Sawbuck or Decker?

[Dan V]

For those of you who pack, do you prefer the sawbuck or the decker? And why? do you prefer a different one for mantied loads or paniers?

Dan

[Big Mike]

I use sawbucks with meat, and hard panniers. Hard paniards make a nice platform for top loads. I dont pack weird shaped stuff very often and im not a very good knot guy, so I dont use Deckers. Deckers are better for off shaped stuff like fence posts and such. Most packers I know use mainly sawbucks

[sheimer]

This is an interesting question.....

The man that tought me to pack in Yellowstone used primarily Deckers and therefore I learned to tie the hitches on a Decker first. They were what I thought a pack saddle was supposed to look like. Then I went on to work for another packer that used mostly sawbucks and panniers and that worked well for the most part. Then I guided elk hunters and the first year I was kinda a camp bitch and packer and was tought to use a decker to sling elk quarters and it worked very well. Me and a helper could put an elk on a couple horses in short order.

Now that I'm "all growed up" and pack for myself on my own hunting trips, I prefer a decker on account of it being able to do everything better than a sawbuck except quickly attaching panniers. I just prefer to use the sling ropes on a Decker and then use a lash rope to put on the top pack and mannie tarp to cover everything.

Keep in mind these are all personal preferences and have nothing to do with anything scientific. There is just nothing prettier than a single diamond on top of a big pack mule proudly carrrying camp.

Scott

[Mike Leonard]

I think they each have their good points and negative points. I like sawbucks if I am packing in tight timber country winding trails thru primative trails because your loads is set up a bit higher and does't have as much side play as you do when it is lower down on a Decker or modified McClellan.

The finest packsaddles I have seen however have been built on the Decker pattern and have been fully covered with skirts and all and lind. These are pricey deals but really nice and everything is even and balanced.

I remember an ealy fall fishing trip many years ago when i was a pretty small kid. My Dad and a friend and I went back into the Spotted Bear near the Bob Marshall Wilderness. It was great fishing for those nice native Cut throats and beautiful scenery. Lots of game about and grizzley sign as well. I recall how I marveled at the huge boulders and logs a griz would move around hunting for grubs and such.There was a nice trail system up off the river and i got tired of fishing early one day and hiked up to get a better vantage point of the scenery. I was standing there looking off towards the China Wall and suddenly I heard a bell clanging. I stepped out a bit further and I saw two long pack strings winding their way up the trail. Dozens of horses, and all packed high. I climbed up on a rock and watched as they came by. The old cowboy/packer in the front smiled and waved in a gesture as he road by and it amazed me all the stuff they were hauling in, and how quiet it was other than the occasional bell on a horse. Just the click of steel shod hooves on the stones and the creak of leather and load as they sifted by me there. I watched as the snaked their way up the mountain out of sight.When i got back with my Dad and his friend who was raised in the country I told them about what I had seen. Bob the man who grew up there said you just saw a legend in this country taking in an early hunting camp, that was Howard Copenhaver and he is one of the best ever.

Well later when Howard came out with a book I bought it and the photos took me back to that mountain trail so many years ago. Packing is an art and when it is done correctly in is a thing of beauty to behold.

[J.C. Call]

A Sawbuck with slings, mantie and lash rope, and you can get 'er done. Never used a decker.

[R Severe]

I just hit a spot in a book on the Idaho Bitterroot that details the Decker history.
Around 1909 a packer (McDaniels)working for railroad survey crews in the Clearwater country took the bucks off of a sawbuck and replaced it with shaped horseshoes. He used the basket hitch, then called the squaw hitch off these hoops like the Nez Perce people did on similair saddles made with steamed elk horn hoops.
He then teamed with blacksmith Oll Robinette near three devils rapids who formed Irons and shaped a wider bar of cottonwood for the trees.
He patened the tree and rigging.
A couple brothers, packers in the Lochsa River country came up with the half breed cover of canvas & leather over the tree. The whole outfit bears thier name today, Decker.

The two advantages it has over the sawbuck in the tree is that the bar displaces more weight and you can change the angle of the bars by heating and bending the irons.

I've used both and lean a little towards the decker. I think you can do more with it than the sawbuck. My dad and uncles used sawbucks and swore by them.

[Machias]

I like Deckers...but it's the only type I've used so it's a biased opinion.

[Clarka57]

I like deckers but sawbucks, saddle painers, or just a saddle can work, the last picture is kinda a joke (although a western saddle or Mcllelean work just fine alone for quarters) anything can work, it just depends on how many times you are willing to stop and how many rocks you can find.

[Clarka57]

A couple more packing pictures..........

[catdogs]

Deckers are far better in my opinion.
1. You can change the pitch of the bars by bending the dee's
2. You can change the fire of the cinch by adjusting the V riggings on a decker.
3. The half breed adds padding between load and animal and also houses the side boards which distributes weight evenly along the rib cage.
4. You only have two loads on a Decker, one on each side. With a sawbuck, you have 3, one on top.
5. You are not restricted by panyard size or shape with a Decker.
6. Most importantly, you don't have to weigh Decker loads, they can easily be balanced by lowering or raising them to balance the load. *(no need to be packing rocks)

[Mike Leonard]

Excellent points Catdogs! Thanks for the insight.


Dang we get some good stuff on here. I sure wish I had about three of them really nice Deckers all built in leather skirts and rawhide trees and the whole nine yards. But that might have to wait. In the mean time we will pad up these old Sawbucks and hope for the best. I have seen them old timers scaving off them planks and whittling them saw bucks out with rasps and all and a lot of them are far from pretty but I guess they do get the job done like they have for a year or two.LOL!

[catdogs]

This is what I use - It has sheep skin on the bars, and all Hermen Oak leather, the best you can get. My dad makes these for me.



Heres a laod for ya!!!

24" culvert doesn't sound all that wide over the phone......but let me tell you, when you put them on a mule, you need a pilot car! ;D Here are some pics of a little packing job we did last Fall

[Clarka57]

Catdogs I absolutely agree (two sides, *No rocks), I am no expert but we have packed a variety of loads (med length 7-20 miles, steep country), in my opinion, one of the most simple and effective ways to pack just about anything is slinging a decker, of course there is always a time and place for diamonds, barrels ect.

[Clarka57]

Wow catdogs awesome pictures!

[Clarka57]

Sorry guys I just love dogs horses and pictures, here are some of the funner times, lets see yours.






The last one hurt, I lasted all of 0.5 seconds, she is one of my favorite cows I must have spooked her jumping off the flatbed.