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What's new on the saddle horizon?

LiverEatingJoe

LiverEatingJoe

Active Member
Joined
Aug 16, 2018
Messages
154
Location
Western North Carolina
OK guys; for most of us, season is over. I'm spending the next couple of months tweaking, modifying and getting new gear for my set up.

Anything new on the horizon folks are looking forward to? What is going to be the next "cutting edge" stuff for saddle hunters? Will it be some new "modification" to existing gear or some new product (saddle? platform?)
 
There will be new saddles. We went from choosing between the evo and used it diy and now we get new models every year.
Then there’s LWCG with a new twist on old gear.
Hawk is updating the helium sticks with some new mods.
We have new platform options.
As far as diy modifications to existing gear there is no telling what the amazing people here will come up with.
 
On a more setious note - climbing methods. There's a range of commercial saddles ranging from ultralight to highly-featured. The designs at the light to moderate weight segment are quite matute and well thought out. We might see more options, but with minor differences. Maybe something as a more jx3ish space where there is more room for meaningful variation.

Getting up a tree is the area where everything still sucks in one way or another. I know that's where I'll be innovating my setup. Transporting, deploying, using, and repacking my climbing method(s).
 
mattsteg said:
On a more setious note - climbing methods. There's a range of commercial saddles ranging from ultralight to highly-featured. The designs at the light to moderate weight segment are quite matute and well thought out. We might see more options, but with minor differences. Maybe something as a more jx3ish space where there is more room for meaningful variation.

Getting up a tree is the area where everything still sucks in one way or another. I know that's where I'll be innovating my setup. Transporting, deploying, using, and repacking my climbing method(s).
Click to expand...

I agree that climbing methods seems to have some room left for innovation. Maybe that will be collapsible/telescoping sticks or more single step options like WE steps, I don’t know. I do think various aiders are becoming more widely used so new climbing methods will likely incorporate those in some form or another.

I would like to see more ideas/gear to make climbing safer. So maybe more buck squeeze ideas for the lineman’s belt to make it grab the tree in the event of a fall. Or a tether that is easier to attach and re-attach so it’s not a pain to move it up the tree while you climb. There have been some good ideas on the site already - I need to play with some of them. Maybe they’ll be made into a commercial product someday...
 
I have been eying my son's Buckingham (he is in linesman school now) lately too, but it is heavy an bulky, need someone like you to come up with a lighter, cheaper option! His was $600, or at least that's what he told me and just pocketed some cash.

Sent from my SM-N960U using Tapatalk
 
DanielB89 said:
I'm assuming you'd have to use this with spurs?
Click to expand...

Yeah, the buckingham tree squeeze that nutter posted was likely designed to help guys climbing with spurs. Surely we can come up with something that can work with more climbing methods than that! Nutter’s idea of an LB and tether in one may be the ticket as you could potentially use it up over your head or down by your navel depending on where it works best for your climbing method.

Arborists have some really cool solutions already as they’ve been at this tree climbing business for a long time. Maybe we can take parts of their ideas and put them together with our ideas and special climbing needs to make something awesomer.
 
Nutterbuster said:
I want to work on a tree squeeze that is a linemans and tether rolled into one. I think it would be uber-safe, and remove hip pinch from the equation completely. Just a matter of finding the time and sourcing the right components.
Click to expand...
As far as just tethering to something like that it would be a simple design. To make it easy to move up as you were climbing and easy to remove to go around limbs is what makes it tough. Definitely interested to see what you come up with.
 
DanielB89 said:
I'm assuming you'd have to use this with spurs?
Click to expand...
I think it would work with about anything with some playing. It might not play well with aiders, or anything where you ascend with climbing aids above your head. I've played with it on bolts, and it worked well.

The catch is that dang wire-core rope. Stuff is high-spensive
 
I am just absolutely thankful we're out of the dark ages and we now have readily available equipment for all aspects of saddle hunting…

What's next for me is to use my freed up DIY time to locate more and more big racked old mature whitetails!
 
JX3 Hybrid for sure! Watching @kyler1945's review and promo vids has gotten me all ramped up to get hands on one. Been on the list for a bit now. As of late I think manufacturing has gotten smoothed out and hopefully before long we'll have the chance to pick up. Had the pleasure of talking and exchanging texts w Mr. John from JX3 a few times. Great down to earth guy trying to make an awesome product while keeping everything here in the US!!
 
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