Saddle Hip Saver Classic

It works with any tree saddle, because it never touches the saddle and never touches you. The Hip Saver installs at the carabiner, up at the junction where the tether from the tree meets your bridge rope, and that connection is the one standardized piece of a saddle setup no matter whose panel you are sitting in. Tethrd, Cruzr, Hawk, Trophyline, Latitude, a shop-built rig, it does not matter to the part. The 5.00 in. (127 mm) body holds your two bridge legs 4.53 in. (115 mm) apart and clips in without hardware or modification. On sizing, here are the numbers so you can check your own rope rather than take our word for it: the opening at the retention ears measures approximately 0.51 in. (13 mm), and the channel is approximately 0.67 in. (17 mm) deep from the base to the inside of the ear. Bridge and lineman ropes vary quite a bit between brands and between a new rope and a broken-in one, so put a caliper or a tape on yours and compare before you order.

Yes, it is load bearing. In normal use the bridge load runs through the spreader, and that is exactly the job it does when it holds your bridge legs apart. Here is the part that actually answers the worry, though: it is not a safety-critical link in your system. Your rope stays captured inside the carabiner at all times, so even if this part failed outright, the rope is still in the biner and you are still connected to the tree. Nothing about your fall protection runs through the Hip Saver. We are not going to quote you a load rating, because it is a comfort accessory and it is not rated or certified climbing equipment, and we will not dress it up as something it is not. What we will tell you is that it is made from Nylon 12 on commercial production equipment rather than in somebody's garage, it is consistent part to part, and it is covered by a Limited Lifetime warranty. Never treat it as a substitute for a properly rated rope, carabiner, tether, or saddle.

They keep the spreader on the bridge legs when the bridge is not under tension. Sitting in the saddle, the bridge is loaded and the spreader stays where it is on its own. The moment you stand on your platform or take weight off the bridge, those legs go slack and anything riding on them is free to shift. The ears at the top of the body are shaped so the rope seats down into them and is gripped there, so the Hip Saver stays captured through that slack window and is still in position when you sit back down. Practically, that means you are not reaching up to a spreader hanging off one bridge leg after every stand-and-stretch, and you are not chasing it back into place in the dark.

Two things, and both show up in the tree rather than on the spec sheet. First is glide. A rough surface grabs rope, and a rope that grabs holds you wherever you last were. The channel gets a post-process surface finish that leaves it slick, so the bridge legs slide through as you turn, lean, or reposition, and the spreader follows you instead of fighting you. Second is noise. A rough surface against an aluminum carabiner clicks and squeaks, which is the last sound you want when something is working its way in. The smooth finished surface takes most of that out on its own, with no tape or other field fix needed. It is a small thing on paper and a noticeable one at 20 feet on a still morning.

That is how most people run it. Nylon 12 is a stable, water-tolerant material that does not mind UV, cold, or repeated cycling, so leaving the Hip Saver clipped into your bridge between hunts is not doing it any harm. Leaving it in also means it is never the thing you forgot in the truck. At 1.59 oz (45.2 g) it is not adding meaningful weight to your kit, and the 0.59 in. (15 mm) profile stays slim enough that it is not snagging on bark or branches while you climb. Wipe it down with water if it gets caked in mud. It is covered by a Limited Lifetime warranty, so if something ever does go wrong with the part, get in touch.

It sits above you, not on you. A tree saddle is a hammock you wear, and the bridge line connects at each hip and runs up to a single carabiner that clips to the tether around the tree. The Hip Saver installs right at that carabiner, at the top of the V your bridge makes, and holds the two legs 4.53 in. (115 mm) apart. You will never feel the part itself, because it stays up at the carabiner and does not sit against your body at any point in the system. What changes is what those two bridge legs do below it: instead of converging and squeezing inward on your hips, they come down and away at a wider angle. The pinch you are trying to fix is at your hips, but the fix is up at the carabiner.

Fair question, and the answer is a stack rather than any single thing. Start with the number nobody else in this category publishes: we tell you exactly how far apart it holds your bridge legs, 4.53 in. (115 mm), so you can judge the product before you buy instead of after. Add the rope-retention ears, which keep the spreader captured on the rope when you stand up and the bridge goes slack, so it is still in position when you sit back down rather than hanging somewhere you have to reach for. Add the finished channel, which lets the bridge legs glide as you shift and keeps the carabiner quiet. Add Nylon 12 made on commercial production equipment, so the part you get matches the part we describe, every time. Add that it is made in Coopersville, West Michigan, and covered by a Limited Lifetime warranty, which means you are buying it once. A cheaper spreader will spread your bridge. This one tells you by how much, stays put when the rope goes slack, glides instead of binding, and is still yours in ten years.