I came across a youtube vid of a guy that uses a climbing biner instead of a toggle with a marlin spike. His logic is that it won't slip out and is in general more secure.
What I noticed was that he was actually clipping into the biner instead of looping over the biner as a toggle. So in effect, he is not applying the weight to the knot below the toggle, but to the biner and the loop that it is clipped on.

My question is, 1. is this safe (assuming a properly rated biner is used) and 2. is this in fact safer than using a toggle (not that I've heard of anyone having a toggle slip out).

I would assume that other than degrading the strength of the strap with a knot, all would be fine. but I figured I would toss it up for debate.