect for some things, but a lot more difficult for others - especially if people don't know where to start.
 
Honestly I think this sentence, "I rather not say the company until I see how they handle it as email was sent a little while ago" is what's causing the problem, not the initial stance to not share the company. I doubt as many people would have a problem with it if it didn't seem contingent on how they handled the issue
 
I look at the naming the mfg right out of the gate similar to how I look at this whole wear a dang mask crap. You wearing a mask wont keep me from catching the covid anymore than me telling you XYZ's strap failed on me will cause yours to fail. Check your gear and be as safe as you feel like you need to be. You be responsible for you and I will be responsible for me. That doesnt mean I want anyone to get hurt or that I dont care if they do.
 
Well I’m sorry that a lot of you guys are upset but my initial post is to check your equipment REGARDLESS of who the manufacturer of YOUR equipment is and yes I did say I would wait to see what the company would say and I also did say that they reached out not long after ( within 1/2 hour) I sent the email but I did not see it until this morning as I did not check my phone last night as I was kinda still sore so I took it easy and yes a lot of bruising and definitely crack rib as I used to fight in the ring and I know what a crack rib feels like and I did talk to the gentleman this morning and yes he was a gentleman who was and is very concern about what happen to me and hopefully no one else in the future and he has been taking steps before my incident to better insure that this doesn’t happen again to anyone else who uses his products . I was confident when i initially sent email it would be positive as other manufacturers won’t deal with the public that’s why you talk to customers service and get transferred to this person that person ... well you see the point. I chose not to name names or BLAST them because ...it’s just the fact is check your equipment regardless of who you use I did check this platform the other night after a hunt and it was fine strap and all so what ever happen between then and now beats me it was a freak incident and I don’t wish it on anyone
The platform is fine but the failure is the strap that’s why you stay tethered regardless because $@&? happens. Will I still use this platform. Hell yeah will I be more diligent on checking my equipment and if I feel something doesn’t seem right will I replace it. Hell freakin yeah that’s why certain tree stand company’s recommends to replace after X many years or how many hours what ever comes first Will I change my saddle and rope no I won’t because after a careful inspection and I went thru it throughly I’m confident with it as it save my butt there’s no wrong or right way to check your equipment as there no guidelines you just have to be confident in your ability to check your gear
I almost didn’t want to post a thread about what happen to me as I wasn’t looking for sympathy or anything I just wanted to share something and for many of the new and old saddle hunters getting out in the woods this year just CHECK YOUR EQUIPMENT more frequently as it would beneficial to all your family and friends
 
Thanks for Sharing it. It was enlighting for me to read. I know it will push me to check my stuff more carefully. So there. It helped atleast one other saddle Hunter. Regardless of what I use. Like you said. It can happen to any one or anything. We're all human, and it happens.
 
@Razorbak66, I'm glad you're ok and didn't suffer a season ending injury. It's also big of you to share this event to remind us all to constantly check our gear and not fall into the trap of "I've only used it x amount of times so there's no need to inspect it".

Now the rest of you giving him grief because he decided not to name the company I say shame on you only because what I really want to say would be censored. The man had an event with a piece of equipment and chose to share it and some of you got your panties all bunched up because company X wasn't named. Take a step back for a moment and think what if @Razorbak66 never said a word about his mishap, you would still be fat, dumb and happy using your equipment as is but now you're concerned it could happen to you. Just because there is problem with one doesn't necessarily mean all will have problems. Look at Ford, most of their vehicles break down but not all do and folks continue to buy them and put hundreds of thousands of miles on them without a hiccup. There could be any number of reasons why his in particular failed and it may not be the fault of the manufacturer.

We're all adults here and know the risks associated with our way of hunting so stop worrying about what brand it was because every piece of gear we use has the potential to fail unexpectedly and for no reason. Check your equipment often, replace worn components and remain attached to the tree at all times are things that we can do to limit our exposure but keep in mind what we do is dangerous period.
 
Thanks for the thread. We all need to check our gear more often and with this information now we know what piece of equipment to look at closer. Thanks also to the manufacture for your concern and rapid response and determination to make it right. I think this is a perfect example of how buying from American companies pays off in the long run, because all manufactures have failures. Just curious if this is an American made strap.
 
In principle you upgrade the strap and give it an appropriate amount of stretch. But this all feels theoretical for now. If it's a known issue original poster should have been notified.

I'd be more concerned with the stitching because that is what failed twice and then reported here. I think a few nice bar tacks are in order, similar to how climbing slings (and commercial climbing harnesses) are sewed. A bar tack can be sewed on a conventional machine (I've done it with my little 150 buck job). I saw a close up on the other fail thread, and the stitching didn't seem sufficient for this use (especially given the forces involved). If I recall, it was a Z pattern with a double stitch using thick thread.

Edit: I thought about this design more in the shower. Even after successful cam over, this design has an issue.

Take a standard platform design, for example. Once set, take the pivot point of rotation as the bottom teeth. If your body's center of mass while standing is 10" from the teeth and the strap holding the stand is 10" up from the teeth, then the strap is holding your body weight, roughly (two sides of lever are same length, although forces driving teeth into tree soak up some weight I believe, but I don't have time now to draw a diagram and try to parse that). Now, halve the distance from teeth to strap to 5" but keep your weight 10" from teeth, now your body has 2X leverage on the strap (so holding twice your weight). Keep going, and you can see how you can design a system where your body weight will break a strap or stitching. Rock climbers know this and it is why they do not anchor climbing ropes at certain angles (I believe if your rope is bent 90 degrees over a frictionless surface that your body weight can snap a rope, but don't quote me on that particular). The Wild Edge steps have the similar cam over function. However, they also have the bottom V that hits the tree and provides support. The platform we are all talking about does not have that bottom support and has a smaller than usual distance from teeth to strap.
 
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I'd be more concerned with the stitching because that is what failed twice and then reported here. I think a few nice bar tacks are in order, similar to how climbing slings (and commercial climbing harnesses) are sewed. A bar tack can be sewed on a conventional machine (I've done it with my little 150 buck job). I saw a close up on the other fail thread, and the stitching didn't seem sufficient for this use (especially given the forces involved). If I recall, it was a Z pattern with a double stitch using thick thread.
To clarify by "upgrading the strap" I meant revisiting the entire strap assembly - potentially including bar tacks as you had mentioned along with potentially a larger overlapping section, additional box-x stitches, whatever is needed - as well as if merited a material change (in theory the right amount of stretch keeps a snugger fit post-camming).

Edit: I thought about this design more in the shower. Even after successful cam over, this design has an issue.

Take a standard platform design, for example. Once set, take the pivot point of rotation as the bottom teeth. If your body's center of mass while standing is 10" from the teeth and the strap holding the stand is 10" up from the teeth, then the strap is holding your body weight, roughly (two sides of lever are same length, although forces driving teeth into tree soak up some weight I believe, but I don't have time now to draw a diagram and try to parse that). Now, halve the distance from teeth to strap to 5" but keep your weight 10" from teeth, now your body has 2X leverage on the strap (so holding twice your weight). Keep going, and you can see how you can design a system where your body weight will break a strap or stitching.
I don't see this as a big deal in terms of strength, as long as an appropriate strap is used. Stands/platforms are typically only rated to a safety factor of say 2 - and while I'd prefer a much higher factor of safety, the amount of moment arm here isn't in a range where it's prohibitive to supply appropriately strong straps even with say a 4x factor. Maybe there are some stability implications vs. e.g. pulling away from the tree, but there's no reason why you can't just sufficiently uprate the strap.
 
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To clarify by "upgrading the strap" I meant revisiting the entire strap assembly - potentially including bar tacks as you had mentioned along with potentially a larger overlapping section, additional box-x stitches, whatever is needed - as well as if merited a material change (in theory the right amount of stretch keeps a snugger fit post-camming).


I don't see this as a big deal in terms of strength, as long as an appropriate strap is used. Stands/platforms are typically only rated to a safety factor of say 2 - and while I'd prefer a much higher factor of safety, the amount of moment arm here isn't in a range where it's prohibitive to supply appropriately strong straps even with say a 4x factor. Maybe there are some stability implications vs. e.g. pulling away from the tree, but there's no reason why you can't just sufficiently uprate the strap.

Agreed. I would trust the strap if it was a strong fabric (like a nylon/dyneema blend) with buckle and stitching similar to something seen in the climbing industry.

edit: I recall Dan Infalt writing that a 300 lbs rated stand must hold 900 lbs.
 
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Agreed. I would trust the strap if it was a nylon/dyneema blend with buckle and stitching similar to something seen in the climbing industry.
Yeah - haven't compared the straps, but the stitching looks by photo similar to what EWO sells as 1000 lb/333working rated. And clearly those straps should have a working load more in the 600-1000 lb range based on geometry.

edit: I recall Dan Infalt writing that a 300 lbs rated stand must hold 900 lbs.
My "safety factor 2" was based on a recollection of genI predator testing (apparently you need to pass with 2 examples at 2x working load - 3x seems more reasonable to me for a commercial product - and 1/3 genI predators failed to spur the redesign)
 
But @Razorbak66 said he had inspected his strap just a few days before?

Yeah, I hope this announcement is only the first step in their response. Two sudden failures (first one basically all the sewing yanked out at once) we know about is too high a number for me. How many Lone Wolf straps are out there and how many times have you heard of a new one catastrophically failing? I'd hope they'd also look into a strap re-design or check into their material/sewing QC, and then offer new, improved strap replacement after that.
 
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