Why Two New Accessories Have Me The Most Excited For This Season

I get asked all the time at shows: what is your favorite piece of new gear? What are you running? The fact of the matter is, I am in a pretty good position. I get to try out all the new gear, have all the new stuff at my disposal. In short, I generally run all of the new stuff, because the new stuff is the latest in greatest. Obviously, the team at Arsenal always is looking for ways to make things better. The reason why this continued innovation happens is due to the fact that we are hunters. As hunters, we find things that we don’t like while hunting, and work to improve them. The easy answer to these questions, as a hunter, is the flashy items. The new sticks, a bigger platform, two awesome new saddles. Yes, I will be running all of these. The weight savings of the Carbonlites is incredible, I think they are hands down the best lightweight stick on the market. I am fired up to use the new RZR MAG3, especially for rut hunts in the middle of the timber where maneuvering to a weak side shot quickly is a high possibility. The new Freedom is in my opinion the most comfortable saddle I have ever worn, and the new Flexx saddle is going to be an incredible addition to my early season lineup when I want something a little more breathable. But first and foremost, as hunters, there are certain aspects of the set-up, certain pieces of gear, that jump out, and up to this point, have stood out as things that could be better. New for 2026 from Arsenal are two accessories. They are not going to make the front page of a magazine. They won’t be featured on stage for the best product at ATA (even though they probably should be). They are not a hero item that people will save up and cherish like it’s a new bow. However, they are two pieces of gear that will absolutely help everything single hunter who uses them have a better, easier, more efficient set up.

 

MICRO RETRAX GEAR HOIST

Up until this year, I have used a wad of paracord as my pull up rope for gear (usually my bow). I would leave it tied on to my linemans loop of my saddle, tucking the excess in my integrated pocket of my Cloud saddle until it was time to let my bow down after the hunt. Usually what that led to was a tangled mess of rope in my hands. More times than not, I had to pull my bow up in fear that the knot resembling my early days fishing line my dad had to fix for me would not give or come loose as my $2,000 bow set up is 15 foot off the ground. And I cannot tell you how many times I had to sit on the ground in cold, dark woods trying to get my rope free of briars and other junk on the ground just trying to pack stuff away. This year, I stepped up my game to a retractable dog leash after seeing a recommendation on Facebook. It worked great, it really did. Having an auto retracting hoist is a must. But it sucked. The thing was extremely bulky and way too heavy. The only good place to put it was in the side pocket of my pack, taking up the whole pocket for other gear and weighing the pack down to one side. In addition, the leash tension was rated for a dog walking, not a bow. It would take me easing the rope out to start in order for the rope to freely come out of the body without lifting my bow up slighty and therefore banging back down on the ground. It worked, but it was far from perfect.

Introducing the Micro Retrax. This thing is an absolute game changer. Compared to the wad of paracord and the dog leash I have used in the past, it is a different world for a few reasons:

First and foremost, it is small and light. With an integrated belt clip, I can clip it to my saddle, pack, or pocket, and not even know it’s there. It does not weight you down, and does not take up space. For one of the set up I put it through this late season, I had it in that same pack pouch. There is still plenty of room for other gear, so I don’t feel like I am completely wasting a storage compartment on my pull up rope.

Second, it is quiet. The mechanism itself is much quieter than the dog leash. You don’t hear the wheel winding and you pull the rope in, making for a quiet and confident pull up and let down. The last thing you need is to slip in quiet and undetected, just for your bow rope to make a bunch of noise. But, not only is the mechanism quiet, but the body of the Retrax is quiet as well. With rubber bumpers around the outside, you don’t need to worry about anything bumping it and making noise as well.

Lastly, the Retrax is built for bows. The rope comes out of the body effortlessly when you climb. You do not need to worry about it raising up the bow as you climb. This creates a confident climb, where you can worry more about getting up the tree safely without needing to wonder if your bow is safe on the ground.

The Micro Retrax is an absolute game changer when it comes to a gear rope. I will be utilizing this every hunt, no matter if I am doing a saddle hang and hunt or climbing into a pre-set tree stand.

 

 

GLYDE Tether System

We get asked all the time about using some sort of ascender or device on our ropes. Simply put, the standard tethers created from Arsenal were designed to be easy operation without needing to rely on a device. Devices traditionally are heavy bulky and loud, let alone can fail. Arsenal has relied on rope/tender systems that are lightweight, easy to use, quiet, and extremely safe. I have absolutely loved using our tethers for both tethers and lineman’s belts, as they are unbeatable when it comes to packability and quietness. However, it is hard to deny the degree of smoothness when it comes to adjusting a tether with some sort of device. Because of this, Arsenal looked to design something that would give you the easy-to-adjust benefits of a mechanical device, while still staying lightweight and relying on trusty ropes over something mechanical. Introducing the Glyde System.

This this makes adjustment easier than ever before. But what makes it so nice?

First and foremost, it is easy to use. The one-handed adjustment is like butter. There is no tension at all if you need to tighten/shorten your tether or lineman’s belt. This makes adjustment effortless, not matter what. You are never fumbling or getting stuck. Extremely easy adjustment will never cause you to not be able to get set in that moment of truth. It also leads to a lot less frustration when constantly adjusting your lineman’s when climbing. Even better, you can still go down one-handed with this tether as well. With mechanical devices, you usually have to stand up and pull a pin to slide the rope down. With the Glyde, you can simply use your fingers under load to have a controlled way slide down the rope/

Second, the Glyde system is light weight and quiet. There is no loud metal body, so you don’t have worry about the clanking of carabiners on it in your pockets or it hitting your sticks while climbing. With the lack of metal comes a lack of weight. It is extremely light, leading to a extremely minimal added weight in your set up.

And for safety reasons, the Glyde is awesome. The hunter is not relying on the Glyde to hold their weight – the ropes still do that. Instead, the hunter is simply using the device to aid the knot sliding. It is not relying on the device, which can fail, but instead using the Glyde as an aider in sliding the knot, leading to an effortless adjustment without the safety risk

The Glyde system is a no brainer when it comes to tether and lineman’s adjustment. Super easy, super light, super quiet – what we all want as mobile hunters.

 

 

As mentioned, we are hunters first. There are just some pieces of gear that make mobile set ups operate smoothly, and both the Micros Retrax Gear Hoist and Glyde System on the ropes top my personal list for gear that does just that!

 

 

Why Two New Accessories Have Me the Most Excited for This Season
By Alex Rewa

I get asked all the time at shows: what is your favorite piece of new gear? What are you running? The fact of the matter is, I am in a pretty good position. I get to try out all the new gear and have all the new stuff at my disposal. In short, I generally run all of the new stuff, because the new stuff is the latest and greatest. Obviously, the team at Arsenal is always looking for ways to make things better. The reason this continued innovation happens is because we are hunters. As hunters, we find things that we don’t like while hunting and work to improve them.

The easy answer to these questions, as a hunter, is the flashy items. The new sticks, a bigger platform, two awesome new saddles. Yes, I will be running all of these. The weight savings of the Carbonlites is incredible—I think they are hands down the best lightweight stick on the market. I am fired up to use the new RZR MAG3, especially for rut hunts in the middle of the timber where maneuvering quickly to a weak-side shot is a high possibility. The new Freedom is, in my opinion, the most comfortable saddle I have ever worn, and the new Flexx saddle is going to be an incredible addition to my early-season lineup when I want something a little more breathable.

But first and foremost, as hunters, there are certain aspects of a setup—certain pieces of gear—that really jump out and, up to this point, have stood out as things that could be better. New for 2026 from Arsenal are two accessories. They are not going to make the front page of a magazine. They won’t be featured on stage for the best product at ATA (even though they probably should be). They are not a hero item that people will save up and cherish like a new bow. However, they are two pieces of gear that will absolutely help every single hunter who uses them have a better, easier, and more efficient setup.

MICRO RETRAX GEAR HOIST

Up until this year, I used a wad of paracord as my pull-up rope for gear (usually my bow). I would leave it tied onto the lineman’s loop of my saddle, tucking the excess into the integrated pocket of my Cloud saddle until it was time to let my bow down after the hunt. Usually, what that led to was a tangled mess of rope in my hands. More times than not, I had to pull my bow up in fear that the knot—resembling my early days of fishing line that my dad had to fix for me—would give or come loose as my $2,000 bow setup sat 15 feet off the ground.

I also can’t tell you how many times I sat on the ground in cold, dark woods trying to free my rope from briars and other junk just to pack my stuff away. This year, I stepped up my game to a retractable dog leash after seeing a recommendation on Facebook. It worked great—it really did. Having an auto-retracting hoist is a must. But it also sucked. The thing was extremely bulky and way too heavy. The only good place to put it was in the side pocket of my pack, taking up the entire pocket and weighing the pack down to one side.

In addition, the leash tension was rated for a dog walking, not a bow. It required easing the rope out to get it started so it would freely come out of the body without lifting my bow slightly and then banging it back down on the ground. It worked, but it was far from perfect.

Introducing the Micro Retrax. This thing is an absolute game changer. Compared to the wad of paracord and the dog leash I’ve used in the past, it’s a different world for a few reasons.

First and foremost, it is small and light. With an integrated belt clip, I can clip it to my saddle, pack, or pocket and not even know it’s there. It does not weigh you down and does not take up space. For one of the setups I put it through this late season, I had it in that same pack pouch, and there was still plenty of room for other gear. I didn’t feel like I was completely wasting a storage compartment on my pull-up rope.

Second, it is quiet. The mechanism itself is much quieter than the dog leash. You don’t hear the wheel winding as you pull the rope in, making for a quiet and confident pull-up and let-down. The last thing you need is to slip in quiet and undetected just for your bow rope to make a bunch of noise. Not only is the mechanism quiet, but the body of the Retrax is quiet as well. With rubber bumpers around the outside, you don’t need to worry about it bumping anything and making noise.

Lastly, the Retrax is built for bows. The rope comes out of the body effortlessly when you climb. You do not need to worry about it raising your bow as you climb. This creates a confident climb, where you can focus on getting up the tree safely without wondering if your bow is safe on the ground.

The Micro Retrax is an absolute game changer when it comes to a gear rope. I will be utilizing this every hunt, whether I am doing a saddle hang-and-hunt or climbing into a pre-set treestand.

GLYDE TETHER SYSTEM

We get asked all the time about using some sort of ascender or device on our ropes. Simply put, the standard tethers created by Arsenal were designed for easy operation without relying on a device. Devices are traditionally heavy, bulky, and loud—not to mention they can fail. Arsenal has relied on rope and tender systems that are lightweight, easy to use, quiet, and extremely safe.

I have absolutely loved using our tethers for both tethers and lineman’s belts, as they are unbeatable when it comes to packability and quietness. However, it is hard to deny the degree of smoothness that comes with adjusting a tether using some sort of device. Because of this, Arsenal set out to design something that would give you the easy-adjust benefits of a mechanical device while staying lightweight and relying on trusty ropes over something mechanical. Introducing the Glyde System.

This thing makes adjustment easier than ever before—but what makes it so nice?

First and foremost, it is easy to use. The one-handed adjustment is like butter. There is no tension at all when tightening or shortening your tether or lineman’s belt. This makes adjustment effortless no matter what. You are never fumbling or getting stuck. Easy adjustment ensures you’re never fighting your gear in that moment of truth. It also leads to much less frustration when constantly adjusting your lineman’s while climbing.

Even better, you can still go down one-handed with this tether. With mechanical devices, you usually have to stand up and pull a pin to slide the rope down. With the Glyde, you can simply use your fingers under load to have a controlled way to slide down the rope.

Second, the Glyde system is lightweight and quiet. There is no loud metal body, so you don’t have to worry about carabiners clanking in your pockets or it hitting your sticks while climbing. With the lack of metal comes a lack of weight. It is extremely light, adding very minimal weight to your setup.

From a safety standpoint, the Glyde is also awesome. The hunter is not relying on the Glyde to hold their weight—the ropes still do that. Instead, the hunter is simply using the device to aid the knot sliding. You are not relying on a device that can fail, but instead using the Glyde as an aid, leading to effortless adjustment without added safety risk.

The Glyde system is a no-brainer when it comes to tether and lineman’s adjustment. Super easy, super light, super quiet—everything we want as mobile hunters.

As mentioned, we are hunters first. There are just some pieces of gear that make mobile setups operate smoothly, and both the Micro Retrax Gear Hoist and the Glyde System top my personal list for gear that does exactly that.