Anyone use one?  I do a lot of 'run and gun' hunts on public land and quietly sneaking in through thick shit with a lone wolf alpha on my back is a bit of a pain in the ass.  Especially if I'm going out for an entire day or two with a backpack on top of it.

Couple concerns I have...

1) climbing options.  I have ulcerative colitis so for reasons I won't go into detail on it's important for me to be able to get down out of the stand quickly and be able to get back in with minimal extra work.  Was thinking about just using my lone wolf climbing sticks for this reason, four of them stacked together and slung over my shoulder shouldn't carry too difficult, they are pretty quiet and easy to hang.  Either that or a set of spurs but a decent set of climbing spurs is pricey and I have zero experience with them.

Also on that topic I have a linemans belt but most of the trees in our area have a lot of trash growing the full length of the tree, might consider a second belt to help jump branches in precarious situations, especially late season when everything is slick and I have my heavy boots on and gloves

2)  Cost.  Why the hell is a saddle just as much, if not more money than some of the top of the line treestands out there?  It's literally nothing more than a safety harness with comfort prioritized

3)  Time in stand.  I usually hunt all day so I'm in the stand for 12hrs at a time sometimes.  Is this a viable option with that in mind?  I'm no stranger to uncomfortable sits and honestly, my comfort is pretty low on the priority list when hunting but I can see this being pretty unbearable for more than a few hours.  Hope I'm wrong here.

4)  Carry bags.  Whats a good but inexpensive way to carry everything that will give me easy access while setting up?

I see there is already a thread on this... funny it never showed up when I searched "saddle"  Could have swore I posted in a thread here about them earlier but couldn't find it and figured it must have been another forum

I'm ready. My wife is getting me a Mantis for Christmas.

While I can't answer any of your questions, I do know a few guys that do hunt with them. Below is a link to their impression of a tree saddle, someone will have to imbed it.

https://youtu.be/dOnAR0FtDwQ

Here you go !



I have been toying with the idea of using a treesaddle for years.

There is an added amount of complexity that I'd need to learn as well as add a standing platform as well as a couple other steps around the tree at the same height as the platform.

That mean weight.  The tree saddles I've seen are running around 6 pounds and then you add the other stuff.

That means it's going to weigh more than my Lone Wolf alpha with three sticks.

Have you seen these new straps that eliminate the buckles needed for the sticks and stand ?

LOL!

Looks like they've come out with a much lighter treesaddle in the Mantis product.

Glad you showed me those straps, I'll have to check that out, my sticks and stand are all due for new straps after this season.

I'm not as concerned with weight as I am how my gear actually carries.  Carrying a stand on my back and trying to figure out how to carry a backpack has always been a real pain in the ass.

Oh ...  I glossed right over that in your OP .  Sorry man.

I have been using my Turkey vest to fill that roll ever since I started bow hunting in ‘06 .
It needs to have a removable seat of course and I walk in and climb with it on so it isn’t attached to the stand and cantilevers it’s weight outward and digging into my shoulders.  I do take it off at the base of the tree while setting up.

Works great.  Plenty of pockets for what I need .  It was made by Primos that I have had for a bunch of years now.
I hang it in the tree when I get up there at a height that makes it easy for me to get it it and I twist it around so both fronts are facing me.

Let’s see if I can get this pic to load here...
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Ok.  After a running it through a compression app... I got it.

This bag is made of a soft canvas that is quiet and has lasted me more than 10 years.  I would say it's the same material as some of those canvas shirts and pants they used to make. ( They may still make them, I haven't looked at that stuff in a long time. )

I bought it from MidWest Turkey Call.com and they've since discontinued it.

I have a niece that is a seamstress that has said she would make me another one when I'm ready.  And, I believe I could get a local tailor to do it for me.

It was originally sold as a turkey decoy tote, and comes equipped with two slots on the side that a couple decoy stakes fit in nicely enough.

The measurements are approximately 21" X 21" X 6" and has some velcro strips to hold the flap down.  NOT necessary at all.

I use this bag to carry my outer layer in and out when hunting colder temps, and I throw my seat and other stuff in it for turkey hunting if I don't feel like re-attaching it to the vest.

I have also watched a bunch of this guy's videos and I really like his delivery and his modifications.



And honestly, I think I'm going to go with the rope method.

Just looking for the right price for some bulk 8mm camo climbing rope.

Maybe a group buy ?

I climb a rope--dual rope (DRT) to be specific.   While you can do it run and gun, it shines in situations where you can scout spots where you can hang a loop of cord to haul the rope over a limb--throwing line in the dark can be especially frustrating.  It's also a bit of an athletic climb--sort of like doing the worm.  But getting down is fast--you just rappel.  With DRT, you get the rope over a limb and back down and tie a friction hitch (blake hitch) to make it into a big loop.  Then you tie another knot close to the blake hitch that you clip into.  To climb, you thrust your hips up and move the hitch up at the same time--this make the loop shorter, and you're 12 or so inches higher. 11mm rope at 75' is typical for DRT since you need to grip it. I use 66' of BlueMoon (11.7mm). Youtube DRT hunting.

SRT is the other method of rope climbing.  It requires half the rope, and offers a little more flexibility. You can get away with a smaller dia rope.  Also takes a fair amount of hardware.

If I was going to climb sticks, I'd get some Oplux Sterling (30') and a rappel device so you can get down without having to mess with a lineman's belt and ladders--especially in the dark.  I would use my tether as a 2nd lineman's belt if I needed it while climbing.

I've got a set of Primal steps (like wild edge stepps) which are a bit of a pain to work with at first.  They work similar to sticks.  But I use them as a platform--I like them a lot as a perch.  It takes me 5-10 minutes to set 3 of them, but they give me gobs of mobility around the tree and a zillion different ways to put my feet.

A lot of guys use aiders to climb sticks and Stepps.  They up the level of risk (there's a risk of kicking out of them), but allow you carry less.  I'd stay away from aiders/knaiders them until you get the feel of things.

I use a DIY saddle that's a clone of a Kestrel.

Anyhow, I'm loving it.  It really opens up a lot of interesting options.  And the flexibility up in the tree is great.  I wouldn't say it's comfortable like sitting in a nice chair.  But it's comfortable enough and looking around is easier, and you can shift positions easily, quietly, and with little perceptible movement.

All of this requires a little practice to before you hit the field.

As far as time in the tree--I'm limited by my patience and bladder.  Peeing out of it is an athletic event, although I haven't tried toting a bottle.

The current "thing" that they're getting excited about is a fleece saddle which would cost you maybe $40 in materials (about 2yds of fleece, a barebones climbing harness, and some material to make a bridge out of).  You'd need 2 ways of clipping into the tree (the harness you need for climbing and also as a safety backup when you're in position).

Also.  Guys that are getting out of it are selling their gear at list price in a matter of hours.  So until the Chinese get into the business of making cheap saddles, you'll be able to recoup your cost of it doesn't work out.

Thanks for the info.  I'll have to look up some of the gear you listed and look into rigging up a DIY saddle.  Trying to avoid the DRT/SRT method as a lot of the best trees by us are mature pine with no limbs for the first 50-60'.

Also wouldn't mind a true platform to avoid having to unass the tree every time I have to take a leak but holy shit those things are overpriced... did see a couple cheap DIY setups though using those triangular shaped climbing steps and a piece of plywood.

My saddle cost me $100 to DIY.  About $60 of that is in the high-speed cobra-style buckles.  So $150 IMO is the right price for one (considering they're currently all made domestically).

Other stuff--I have two 9" tall DIY fleece dump bags zip tied to my saddle.  One for my two 8' HSS tree ropes--one I use as a tether and the other I have set as a lineman's belt (although more often I use it as a second tether if I decide I want to undo the main tether and move it above or below a limb).  The 2nd dump bag has a set of leather gloves for climbing, my 30' paracord haul line for pulling up my bow, my DIY bow hook/strap, and a gravity hook that I use for picking up all the shit I fumble or forget to tie to the haul line.  I wouldn't call the gravity hook essential, but I sure get a lot of use out of it.

I use a large sized Jansport school backpack for knife, cleaning gloves, food water first aid binoculars, deer call, climbing rope, throw line, and whatever else.  My upper outerwear goes into the pack before I climb and I put that stuff back on about 15 minutes after I'm set up.  There's about 7' of 1/4" rope on the top loop of the backpack that I use to tie it to the tree once I haul it up using my climbing rope.  The loose climbing rope goes into the bag so it isn't dangling down 20' in the breeze.  I unclip from the climbing rope when I'm tethered, and lower the climbing rope carabiner 2-3 ft so in case something slips, I've got a reasonable chance at getting the climbing rope into action.  The stepps that I use for my perch are in a separate bag that I sling over my shoulder.

The "upgrades" I've done so far is to buy some better aluminum carabiners to replace the HSS tree strap ones which were steel and weren't quite smooth (were tearing up my 24" fixed length amsteel bridge which I spliced using a 1/4" winch rope).  The other thing was I replaced the prusik on the HSS tree strap that I use as my main tether with a blue ocean eye-eye prusik so that I could tie a VT friction hitch instead of a standard prusik--the VT being a lot easier to adjust on the prusik on that particular type of rope.

Yeah, I don't like to DRT pine trees.  I've done it, but you have to be a little pickier about limbs.  I was planning on doing a real platform next year, but I really learned to like the "ring of WE stepps".

In your situation, I'd probably go with ladders, a platform, and 30' of oplux sterling to rappel down given enough budget.

Anyhow, I'm sure it could all be made to work--the key would be to get the basic stuff and mess around with it and see how it would all work out.

You'll see a lot of stuff about the Ropeman ascender device in place a prusik knots--I won't comment on it's application on the lineman's belt b/c I don't climb with a lineman's belt.  But for the tether; if you've got a platform where you can actually stand without having to hug the tree, I think it's overkill.

There's obviously the saddlehunter forum, but also there's a lot of traffic on the facebook saddlehunter groups.

ETA:  I have only peed once right over the side, but in that particular tree, wasn't able to free-stand on my stepps, so I had to twist really far and brace hard to get it done in heavy 20degree bibs and gear.  I think peeing into a bottle (the right bottle) or bag would be do-able with a lot less fuss.

I use a Lone Wolf stand with Lone Wolf sticks also. This is the setup I use to carry a backpack with the stand. It's very solid.

Stand and sticks:

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With backpack:

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With backpack and heavy jacket:

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Basically I just put the shoulder straps of the backpack over the top of the tree steps, then fold them inward to hold everything in place. Then I bungee everything tightly to the frame. It's rock solid and makes very little noise. It probably weighs 35 pounds in total, but feels like less.

DRT ???

@30Caliber

Doubled rope technique.  I have to hang my weight off a limb to climb that way.  Rope goes over a limb and back down to me.   Pine limbs can be a little sketchy and they're pretty sappy up here which I don't like getting into my nice rope.

As opposed to hitching the rope at the top (either around the bole or a limb) and climb using ascenders up a single line (SRT).  SRT guys can place their rope around the main trunk of the tree with a long extendo-arm.