I love going going to local businesses that seem to sell anything and everything. You have to ask where stuff is, because only the owner knows where it might be buried. If he doesn't have what you need, he is usually willing to tell you about someone who might have it.

Thus I found Casto Trading Company. Wade mainly sells to other businesses. He buys rope and webbing. These are the ends of production runs, bad dye jobs, etc. He repackages rope in various lengths and sells to smaller hardware stores, country stores, where ever he can - he does. I called him on a Monday, he is only open on Thursday through Saturday but I could come on by anytime and he would open up. Wade and I spent a good 30 minutes digging through boxes in the main warehouse. He knows what all the various fibers are in the ropes and advised me on how well they would do for 'hanging around'. The color selection was very limited. The only color for the 1/8" Technora was gold. The smallest size for Dyneema was 3/16" and only white, black or green. He has larger ropes and webbing up to 8" wide.

The first trip I got 200' of 1/8" Technora and 40' of 3/16" Dyneema. I split the goodies with Lupus and started scrounging for something to use as a fid. After making a couple of nacrabiners I was hooked. The second trip I ended up with about 800' of 1/8" Technora and another 300" of the 3/16" Dyneema.

Now I have a tendency to dicker when it comes to prices. The first trip I knew what Dyneema was going for on the internet. I had no idea about the Technora. Since I got the Dyneema for 7.5 cents per foot I wasn't going to push him. I figured out later that I got the Technora for 4.5 cents per foot. Yeah - no joke. The cheapiest I have found Technora on the internet so far is 61 cents per foot.

I'm not real sure what I paid per foot for each on the second trip. I got about 800' of Technora, 334' of Dyneema, 40 foot of 1/8" shock cord, and about 50' of 1" flat webbing. Total cost on the second run was $77.

Now I'm going to have a bit of rope left over after I get around to making my slings, nacrabiners, and tarp suspension. I've got to get to work sending out messages on the forums so I can reach the 50 message requirement in order to pass this savings back to you guys. (no, I'm not a vendor - just a geezer who gets carried away buying stuff)

GeezerScouter