MonsterTech Warthog Desk Mounts

Hi all,

As well as the new pedals I also splashed out on a set of MonsterTech Desk Mounts. I’ve always flown with a centre mounted stick – I find a side stick to be awkward and uncomfortable. As a result I had made the OD Flight Chair Mk I out of a knackered dining chair. It was a stop-gap and it served a purpose, but it looked ridiculous and wasn’t the most comfortable thing ever (plus it meant I had two chairs around my desk as my wife was never going to sit on it, even though the controllers all folded away!)

Seeing as we have the twins the rooms are all going to shift around soon as they will need more space. This mean I am moving the PC into the nursery, which is the smallest room. We’ve agreed that my desk is way too big and so I need to get something smaller. This has got me looking into Sim Rigs. I’d wanted to build my own for years, but this isn’t going to happen any time soon (the OD Flight Chair is as far as I will be going in that direction for some time!). I need something that can be flexible with the mounting of the controllers, but be solid enough to take some intensive manouvering as I get shot down over and over again!

I looked at making my own, I’d got ideas for it, but in the end I knew I didn’t have the time, the space or the tools. I was going through YouTube when I found this:

I went to their website, I thought it was expensive but it met my needs and ultimately there are other mounts available, should I ever do the unthinkable and move away from the Warthog!

The customer servie was excellent, I was in contact with them about my order and had to rearrange the date for delivery as I was due to be away. This was solved, no problem. They answered all of my question quickly and in a friendly manner.

The mounts:

The mounts are solid. They simply clamp to the desk and won’t budge without the clamp being undone, it does not matter how much you throw the stick to the ends of it’s range of motion the mount doesn’t flex; however you may find that your desk does!!! I am able to fuly adjust the set up and it is more than capable of accommodating the 10cm stick entension that I use. I was concerned that this would be an issue and that my hand would bang into the desk when I put the nose down in an emergency dive, but not even close. If I had a longer extension then it would put my hand well above the level of the desk anyway, so it still would not be an issue.

The mount for the Warthog throttle is just as solid, it easily takes the weight of the beast and it does not budge. The base plates come with pre-drilled holes that allow you to mount the controllers how you wish. The stick itself can be mounted at a range of angles, the throttle can not be mounted at different angles but can be moved closer or further away on the mount.

The whole assembly is solid metal, the only plastic comes in the form of end plates to cover exposed bottom end of the vertical section of the mount. The height is fully adjustable so that you can mount it to your liking.

Are they worth the price?

That depends. In my situation I had to downsize and have something that could be removed from the desk and put away. I wanted something that could be centre mounted and be adjustable. It had to be able to accommodate the length of the stick extension and be solid so that it was not slipping at a crucial moment in the aerial ballet of dogfighting.

For me the MonsterTech desk mounts tick all of these boxes. If you have the ability, time and tools to make your own then it may not be worth the same to you. In my instance they will get regular use, they are extremely unlikely to break – the desk is more likely to break than these things – and I am happy with their positioning, flexibility and the ability to put them away when I am finished – or take them away for gaming sessions elsewhere!

I’d like to try out one of their sim rigs as it looks to really build on the model for the mounts but offers more flexibility with steering wheel mounts and side mounting desk tops for a mouse and Gameboard (which I’ve also just aquired too!) There’s no way I can justify the cost of that at the moment though…one day, when the mancave is completed maybe!

One thing I could see as a potential improvement is some housing for the cables, so that they are not so exposed. I realise that this would be tough with the all metal contruction, but it would be a nice to have.

So far I have had these mounts for a month, they have had some intensive use (when the twins, and my wife, are asleep) and I’m extremely happy with them.