Warning to newbie splicers

[DemostiX]

It is made of Dyneema but without the coating that Amstel has, Also smallest dia is 1/8 with 1800 lb breaking strength. If I had used the correct bury it would have held just fine. I spaced out and used the same bury as 7/64 Amsteel, the line I was using was 3/16ths and needs a lot more bury than 7/64ths.

The differences in line size are too small and the safety margin in the US Sailing recommendation of 72 diameters for bury length is too large to explain the failure.

The failure was due to slippage with minimal load. Stitches, and not a lot of them, would have stopped that happening. Space them 1/2" and do them in both planes with strong thread

A locked Brummel is not necessary; but using on means stitching does not need to be inspected as part of a check on the integrity of the splice.

[jons4real]

Thanks for sharing, good food for thought.

[sparkytxn]

Thanks for posting! I am getting ready to play with some splicing, nice to learn the easy way. Also, I found myself setting on the ground a time or two dinking around with rings and webbing (them descenders is slippery).

[SGT Rock]

I certainly agree with everything except the last statement.
May I suggest an alternate?
"ALWAYS BRUMMEL OR LOCK STITCH YOUR BURIES!"

I almost exclusively use lock stitching.

[RootCause]

Great thread! Like Sarge, I use 7/64" Amsteel and lock stitch my buries, usually using dental floss.

For my initiation, I hit the ground when I forgot to put a half-hitch in my ring/strap setup. The strap slid right backwards through the rings until it dumped me into soft pine duff. Lucky for me. Three Boy Scouts watching: not lucky for me.

The second time, on my first DIY hammock which used a twine whipping, my larks-headed rings pulled the whipping right off the end of the hammock: at 3am on a black-as-pitch night! This is where DIY skills saved me: I figured out what happened almost immediately, then was able to quick re-gather and re-larks-head the rings to the new end of the hammock. Sound asleep again within minutes. Didn't tell anyone about it for almost a year.

[SGT Rock]

The only splice I ever had go wrong in a hang was one I failed to lock stitch or do a lock brummel. It happened on the trail with a rig I failed to yard test. I could have sworn I did the lock stitching. Anyhow, a diamond stopper knot for the Dutch Hook to lock onto got me a nights sleep and the next day I was home making a new pigtail.