new lighter weight toggles

this will only benifit someone who is a gram counter of the most desprate kind. and i would like to appologize upfront if this has already been done as i'm a newb to the hammock world and hammock forums.

i'm awaiting the delivery of my whoopie slings today and i realized that i need some toggles cause i didn't purchase any.

i haven't tested this yet so bare with me.

for most of us that archery hunt, aluminum arrows are pretty much a thing of the past so i didn't have one to sacrafice in the name of the hang. what i do have is a ton of carbon arrows.

i cut one down to abut 5 inches and sanded the ends down, carefully drilled holes (carbon is bad about splintering since it's woven in fibers). i used the guts out of 550 cord to make the lanyard and finished it off with some high reflective tape used on aircraft and aircraft flightlines that i happen to have roll of. if i drop the black toggles at night all i have to do is get some light on the situation and they will shine!!

the total weight of the toggles, reflective tape, and cord was 4 grams.

i plan on testing it today, but in theory it should hold up better than the aluminum ones i would think. if alluminum gets a weak spot like a dent, it compromises the structural integrity of the cylinder. carbon tends to have more bend in it without failure.

with that being said, i can't imagine any situation within normal usage that you would run into any problems using aluminum arrow shafts as a toggle


here's a picture of the ones i made

http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i3...6/toggles1.jpg

way to go lugnut, those are very nice, ref tape is a good idea.

+1

Good point re: the lack of aluminum arrows in most archery quivers. A similar option (for those without access to broken arrows) might be the aluminum tent pole repair part REI sells for ($.75):
http://www.rei.com/product/753711
- but I like your solution more.

BTW, did you do anything special to prevent splintering (e.g., tape wrap)?

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Experience is learning from your own mistakes. Wisdom is learning from the mistakes of others...

Vahanger, when i drilled i just went real slooooooow. as far as splintering during normal use; i haven't done anything, i'm interested to see if over time they start to splinter.

i'm going to chance it for the sake simplicity but if i were not going to chance it, i would probably take some of the adhesive that i use when fletching arrows and just but a small bead around all the cut edges and around where i drilled the holes. i don't think it's going to splinter but it's one thing i plan on keeping my eye on for sure.

i'm also interested to see if the ref. tape snags or makes it harder to pull the toggle out of the knot. it did interfer when i tried it with 550 cord but i haven't tried it with straps yet.

whoopie slings and ridgeline just arrived!!

cool man!!

Maybe instead of paracord and reflective tape, you could use some kelty triptease since it is pretty reflective. You don't think that the ends would chip or splinter, do you? (Maybe that was your whole reason for putting tape on the ends in the first place?)

gumbi, they shouldn't splinter but only time will tell. carbon arrows are very tough and you have to cut them to size for your draw length when shooting your bow anyway, that's my reason for saying that i don't think they will splinter. if they did splinter; i would make another set and just put a bead of apoxy along the edge to hopefully keep it from splintering.

i got the whoopie slings put on the hammock and i've organized a backyard campout with my 2 daughters, they are going to be in my eureka tent and i'll be testing the hammock suspension system. so far the toggles are working great.

as far as using the triptease; i was just using what i had on hand without having to buy or order anything. i suppose the triptease would work just as well.

Good to see another archery addict. Keep me informed on how those work lugnut. I have a bunch of both carbon and aluminum shafts. I have a couple trophy ridge blast 300 Shafts I received for a test run that I no longer use. These are the small diameter shafts with thicker walls, so I'm thinking they would make the perfect toggle.

Another WV bowhunter here, I've gotten good results from 1/4 and 1/2 inch pex (water pipe from Lowes and other places). I like the reflective tape looks good! I'll have to hang on to my missed shots this year. Most of them end up broken. Just curious, how did you cut the carbon shafts? I don't have a high speed cutter.

i cut it with a hacksaw believe it or not. i didn't know how it would do without a high speed arrow saw but it did pretty good.

if i remember right, this arrow was a carbon express 300. i switched to beaman arrows and this is one i had laying around.

one of my good friends is an Air National Guardsman in W.Va. man does he love the mountaineers!! LOL

my carbon toggles held up perfectly and i had no trouble removing them even with the reflective tape around both ends.

i'll update this thread if the carbon ever starts to fray or splinter.

That's a great idea! I was gonna ask you how they pulled of of the MSH, with the reflective tape, but you answered that already. Are the ties secured to your webbing?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by gRaFFiX

That's a great idea! I was gonna ask you how they pulled of of the MSH, with the reflective tape, but you answered that already. Are the ties secured to your webbing?

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i'm still getting used to proper terminology so bare with me. do you mean "are the toggles securedto your webbing?" if so, no. i'm still waiting on my poly straps so i had to do the test with my slap straps from ENO which are the reason i swapped to the whoopie suspension. those slap straps stretch something aweful!

i've been scratching my head and trying to figure out acronyms and proper terms since i joined :laugh: i've still got a long way to go:D

Quote:

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Originally Posted by gRaFFiX

That's a great idea! I was gonna ask you how they pulled of of the MSH, with the reflective tape, but you answered that already. Are the ties secured to your webbing?

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Quote:

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Originally Posted by lugnut

i'm still getting used to proper terminology so bare with me. do you mean "are the toggles securedto your webbing?" if so, no. i'm still waiting on my poly straps so i had to do the test with my slap straps from ENO which are the reason i swapped to the whoopie suspension. those slap straps stretch something aweful!

i've been scratching my head and trying to figure out acronyms and proper terms since i joined :laugh: i've still got a long way to go:D

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MSH - I meant "Marlin Spike Hitch"

I saw you put loops through your toggles, but if they're not for securing to your webbing, why drill through the shaft? :confused: Am I missing something, or are you waiting to get your Poly straps, and then you'll put them on? Just curious what the loops are for.

:laugh: ok, i see what your talking about.

i put those there so that i have something to pull the toggle by when undoing the marlin spike. those little loops also allow me to carry all of my ENO gear on a beaner so it all stays together.

sorry about that, i got confused for a minute:laugh:

No problem, makes sense.

You shouldn't have any issues... Also being a bow hunter I used some old carbon arrows for a long time, and they held up nicely.

I tied my loops through the adjustable loop in my whoopie slings: double duty: Keeps the whoopie from inverting, and keeps the toggles right where I'll need them. Makes for a slightly faster setup.

I used a carbon arrow that I purchased at wally world to hack up into some toggles and have been very happy. Only issue I ever had was shutting on in a car door and it crushed the wall of the shaft. I love your idea of using reflective tape as I have had issues locating a small black shaft on the ground when I've dropped it.

Nice job on the toggles Lugnut.

I made a pair from a scrap piece of aluminum and like you made a tether to affix to the whoopie sling. One instance of the dreaded "plop" with a toggle flying off into the woods will encourage a tether.

I had fun making some trekking poles from old golf clubs and modified a liter soda bottle to tether the cap.