tarp pull outs.. small magnets??

[1camper]

I just did a very unscientific test with some rare earth magnets I had on hand. I tried to pick up a glass bottle 1/2 gallon of Mt Gay Rum (mostly full) which weighs about 5#s with 5/16" diam x 3/16" tall round rare earth magnets. It would not pick up the bottle.

2 pieces of sil between the two magnets. I tied the bottle to the bottom piece of sil and lifted up on the top piece of sil slowly.



Although the magnets have a shiny coating on them, the coating wears off and they do chip, primarily from snapping to each other. It creates a "rough spot" more than a "sharp spot".

Just briefly scanning the site, I could not find a disc 5/16" x 3/16". I saw 5/16 x 1/10, it listed less than 3#s pull, so I wouldn't expect it to pick up the rum. Even 5/16 x 1/8 was just over 4. As far as the coating goes, there is nickel and there is black nickel. The black nickel listed 1.5#s more pull with the same size magnet. Go figure.. all the mags I ordered were 1/8" thick from 7/16 - 5/8. It seemed like the best pull for mass in my uneducated observation.

The magnets sliding when pulled would seem to be the greatest obstacle from my view. This can be mitigated by changing the trajectory of the pull, or by pulling from multiple points. I'll try both.

[tiredhiker]

Hey all you can do is try, the worst that can happen is it will let go in the wind. no big one there..
If you do try it let us know..how it worked

[TiredFeet]

Not to discourage you, but TeeDee and I investigated using magnets in the hammock setup in various places, mostly to replace Velcro or zippers.

We ended up deciding that magnets just don't work in camping gear.

First you need a really strong magnet that is light - that almost amounts to an oxy-moron. If it is strong it isn't light and if it's light it isn't really all that strong.

We purchased the strongest type of magnet, the rare earth magnets. We got sizes that would work without being intrusive and also light enough that they didn't weighed more than what we were trying to replace.

First of all we read the notice that came packed with the magnets. Basically do not let anybody with an electronic medical devise near the magnets. Do not let small, young children handle or use the magnets. Since neither of us has a pacemaker (yet!) or can be called small or young, we proceeded.

The magnets are cylindrical and came in a stack. In struggling to dislodge the top magnet of the stack from the stack, we got the impression that, yeah, these things should work and they are LIGHT.

We soon got an education. We ended up breaking about 10% of the magnets just trying to free one from the stack of magnets. NOT GOOD. Rare earth magnets are made by compressing the materials and coating with a non-magnetic material. The compressed material does not have much structural integrity and the magnets break very easily.

We then proceeded anyway and found that the magnets also easily break under use if not handled carefully and/or you allow two magnets to slam together or allow one magnet and a steel washer to slam together.

Still undaunted, we continued.

The magnets were sufficiently strong to hold so long as there was no material between the magnets or between a magnet and a steel washer. Even extremely thin, less than 1.0 oz/sq yard nylon ripstop prevented the magnet to magnet or magnet to washer to hold sufficiently to be usable to hold 2 fabrics together under more than the lightest loading.

We tried to secure nanoseeum or 1.0 ripstop nylon to the sides of the hammock to secure and hold them in place. Just getting into the hammock was enough to dislodge all or most of the magnets and they had to be reset every time someone got into or out of the hammock. A tricky process when inside the hammock - not as bad as Velcro, but not much better.

We never tried silnyl like you want to, but it is thicker than the lightest fabric we tried which didn't work.

Now you can get much stronger rare earth magnets, but they are bigger, much bigger and heavier, much heavier.

Magnets for what you want will be far heavier and bigger than the simple to use Grip Clips. The magnets also have the disadvantage of being metal which can really ruin fabrics or silnyl when rubbing against it.

[1camper]

Oh sure, now you tell me.

[Cannibal]

I just picked up some of the JRB Grip Clips and tried them out. They are super light and work well, but I am a bit worried about sliding them around while they're attached to my tarp. It does crimp the fabric. I don't know if it'll de-sil my tarp, but I'm still cautious.

They will scar your sil tarp if they start wandering around. Use the balloon trick! It really works great and prevents the clip from sliding around on your sil. I've got one tarp (SuperFly prototype) that looks like Scarface from poorly placed Grip Clips. The tarp is still 100% effective, just ain't purdy. Later use on other tarps included the addition of a balloon between clip and tarp; haven't had a scar from a clip since.

[Cookie]

They will scar your sil tarp if they start wandering around. Use the balloon trick! It really works great and prevents the clip from sliding around on your sil. I've got one tarp (SuperFly prototype) that looks like Scarface from poorly placed Grip Clips. The tarp is still 100% effective, just ain't purdy. Later use on other tarps included the addition of a balloon between clip and tarp; haven't had a scar from a clip since.

Hey Cannibal, Do you put the balloon on the outside of the tarp? Or both sides? This seems like a great idea.

[1camper]

Ok, first test. Also my first YouTube video so cut me some slack for shooting it upside down! http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature...&v=rpxFIVKCNqg

There's a big storm coming tomorrow so maybe I can get some better shots then but you get the idea...

[G.L.P.]

i would like to know how they work out in high wind....
i got a feeling they are not going to hold in high wind ...but i'v been wrong befor

but i wouldn't want to carry them around on the trail....3 grams is 3 grams...
grams add up ..

[1camper]

[IMG][/IMG]

They seem pretty strong, at least with me shaking it hard..

Three grams is six grams cause you need two, so, I hear ya.. still, it is hopefully a more versatile way to pull out your tarp without sewing anything or crimping the fabric.

[1camper]

[IMG][/IMG]

I used the largest one 9/16 x 1/8 on the short side, I used the smaller on on the long side. When it started raining hard the small one slid to the seam, I switched the the larger one before I made the video. I'll see if it held up to the rain overnight.