What is Safe to Use as a Marlin Spike?
lazy river road and I were asking about marlin spike safety in a DIY marlin spike thread and we didn't want to hijack the thread. At lrr's suggestion, I'll repost our comments here (feel free to jump in here lrr):
Quote:
Originally Posted by
lazy river road
Ok I get the marlin spike and what they are used for. But why carry them and not just use sticks off the ground. The marlin spike does not hold the woopie sling the knot does (as Shug points out in his video). So all you need is something to tie the knot around. Just curious? Mabey its easier to use aluminum tubeing instead of sticks and I just dont know it bc I havent yet tried woopie slings but just curious trying to figure out what im missing.
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Meteor
I've been wondering this too.
Can the sling slip off the knot? Does this happen much? I would love to try the whoopie sling with marlin spike hitch, but I would be thinking about that sling popping over the knot and suddenly applying the weight of a fully loaded hammock on the spike itself.
It doesn't seem that many of the things discussed to use as a spike could handle that kind of a load, so maybe there's another reason folks use something other than sticks?
It sounds like there have been many miles on the marlin spike knot, so I suspect there isn't much of a risk, but... anyone had issues?