AMT Master Saddle Deluxe "Review"

[Josh777]

This will be my formal review of the AMT Master Saddle (deluxe).

The saddle I bought has the cinch strap waist belt. (Which is great.) This cinch strap unlike the grommeted version allows a person to perfectly dial in the amount of snugness at the waist, which I'm particularly anal about.

The pads are thick and provide a lot of comfort; they are also very wide which I must admit really helps to spread out the weight and provides a very solid feel to the harness.

I wish some of the gear loops in the back were placed a little higher to make it easier to clip stuff on and off, but overall it doesn't really provide too much of a hassel.

I like the amount of adjustment that is available with the leg loops and the support straps on the back. Each little tweak possible is a huge bonus. Also the attachment points on the front of the harness are able to be extended or contracted closer or further away from your body to make further adaption to your climbing style possible.

This thing is weighty, so don't expect a truly lightweight climbing saddle. I purchased the "Large," which fits a size 36-40 inch waist and I'd say it weighs 7 to 8lbs. This is good and bad. It means the saddle is sturdier that all get out but it also means that you're also adding near 10lbs to your climbing weight.

There are small snaps on either side. I like this feature as I think anyone would and they are also made pretty heftily.

*** (I have since change my opinion a little about the snaps. Read about this further in my "Continued Review" post a little further into this thread.) ***

Their looks to be a heavy duty attachment point on the back. I believe it is to be used for connecting a chest harness with a life support rated biner. (Don't quote me on this unless you know for sure, I'll check into it.)

I do need to spend some hang time in the saddle so allow me a couple days to bring you further details about full comfort issues. I will bring to bear any issues I see or perceive.

Feel free to chime in if you also have this saddle and point out all the positives and negatives. I look forward to further commenting and hearing of comments.

All the best!

-Josh

 

[beowulf343]

There are small snaps on either side. I like this feature as I think anyone would and they are also made pretty heftily.

Lol, those small snaps have given me headaches over the years. You better hope they are not sewn into the saddle because they will be the first thing to wear out and you'll want to replace them. Best advice, hang a biner off them, tape them shut (they will get hung up on everything if you don't) and then leave them alone, using the biner to hang your stuff off.

 

[tree md]

Interesting that that saddle weighs that much. Especially with webbing loops instead of D's. Looking at it I would think that it would be lighter than my Petzl but it weighs twice as much. It really don't matter too much when you hang a saw off the thing anyway though in my opinion.

I like the cinch strap on my saddle as well. Let us know how she feels once you get some hang time with it.

 

[treemandan]

Lol, those small snaps have given me headaches over the years. You better hope they are not sewn into the saddle because they will be the first thing to wear out and you'll want to replace them. Best advice, hang a biner off them, tape them shut (they will get hung up on everything if you don't) and then leave them alone, using the biner to hang your stuff off.

I can't remember how many saws I have had fling out of that kind of snap while moving around the tree. But other than that the saddle looks to be able to cradle the old yam sack in an unfriendly sort of way. To each his own though.

 

[oldirty]

that saddle is doodoo. you could of done much better.

 

[Damon]

i took the old guys advice and my no saddle came in the mail today finally got my self a bosens seat and from what little ive used it it is f'ing amazing!

 

[Josh777]

Review "Continued"

Ok, I spent about three hours in the saddle last night just ascending and descending over and over again. Here are some of the positive and negatives.

Positives:

1. On me the saddle was very comfortable. I literally hung in it almost non-stop for over three hours. I didn't want to take too much time stepping off onto branches because I wanted extended hang time to assess it's comfort. I never had an uncomfortable moment the whole time. Hanging in this saddle is a piece of cake.

2. I still love the waist belt cinch strap. Very nice to have full control over how tight my saddle was.

3. The leg buckles are supremely easy to work with.

4. The extra attachment points on the front are nice. (As I'm going to use the top loops on either of the sides to attach a rope bridge.)

5. Back pad was nice and firm, which I enjoyed. Still nice and padded too.

Negatives:

1. As stated by Beowulf343 the snaps didn't work out quite as nicely as I hoped they would. It seems like they would be truly convenient but they posed some problems. On a SRT ascent I was swinging back towards the tree in one instance and the dang snap actually caught and attached itself to the down rope. (For my little practice session I just tied the rope off to the bottom of the tree; just in case you were wondering what I meant by the down rope.) So I can also see that it will probably get caught up on other stuff as I use it more and more. Or at the very least be opened when it's not supposed to be.

2. I'm still not sold on the position of the gear loops in the back. I found it a little of a chore to attach gear to the loops. Now once on, they are easily enough detached but their location doesn't make me real happy.

3. The legs pads are supposed to be made of a sweat wicking material but it really doesn't work. While the harness is on, you won't notice it much, if at all but when I took it off, the back of my legs and jeans were pretty damp. Granted it was hot out and I was pretty much in constant motion the entire time but I thought everybody should know.

Summary:

I like the harness. Their are a few drawbacks here and there. No it's not the top of the line and definitely not the Cadillac of harnesses but for the price I am pretty happy with it.

 

[treemandan]

What do they go for?

 

[Josh777]

What do they go for?

I bought mine at Sherrill Tree and they were selling theirs for $289.

Not to bad a price.

-Josh