Saddle safety confidence tips. Eliminating single points of failure 

Thank you for sharing these safety tips. I'm sure everyone can benefit from this. Have a BLESSED day.

You guys are doing an awesome job with sharing your insights and knowledge! Keep those videos coming!

Good video. I bought a tree suit many years ago and am in the process of modifying it to be more user friendly, quieter, and more comfortable. I will definitely keep “single points of failure” in mind, as well. Thank you.

This is gold!

Great video and tips ! Thanks for the info !

Thanks for the heads up on that safety tip. I will definitely have to reference this again. I got my Tethrd saddle kit in the mail, now I have to most likely get the DRT kit and find a ring of steps.

Thanks for the tips. I sure will put them to use this upcoming season.

Once again, good video. I appreciate the information

I was thinking the other night on your video advising against using a ropeman on your tether and thought about using a prusik similarly with the ropeman. Could be the best of both worlds in my opinion. Stay safe!

Good tips for peace of mind. Like the 2 prussik idea. I’ll definitely use that.

Nice video! Here some thoughts! 1 - I would probably put the 2nd Prusik above the first one but then with a little more rope/slack so it’s not loaded, just for backup! In your case, for some reason the first one slides, the way you did, it would push the second one along until it reach the stopper notch, maybe? 2- I tie the theder excess directly on the saddle(in my case a climbing harness + sitdrag). You can put a Prusik and a carabiner at that end and a secondary saddle bridge with Amsteel rope and and leave some slack to make it a backup safety. Coming from engineering, we have what’s called FMEA, you identify every potential risk and take preventive actions! NASA, airplane, and car manufacturers do that all the time, very thoughtful from you to post a video like this.

Great ideas

I am in upstate ny. Thanks for the tips. I would just leave my climbing rope attached , but this is what I will set up also. Thanks again

Agreed, I do a second tether and bridge for this very reason. It’s the marine motto , one is none, two is one and three is two. It is for tying things off but applies to this as well.

One thing I could share that may give some folks peace of mind: I was previously an engineer in the wire rope industry where we made slings, rope assemblies, etc. One of the industry practices to ensure a safe product was to "proof load" the assemblies to twice the "working load". Working load was typically 20% of the breaking strength of the rope and was not to be exceeded in normal use. The proof load was 40% of the breaking strength of the rope and was imparted on the assembly by the manufacturer in the factory. The proof load was low enough to ensure no damage was caused on the rope, and still twice that of what the rope should ever see in service, therefore giving peace of mind that the assembly was made properly and safe. TLDR; folks wanting to ensure their assemblies are safe before hunting season could load them to twice the weight they will see in the field, i.e. twice your body weight plus a little for gear, and if there is no failure feel very safe that the assembly will not fail them in the field. Even if loaded to 500-600 pounds, this is still so far below the breaking strength of the rope that no damage should be caused by this loading.

Turn your lineman's lanyard into a second, somewhat slack, tether and attach it to your saddle waist belt (make sure the saddle waist belt is all rated for weight bearing).

Great video, i TOTALLY agree and highly recommend to everybody to take extra safety measures, and also to seek out as many professional rock climbing videos as possible to learn all about properly tying rappel ropes, what knots to use on various items and how to properly tie them.... and proper use of autoblock, klemheist, prusiks, etc.... note that prusik can't be released under load but autoblock and klemheist can, and that is why climbers normally rappel with autoblock and not a prusik.

I use a sit drag with a climbing harness attached to my linesman rope. Everything is backed up except the tree.

This year I'm going to be wearing a riggers belt as the belt for my pants. So I'll hook up to my tether as normal, but this year I'll have an extra piece of amsteel connecting my riggers belt to a prusik knot above my regular attachment point with a ropeman ascender. If I really wanted to be safe, I could bring another tether to connect the riggers belt into separately. Still kicking around the question of if the added weight is worth it.

Great video! thanks for the tips. I added a second prusik to my tether as well however I use a second carabiner and attach it to the prusik knot near the tag end of my tether to my lineman loop of saddle. it keeps the tether close to you as well rather than swinging freely and it still allows full range of motion. So if the bridge fails this will act as a secondary safety.

your opening thoughts mirror mine. very new to saddle hunting. i am about 250lbs. i know the difference between 250lbs and say, 190lbs is minimal but i worry about the ropes and other gear failing. my mind tells me that the ropes and other gear are rated way over anything my fat butt will put on them but it still sits in the back of my mind. difficult to get at ease for me so far.

Great tips but you probably will have a hard time getting the amsteel bridge to slide through the caribeaner. What I do is use the second prusik knot and slide it down your tether and attach it to one of your linemen loops.

You could add another tie in point like throwing your climbing line above you from your desired position and then thether or use 2 tethers when using your weapon like you would have two ways to secure yourself to the tree like when using a chainsaw. Can target a point branch in the area to secure your rope on so it doesn't slide on the trunk like you'd use a lanyard and you can grab on to it too

It's always good to add redundancy. A clean simple way to achieve the same result you might try is: Instead of adding a second prusik and wrapping your rope end; just tie an overhand knot or figure 8 on a bight in the end of your tether and clip it. This would tidy up your loose end and back up your prusik in one step. (this may have been suggested already. If so, I second it)

I was wondering if you have a video on all the gear you use for climbing I’ve never saddle hunted before I always use my trees stand but this way of hunting has caught my attention and would like to know more about it Thank you jeff

I've never worried at all about my saddle setup until I watched your videos. Is there any documented cases of a hunter falling from a single point failure? I have never read of anybody having a bridge or tether failing. Anybody?

I dont do this but what about using two amsteel bridges and tying your slack tether to the spare one? The amsteel weight is negligible and it eliminates another single point failure.

Brand new to saddles and prusik knots.. Just started testing out my saddle set up, and my prusik slids when I put my full weight in the saddle. Any ideas on what I'm doing wrong?

I would buy one of these if they implemented a safety strap into the theathered system everything should be backed up when it’s your life on the line I wear a harness in my climbers I love hunting but I don’t want to die for it

I’ll give you some piece of mind I pulled an f350 superduty out of a ditch with that climbing rope.

Seems like a good idea for that extra piece of mind. How about taking the tag end of your tether and attaching it to your belt via another carabiner?

Correct me if I’m wrong, When climbing DRT your climbing rope is essentially your tether, correct? You don’t add a separate tether when you get hunting height,

My Petzl Rig is connected to my bridge. As a backup, I connect my hand ascender to my bridge. It feels like a good system until you think about the single bridge. What if it fails? Yes, I know it's strong and it has been tested, but still, something can happen. I don't know if this is a good plan, but I used two quick-links to attach a prusik cord to the lineman's loops on my saddle to serve as a backup in case the saddle bridge fails. My Petzl Rig and the hand ascender connect to the bridge and the backup bridge at the same time. It hangs loose enough to not interfere with the real bridge. Will it actually save me if something happens? I don't know, but it makes me feel safer in the tree!

Tie tag end of tether on loop where bridge goes... backs up a bridge failure

How well does the bridge slide with the tether tied all around it??

I am on my third season of saddle hunting, I fail to understand the last tether wrap around the bridge. You connected two prusik knots already to the bridge. Great second fail safe there. The tether however wrapped around the bridge and carabiner applies no extra safeguards. If your bridge snaps, the tether won’t hold the bridge. You would be better off creating a second bridge that goes through the same carabiner or have the second bridge connected to your second prusik hanging lightly lower out of the way. That would give you two safeties to your tehter. Now the only last second safety you would need is your tether itself. Use a slightly longer tether and tie a secured knot to the tree with the bottom of the tether. That would give you two connections to the tree. Just remember that a two foot gap from point a to point b is double the distance in the drop if point a breaks.

another amsteel bridge with a figure eight knot lossely clipped onto the carabiner that way if amsteel 1 snaps 2 catches you and if either side of saddle snaps your hanging on opposite side but that is a lot of material to be wearing

What type of main line rope should I be looking at for drt climbing?

do you have any videos of you hunting 20 feet up in a tree?

Since you already have a second bridge you would probably be better off using the slack of your tether to loop under the second bridge and back onto your caribiner. I only have one bridge on my saddle but I always loop my extra tether with a figure 8 loop tied on the end under my bridge and back up to my carabiner as a redundant safety should my prussic fail. I'm not a fan of how you wrapped your tether around your bridge. I like to pivot and twist my hips for more shooting opportunities and I think the way you tied off may limit your mobility in the tree at some point but if it makes you feel more comfortable than that's all that matters. Thanks for sharing, I really enjoy the videos you guys put out.

with you tether tied around the bridge how are you gonna move around the tree, now the whole tether has to move around the tree

Just wear a full harnesses with separate rope if you truly want a complete back up....IMHO

Reasons I decided 2 start hunting with a saddle: I want to more safe up & down while being more stealth. I also want 2 hunt those trees that r hard to climb or put a stand in. I'm tired of sitting in a telephone pole tree that is next 2 a red oak with leaves. I want 2 be in the red oak. If I hunt more trees like this I can rest my feet on branches that r as large as most tree trunks. My feet get cold on steel but never on wood. Play your cards right & u can shoot 360* while moving from big limb 2 big limb. Last but not least, getting down & leaving while leaving nothing behind quiet & safely as possible.

What if your bridge breaks?

The thing of all hunting gear is to use it proper way. Instead of showing how not to use them show the right way. Just like driving your car to go hunting is there a chance you could get in a Accident so what you going to walk or ride ? There is no difference you need to lear how to use your gear the right way and trust it. Otherwise just sit on the ground.

Yea but now you can’t rotate your hips in the bridge