Monkey Beaver vs Onyx

It really is just getting physically used to the new pressure points of the saddle. . .

I think of the MB as a more refined design mostly because of the leg loops and the gear storage.
 
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  • #27
The 2017 onyx I believe has the same legs as the MB. They redid the leg straps and got rid of butt strap for 2017
 
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  • #28
Just purchased a 2017 Onyx. MB is a 4-6 week wait every where and I got the Onyx for a great price. For 2-3 times a month use I think it will serve me well.
 
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  • #37
The urge overwhelmed me...... I ended up purchasing both saddles but only keeping one. I was able to hang in each one in my basement. Though both saddles are nice. There is NO COMPARISON in comfort. The MB is so superior basically because of the huge back support. Amazing how comfortable it is. Onyx is going back this morning. Thanks for all the help.
 
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  • #41
Hard when you can't walk in and try things on. Free shipping to me and it only cost me $16 to return Onyx. Definitely worth it and glad I went that route.
 
I won't lie my MB killed my back the first time I wore it. But now.... it's perfect! Kinda like a new ball glove. You guys a right about the extra back support. It was stiff at first but now I think it would be hard to go back to anything else.

I did a silver maple removal a while back and the customer saw the monkey beaver on the leg. He was amazed and said whoever thought that up is a genius and the coolest dude on the planet.

I told him about August's YouTube page. A few weeks later I saw him out and all he could say was I told you that dude is freakin awesome.
I agreed.
 
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  • #43
It is very stiff. I am guessing it will break in a bit and feel even better with use.
 
It sure is a good logo.

I doubt there are many climbers today familiar with the early production climbing saddles offered to arborists in the 1960s and 70s.

One, called the Klein "NyBuck" Arborist climbing saddle" was a true instrument of pain. NyBuck (trademark by Klein Tools back in the day) was the material they used in the manufacture of lineman's adjustable lanyards. The process of manufacturing NyBuck is akin to making a multiple ply rubber tire, and just as stiff. Dimension wise NyBuck strap is about a quarter of an inch thick by 2.5 inches wide.

The saddle was a leg type. Consisting of 1 adjustable waist strap, 2 adjustable leg straps, and a fixed bridge. The waist strap and leg straps incorporated a large steel buckle that made the fit possible for a number of sizes. The buckles, btw, were the same used in the manufacture of Kline's lanyards.

All 4 components were sewn and riveted, (3 layers thick for waist strap, 4 layers thick for the bridge, 2 layers thick on the leg straps) to a Kline "circle D". Now the D rings (2) laid flat against the front of your hips. Similar to a halter harness. If you unbuckled the saddle it would lay out completely flat.

The Bridge did have a fixed D in the middle for tying into. However, the saddle lacked any functional D-rings for using a lanyard. You had to snap into the Ds, which were, of course, laying flat against your hips. If you can imagine the difficulty and the pain!

Side note: NyBuck strapping, when sewn and riveted in multiple layers, does not bend to conform to the soft flesh of one's waist or legs. Oh, not at all.

I did a search to try and find an image of the saddle to post here. Some images were close, but none of what I seen were the real McCoy.

However, I did find one image that closely matched the same style of construction. As a climbing belt it had more hard spots than a rocky road. And it was the reason so many arborists, back in the day, made they own belts. My own designs, if any of you recall, eliminated all the hard spots.

construction style.jpg
 
That's a right fancy looking halter there.

I had the privilege? Of learning to rig spars in the woods with a belt and flip line. No leg loops to worry about at all, no 2nd lanyard and no lifeline. It was pretty lumberjack lol. Sitting on a limb to rest or using your upper body strength to rest, or kind of jamming yourself in all sorts of different positions to try and rest one muscle group or another was common place. Passing limbs or whatever unclipped and freeclimbing the bottom flare so the lanyard could reach around was common too. The tool of choice was a axe jammed in the belt to 'bump' limbs and stubs on the way up. The next option was pulling up or climbing with a 272 husky. So you could find yourself 'chopping' some pretty decent limbs at times to avoid packing a saw. If you could make it to your rigging point with just the axe, passblock, and pull line then your 'groundy' could pull everything up to you on the pass block. If you were lucky your rig line would reach the grOund double, if not then you got to pull yourself until the rope could reach the guy on the ground.

Silly stuff, looking back.
 
My belts lacked buckles. So, they were non-adjustable. The fit was purely custom to the individual. If you gained any weight at all it would be troublesome to impossible to get the saddle on. Even the clothes you wore affected the fit. The only recourse would be to re-weave the saddle, or to have more than one. Fact I had 3 for those reasons.

The non-adjustable feature would make production of the saddle impractical. With the hardware, though, anyone could build their own, in a few hours, with just a hank of rope.
 
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