saddles " any good sugestions"

[nik1978]

I am getting ready to up grade my equipment. In the past I have climbed with what I call an old-school Buckingham Saddle. Most of mt previos experience hasn't required me to have anything different. Been climbing and installing Landscape Lighting for 6 years. Just within the last Year and a half have i began pursueing a career as an arborist. So a lot of the rigging and climbing techniques used by proffessional arborist are new to me. My experience was limited due to the field i was in at the time. I like to consider myself a decent climber however the more I learn the less I find out I know. There is more to climbing than a Taughtline hitch. I've been doing things the hard way.....
Any good sugestions and opinions will be appreciated.

Nik

 

[TREETX]

research the butterfly - there have been plenty of posts here and on the buzz about it. I am pleased with mine so far. The sliding part in the middle could be a bit shorter though. That can be altered to personal preference with some engineering.

Nate

www.frescoarborist.com

check out the specials on the banner above

 

[hillbilly]

Hi Nick

Here are some previous threads discussing purchases of saddles:

Buying a saddle
--------------------
http://www.arboristsite.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1158&highlight=saddle

rope and saddle...
-----------------------
http://www.arboristsite.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=2974&highlight=saddle

Bought a new saddle...
-----------------------------
http://www.arboristsite.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=5676&highlight=saddle

I myself have a Butterfly and am very happy with it, but
do try several before purchasing if you have the opportunity.

As for friction hitches, that is probably a personal preference,
but you might want to try a few high performance hitches as
well, before getting too used to the somewhat dated Tautline.

Do you have any good pruning books / tree books ?
There are several threads discussing this as well.
There is more to arborism than climbing

Good luck.

 

[hillbilly]

Correction

"I myself have a Butterfly and am very happy with it, but do try several before purchasing if you have the opportunity."

You might not want to try several "Butterflys", but what I meant
was, try different saddles if you have the chance.

Sorry for the confusion.

 

[treeclimber165]

A lot of people like the Buckingham saddles, and the Pro series is on sale at Sherrill this month. If you have a local Vermeer dealer, you can go there and try some on. Vermeer dealers are in a limited partnership or something with Sherrill and sell everything in the catalog at Sherrill's prices.

I have only climbed in one older style Buckingham and didn't like it. But I'm becoming interested in either the Butterfly or one of the Petzl saddles. But they are substantially more expensive than the basic Karl Kuemmerling I've been using for 12+ years.

Here's a link to view what Petzl makes geared towards treework.
http://www.petzl.com/petzl/statique/work/ENG/tech/html/16-17_WR02/treesurgery.html

 

[Nickrosis]

Sierra Moreno all the way!

I consider them the best saddles, far exceeding the Buckingham and Karl Kuemmerling saddles I've played around with. I don't have any experience with Masters or other saddles, but I really am sold on the quality and comfort of Don Blair's Sierra Moreno saddles.

Nickrosis

 

[Kneejerk Bombas]

Don't even look at any saddles other than the butterfly, it's a waste of time.
They are easy to get in and out of, comfortable, well made(of high quality), have the best "D" rings, and priced to sell.
If you go to a tree climbing competition, you will see the Butterfly is the most popular among the gearheads. Having said all that, the most important reason is that<I><B> I</I></B> have one!

 

[John Paul Sanborn]

Come on up tp Milwaukee for the TCI expo and try on almost every saddle there is to buy. Then buy what you like.

Trade show addmitance pass is like 25 bucks, hotels are going for around $50 a night. There will be a number of people from this site up here, might be able to find a roomie.

November 7th-9th.

http://www.natlarb.com/content/mtgs/meetings.htm

 

[Nickrosis]

It's free for students!! Just pay $10,000 a year for tuition, and you too can receive such fabulous benefits. The Student Career Days is great and is combined with the SSA Annual Conference this year. Don't miss a day!

Nickrosis