The Limb Saw That Won the ATA — and Why Saddle Hunters Actually Need One

Most saddle hunters obsess over ounces. They'll swap a carabiner to save 12 grams and argue about rope diameters for an hour. But then they'll climb 22 feet into a perfect whitetail tree and get completely stonewalled by one stupid branch sitting six inches in front of the kill zone. A branch they can't reach, can't break, and can't work around. It's one of the most frustrating moments in hang-and-hunt hunting — and for the 2025 season, Tethrd built a dedicated fix for it.

What the SABR Actually Is

The Tethrd SABR Limb Saw took home Best New Accessory at the 2025 ATA Show, and the buzz around it was well-earned. At its core, it's a folding hand saw. But what separates it from the cheap folder rattling around in your truck's center console is the Limb Lock system — a conversion feature that lets you clamp the saw onto a cut branch and instantly turn it into a pole saw, extending your reach to grab those out-of-range limbs and brush that would otherwise kill your shot window.

The Limb Locks themselves are built with stainless steel teeth that bite into any branch for a solid, rattle-free connection. The blade is an 8.25-inch Korean-made piece of SK5 steel with an aggressive curved tooth pattern — the kind of geometry that cuts on the pull stroke and doesn't bind in green wood. Fast, clean, quiet. That's the goal when you're 20 feet up and a deer could step out any second.

Why Saddle Hunters Specifically Should Care

Treestand hunters deal with the branch problem too, but they're usually working a known set. They scouted it, hung it weeks ago, and cleared lanes on the ground before the season. The whole saddle hunting value proposition is different. You're mobile. You're reading sign that morning, picking a tree by noon, and sitting it by afternoon. You don't always get a pre-cleared, perfectly manicured setup — that's not the point. The point is first-sit advantage: fresh scent, unpressured deer, a tree they've never seen a hunter in.

That speed-and-pressure philosophy is exactly why a compact, dual-use saw like the SABR makes so much sense in a saddle kit. It's lightweight enough that it doesn't feel like a tax on your pack weight. It solves a real, recurring problem. And the pole-saw conversion means you're not stuck standing on your platform doing the awkward one-armed reach that every saddle hunter knows too well.

The Bigger 2025 Preseason Picture

The SABR wasn't the only thing worth paying attention to heading into fall 2025. The whole saddle space kept pushing forward. Tethrd's Carnivore 2P saddle brought a genuinely clever approach to the single-versus-two-panel debate — it wears like a single panel on the walk-in, then drops into two-panel mode at the tree via RAD Buttons, with features like Lay Flat Loops, a Quad Lock Bridge, and Free Float Mode giving hunters serious in-tree adjustability. Meanwhile, the Trophyline Hyperlite platform leaned hard into Magnite material — reportedly 35% lighter than aluminum and 22% stronger — stacking neatly with the Hyperlite climbing sticks for a genuinely compact system.

The point is the industry wasn't standing still. Every fall the bar moves. Lighter, faster, more purpose-built for the mobile hunter who's covering ground and hunting fresh timber.

Should the SABR Be in Your Pack?

If you're running a true run-and-gun setup — meaning you're picking trees the day of, hunting different ground every sit, or working pressured public land where you need to disappear into spots other hunters walk past — yes. Absolutely. The ability to clear a shooting lane from elevation without climbing down changes the calculus on a lot of trees that would otherwise get passed over.

• Lightweight and packable — doesn't punish your system weight
• Dual-function — hand saw and pole saw in one tool
• Stainless Limb Locks — solid connection, no slop
• SK5 curved blade — cuts fast without binding on green wood
• ATA Best New Accessory 2025 — validated beyond just the hype cycle

The gear that actually earns a permanent spot in a mobile hunter's pack is the stuff that solves a problem you run into every single season. The branch problem is real. The SABR is a real answer. Send it.