Treemotion, again....

T

tophopper

I came to the realization today that Im not entirely happy with my Treemotion harness.

I like the fact that gear stowage is completly customizable, but aside from that, after climbing in it for several months now Im not overly impressed.

It seems just another saddle.

It isnt anymore comfortable than the butterfly IMO, and the Butterfly is much lighter and not quite so hot due to less material.

I havent noticed any abnormal wear as mentioned here by others, and the lower set of lanyard dees, although it looks good on paper, dont really fit my style. I rarely use them.

I dont like the small side d rings (if youd call them d's).

And one other issue I had which only happened once (while on the ground thankfully).... the buckle release buttons are potentially dangerous.
While wearing the harness on the ground I bent over to pick something up from the ground, the waist buckle got pinched between my stomach and groin area and fully released from the pressure exerted. The waist buckle completly opened up on me, which was a bit scary. What if i had been 60' up a tree and bent over in the same manner?
Other TM user please be mindful of this potential hazard.

Any others not so impressed with it or am I the only one?



Considered that my Treemotion review.
 
I just got mine a couple days ago and have spent time working with it and customizing it to my liking. I can see the problem with it opening. As far as the side rings I love them for my lanyard. I don't use the lower rings but I know some guys like to use a fixed point tying into the side lower rings to climb off. And no offense tophopper but if you've got a belly to open up the belt maybe there's a bit of dunlap disease going on. I love mine. I'm not a small guy by any means but I spent some time in a friends before buying mine. And the only complaint I have so far is that my buddy who has one. His smells terrible due to the material in the back and leg pads.
 
Humm, tough experiance with the buckles opening in that fashion! I have used several saddles with this type of buckle, and have not had that experiance(cross my fingers).
There are so many saddles being used with so many different climbers, all with this buckle, that if it was a real problem with the TreeMotion more complaints would have been logged by now.
Any chance that your buckle might have been undone partially by your belly or crud or something BEFORE the actual release?
 
i agree with tophopper on some of the issues, it is heavier and the buckles can be tricky, sometimes only one side might click in leaving the other side of the clip to be undone, ive always taking notice to that since day one and so far i havent had any problems in the tree, the money is way too great for this saddle, i think i would be 100 percent happy with it if i only paid 250

all in all though i think it is still the best saddle out there, its my one and only saddle and im interested to see how well it does in the winter with 10 pounds of extra clothes on, hopefully i dont get saddle sores as much, im am looking into this treeflex i hear so much about though, if its priced fairlly ill probably buy it for my rec climbing so i dont have to keep lugging my other saddle home every weekend from my boss shop
 
Frans- I suppose it could be possible.
But if you think about it, if the buckle is positioned just right, it would be very easy for both the bottons to be depressed in a bending motion like I described. Downward and upward pressure at the same time from being squeezed in your abdomen.

I will experiment and TRY to get it to happen again, if I can, Id suggest the manufacturers take a long hard look at this.
 
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all in all though i think it is still the best saddle out there,

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I guess thats the reason for my post, I initially thought the same, but now Im beginning to think its just another saddle, and not worth near what I paid for it.

Im feeling a little let down about it to be honest.

Tomorrow, Im gonna dig out the Butterfly and give that another go for a week or so. I never had any problems or complanits about the Bfly, I only put it aside because the TM came out and seemed to be all the rave.
Ive never been much of a trend follower, I dont know why followed this one to be honest. All the hype I guess. Lesson learned.
Fear knot, I havent given up on it completely, but am not as crazy about it as I was to start.
 
I think the $ factor plays a big role in people's view or experience of the saddle. If the treemotion costs the same as the Butterfly, we probably wouldn't hear the end of the praises of this saddle. But that price tag is just a bit too much for me
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jp
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I think price of gear is relative. My wife rides horses, and her saddle cost over 4 grand. But her horse riding is a part of her professional life.

I have seen guys spend over a hundred a week on just their health club membership alone. Or hunting trips each year that cost thousands of dollars. Or thinking nothing of dropping a few hundred a month on their golf club membership.
I wont even mention the bar tab :)

It is very common to see tree companies that have signs on the trucks that cost a couple of grand, but using beat up personal gear that I would not allow my crew to use on the job site because it is so worn out.

Your personal gear is an essential part of a professional's tool kit, and it helps to keep you productive and safe on the job site.
The tools which you use on the job are tax deductable, so the cost is defrayed in that way.
If you work for a good company that supplies your personal gear for you, then you must use what they supply. Or if you dont like the gear supplied, you can always offer to contribute some cash to make up the difference between the TreeMotion and the saddle which they would have bought for you anyway.
If you run your own company, you can buy whatever you desire, and the cost is a tax write off.

About the only way I would think that the cost of a TreeMotion would be scary is if you are running on a shoestring budget, and attempting to buy the essentials to get your business up and running. But even then, if the TreeMotion is a saddle which really does it for you in terms of performance, then it is worth every penny.

What is very important to any person buying tools and gear, is to make sure you buy the gear and tools which do the job, and do it well.
If that means buying boots from Walmart for example, then so be it. Those are the boots for you.

But if the TreeMotion is a overrated saddle, then it is not a good buy.

However, there are far too many climbers who have bought this saddle and give it a 'thumbs up'. So it seems like it has proven itself. The webbing issue proved to be a mess up with the manufacturer, and not a design flaw, the durability of the saddle seems to be good. All in all the saddle seems to work just fine.
This buckle issue may, or may not, be a serious design flaw. But this type of buckle is used by more than one saddle maker, with thousands of the buckles in use today.


Either way, the cost of the TreeMotion is relative, in my opinion.
 
I think I will stick with my original Butterfly for a while longer.

John, .........suck in that gut! LOL.
 
I love my TM. The BF or BFII are uncomfortable by comparison; pinching, squeezing, rubbing, chafing. I use the front D-rings exclusively. It took some getting used to, but I can't imagine climbing without them now. The buckles cannot be released while under tension, but I can see it happening while in a relaxed position. Haven't had one open yet.
 
After reading this thread I dumped my treemotion and went back to my bflyI this afternoon. I will not be climbing on it again, The TM is far more comfortable for me, less pinching and better leg loops.


Tockmal, what have looks got to do with it?
 
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After reading this thread I dumped my treemotion and went back to my bflyI this afternoon. I will not be climbing on it again, The TM is far more comfortable for me, less pinching and better leg loops.



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I get confused with TM, TM. TreeMotion, TreeMagic

Are you saying that you wont climb on the treemotion, however you like your bfly1, but the treemagic is a comfortable saddle?
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I have spent some hours on my TM and still put in some hours at work on my Glide since the company won't allow the TM and it's a world of difference. I think Mark, and the crew put a great deal of thought and design in it. I think there might be some ways that it could be improved but some of that can be taken care of in the customization of the saddles for each person. It's comfortable, allows a great deal of mobility. Just a beautiful saddle.
 
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