Ring Buckle Mod for Stock Speer

[Sweeper]

Hi All:

I'm suffering from the same information overload as most newbies, so please forgive me if this question has been asked and I just can't find it. Has anyone taken the stock Speer webbing and sewn in ring buckles somewhere above the ridge line connection point? I was thinking of cutting the stock webbing above that point and making a loop with the ring buckles inserted in the loop for a permanent modification. I would bar tack the loop or use the double figure 8 knot that I saw Griz use in the the video. Anyone see a problem with that? I figure if I mess it up I will just remove the stock webbing per other threads on here and go with some amsteel blue and another set of webbing that I got from strapworks....I'm thinking of doing this as I just loaned my HH out to someone as I am recovering from having my knee 'scoped and can't go on the Corps of Insanity hike next week in NC....

Thanks,

PH

[Photograhiker]

Sounds like a good plan.

I have a DIY I made following Speer's design. I did a very similar approach when I added cinch buckles: cut the strap, looped it over, and bartacked the buckle inside the loop. The adjustability is worth the work and the weight.

Edit:
I also cut the D rings for the ridgeline out, and the buckles are around 4 inches from the hammock ends. This is so the buckles will be well under my 8x10 ft tarp and act as a drip stop--hopefully, haven't tested it in rain yet. Of course, now I have to find a good ridgeline tie-off point. Currently, I just tie it to the buckles. It's lower, but not too bad.

[guySmiley]

I've modified my Speer IIIA the way you describe and I'm quite happy with the results. I kept the d-rings on the straps, mostly out of laziness, but also because I thought that they might be useful to hang stuff off of. I'll probably end up getting the stitch ripper out and get rid of them since I've never used them though.