Beetle Buckle Water Break Video

[jaedee]

Perfect! Can't wait for mine to arrive.

[tstark]

Im sure they're still filling their kickstarter orders. I dont remember exactly when they said they'd be on the website. June-ish?

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I thought I heard May would be when we could expect to see them in the web store. My birthday is in May, and I'd like to do my own water tests on them, you know, because science.

Thanks everybody.

Nice idea for a t-shirt from Dutchware.com!

[tplusfive]

I know this an old thread but I had some recent experience with the beetle buckles and spider poly straps - same setup as in video. I had the buckles under my tarp and no additional drip lines on the continuous loops. I was out for four nights. We had light rain two nights and I had no problems. On the third night we had heavy rain through most of the night. In the morning the bottom of my hammock was soaked. I was sleeping on a pad in the hammock for my bottom insulation, so I was fortunate and stayed dry. I don’t know if I had the excess strap hanging straight down like in the video or not. I tied some drip lines onto the continuous loops for the fourth night but only had light rain so don’t know if that would have helped in the heavy rain. I’m hoping the drip lines will be enough next heavy rain I get...

[Five Tango]

I discovered the necessity for drip lines about 2003 while yard testing my new HH Expedition and that awful little Asym tarp that came with it.

Fast forward to now.I have been using Dutch's Spider Poly strap and beetle buckles identical to the one in the video with ZERO issues.Because I am a geek of sorts,I did add a Dutch Hangle to each CL of the hammock plus an old fashioned flat cotton shoe string upstream of where the cordage for underquilts or UQP's attach to the CL at the gathered end of the hammock.Occasionally I have added another CL or a dogbone to the hammock's CL with a Dutch Biner for extra reach.Dutch Biner is also an awesome water break.

I have tested this set up several times "out there" in all night rains.I am surprised that the straps themselves don't seem to be anything more than slightly damp when I roll them up and I have slept dry in some significant precip with no problems.

Here's a statistic of interest-my 25 feet of Spider Poly strap plus Beetle Buckles weighs 5 oz even.This compares to 4.9 oz weight for a pair of 7ft Spider Poly tree huggers with 30 ft of the blue Spider 2.0 plus two Dutch Titanium toggles.So for a tenth of an oz. penalty I pack the Beetle Buckles because of the convenience as they allow instant adjustment and hold both the hammock and the gear hammock quite nicely.

[LuvmyBonnet]

Old threat but thanks for the video. Gives me a little peace of mind knowing that my beetle buckles do a good job as a water break. That being said I'm still going to err on the side of caution and continue to use drip lines. Waking up in the middle of nowhere with wet down isn't my idea of a good time.

[tplusfive]

I have been using Dutch's Spider Poly strap and beetle buckles identical to the one in the video with ZERO issues.Because I am a geek of sorts,I did add a Dutch Hangle to each CL of the hammock plus an old fashioned flat cotton shoe string upstream of where the cordage for underquilts or UQP's attach to the CL at the gathered end of the hammock.

I will bring some cord or cotton shoelaces next time. I will also make sure the strap in facing down like in the video. I would be surprised if I had them facing up but I just don't remember. Are cotton shoelaces better because of their absorbency or does that even matter?

[Five Tango]

I will bring some cord or cotton shoelaces next time. I will also make sure the strap in facing down like in the video. I would be surprised if I had them facing up but I just don't remember. Are cotton shoelaces better because of their absorbency or does that even matter?

I'm not sure if it does.I've gleaned so much information over the years now that I don't even know where I heard it but I think Shug uses them;may have been where I got the idea.I am pretty sure the first ones I ever tried after my backyard event in the HH Expedition back in 03 were maybe paracord.
It could be that the cotton shoe lace acts more like a sponge and breaks the surface tension of the water better.

[tplusfive]

Thank you for the help Five Tango

[SilvrSurfr]

I recently used my Beetle Buckle suspension in an overnight rainstorm where 5 inches fell in less than 12 hours. That's a lot of rain! I think the Beetle Buckles worked fine as a water break.

I find these kinds of tests very unrealistic - even a deluge isn't going to be near the amount of water you see in this experiment with a water can.

Derek from The Ultimate Hang did a YouTube video that I also found ultimately unconvincing. The flow rate (using whatever he was using) was way more than one would ever encounter in nature.