I'm going to try saddle hunting this year. So before I decide if I can ,at my age, or even like it I will go low tech to start. This means a sit drag with a harness for safety. Well admittedly I'm not a small person so the sit drag felt narrow in depth. I decided to modify it. Add a tactical belt for my waist and then have leg straps and molly webbing for gear across the back. Unlike some of the guys making these I'm not picky on color. So I went with a 600D polyester in old time military camo. That pattern is so much cheaper same great quality. I'm just starting the pinning of webbing before the sewing. Remember the harness is my main security and the sit drag is backup. If I do make a saddle for this later on I will have it professionally sewn. I'll just put it together and let them do the sewing saving a bunch of money. What I have so far. This modification is 2 sewn pieces with the sit drag sewn in between them.
So between chores, kids, illness, and Turkey season this has been one slow project. I decided to hand stitch so machine stitching goes easier. Well that allowed me to test it..of course with my harness back up. I love it. Now I will add the belt and machine stitch then add the top material with sewn slots for the belt to feed through as well as extra end loops. These will attach the harness to the sit drag. They are like a linesman belt on the sit drag. A molly strip will be attached to the back. You wont see the sit drag when finished just the camo water proof 600 denier material.
A thought here- If you have it professionally sewn, what is the liability of the professional shop? IMHO, I owned the shop, I would refuse the job for that reason. Your idea has merit but safety, IMHO, dictates a professional product. Hunter Education in TN states that DIY treestands are a no-no. Only use TSs made under TMA standards. Good luck with the project. Let us know how it worked. BTW, I'm too old for the saddle sling.
I'm thinking they won't consider that for us, one, they are hunters and we are long term clients that spend $$$$ there each year. Hubby was a hit and run victim as a kid. His shoe requires a full sole lift on one shoe and he goes through many boots a year. He's lucky they were even able to save his leg and then the year I had to have my leg put back together he had an excavator roll and crushed his foot. It's cheaper to rebuild a couple of times on our shoes than buy new ones. As far as safety, well this will only be used at height with my certified harness under it. In other words I'll be hooked in at 2 points not one. I will follow the advice given by most using sit drag mods., to me it is basic common sense. As for age I'm 61 and my screen name says it all. Now to built stands, I have many. It is all in how they are built and maintained. I am a firm believer in saying redundancy is a major component in safety.even my purchased ladderstands are backed up with chains and one other ratchet strap. Also this saddle hunting plan has me looking at my back up for regular ladder and platform safety. I will be carrying a decent tool on me should a fall ever occur. Too many stands for safety ropes at each so I'll have one daisy chained and secured to attach at each tree stand. I already have my harness set for a safe climb with out an attached rope. I had a rough experience many years ago while on stand, that caused me to nearly pass out and I lost muscle control. I know just how quick things can go wrong. You give good advise and things to consider.
OND, good hunting and the harness ia a must. As an HE instructor, I get accident reports from the state. Tree stands are the biggest cause of accidents durning hunting season. Sounds like hubby had a time recovering from the accident. I'm looking for some places to hunt deer this fall. Got some contacts with the state agency and hope they can point me to some general areas. BTW, I'm 71. Old enough to know better, too young to resist.
JT, Oh how well I know, we lost a neighbor year before last. He shot the biggest buck of his life, had a heart attack and fell out of his stand. We get some nice deer here. The rough spot I had was I drew down on a doe and was waiting for her to take just a few more steps for a better angle. I heard a snap right next to me and she shot a look in my direction. Still at full draw I look down to see a crazy tall racked 12 pt . His brow tines were 12" long and short to the rest of his rack. Well that was it I lost all strength and to my horror released the arrow(I finger shot at the time)watching it sail under her chin. I could barely hold the bow. I had to pin myself to the tree while looking at the sky trying to not pass out. My knees were weak and wobbling. The worst were the stars. I had multi colored stars bursting across my eyes. The shot never spooked either deer and he stood broad side just 10 or so yards out for some time. I was completely shot and could do nothing. I went to the Dr. It scared me so bad. My blood pressure was 186/120. That put a scare into my Dr. and he gave me meds and put me on a monitor. BTW a guy 3 miles away shot him a few days later. The pic he took was the buck laying on the ground with him standing behind him holding the rack which reached his waist. Tall and relatively tight. Just a huge deer. Both accidents were pretty bad, it took him 18 month to recover from the drunk driver. He was the only one hit in a group of boyscouts walking home from getting icecream. The excavator took 6 months and he had to fight gangrene. It took a month to get the swelling down before a cast could be put on ,every bone in his foot was broken. The cast hid the development of the gangrene. That had us driving to the hospital every day for hydrotherapy and to teach me how to debride the wound daily. He's a tough man having delt with these things.
I was told of a fellow who fell out of a tree stand and lay on the ground for several hours before someone came to find him. Broke his back plus, l ter, he had a massive stroke due to traumatic head injury. He is now confined to a wheelchair with the use of only his left arm. Sounds like you have had a time with his injury. Trust everything is much better.
Thanks for asking, yes though we all pay for our youth as we age. Aspirin is in good supply at our house..lol I believe we were drawn to each other 40 years ago because of being accident prone. We are the two ppl that could handle each others accidents and recoveries. It is actually funny. Our kids are just like us! One day I called our orthopedic surgeons office and said Hi it's Chris we're on the way down with a broken foot. Her reaction was to turn from the phone and yell out its Chris again and they're one the way. In one year I had a severely broken leg and dislocation of my foot. Hospitalized and plates and pins. Daughter broken Achilles heel, husbands crushed foot and we ended the year with our son folding his foot and broke most of the bones. We are active ppl. Daughter ski racer, son motor cross. She is now a rock climber and he travels across the country snow boarding. We all hunt. So we are a tad slower than we were, but still out there living.
So other than the inside cover I'm done. Here is a pic of the back side with molly strip and 1 of a couple of pouches I made for it ( rope bag). This has a tactical belt, lineman loops and leg loops for the leg straps. The material is water proof and the reason I'm adding the inside liner is to avoid friction on all stitching while wearing. All added components have 2 lines of hand and 2 lines of machine stitching. Not as light weight as others but the 24 kn tactical belt buckle is a tad heavy.
