Bread wrapper clip = no knot tarp clip

[Chard]

Argh.....

Potato clips, figure nines, velcro...the list goes on and on..

Solution....Learn to Love Knots...

• Tie them right and they never fail...
• Weigh nothing
• Don't break in the field
• Gives you something to do with your hands
• Keeps alive an ancient tradition

Call me old fashioned.....

P.S. Ignore me and hike your own hike.

[mountainm]

Argh.....

Potato clips, figure nines, velcro...the list goes on and on..

Solution....Learn to Love Knots...

• Tie them right and they never fail...
• Weigh nothing
• Don't break in the field
• Gives you something to do with your hands
• Keeps alive an ancient tradition

Call me old fashioned.....

P.S. Ignore me and hike your own hike.

+1 The truckers hitch is easy to tie with a little practice

[RePete]

Problem with knots is at some point they have to be untied. Not something I want to deal with when I am trying to relax. My goal is to make my setup knot free with the exception of the marlin spike. Can you really even call that a knot? It wont even hold itself.

[Chard]

A handful of knots I use all the time...

• Bowline.. Excellent for making a loop at the end of a line and is always easy to undo
• Highwayman's* (or quick release knot)... I usually put in a couple of extra loops, daisy chain style for added security. One pull and it magically comes undone...
• Mooring Hitch* (Ray Mears' Hammock Knot) with a few extra loops thrown in..
• Trucker's Hitch... Use this all the time.. ridgelines, tying canoes, anything where a taut line is critical
• Prussik... for adjustable continuous ridgelines and inside hammock ridgeline for gear.
• Taut Line Hitch... self tensioning knot for tarp lines, etc...
• Bunny Ear knot.. For my running shoes and boots

* One pull completely unties these knots... Magic!!!

Practice, practice, practice....

[mountainm]

Problem with knots is at some point they have to be untied. Not something I want to deal with when I am trying to relax. My goal is to make my setup knot free with the exception of the marlin spike. Can you really even call that a knot? It wont even hold itself.

Truckers hitch will just pull loose if tied correctly - no faff. As will the evenk knot on the other end

[tpkanu]

First off, I agree with chardpp that knots are great. When my Potato Clips broke - no problem - I tied a truckers hitch.

BUT, I am a DIY junkie.

SO, I took some leftover Titanium Sheet scrap (.012" 6AL4V - available on Ebay) and made a couple of 0 gram Titanium Potato Clips. Much thicker than .012" will be hard to cut with tinsnips. It took about 1/2 hour to make them.

They seem to work fine BUT HAVE NOT BEEN FIELD TESTED.

If you want to make some:

Mark (2) 3/4"x7/8" rectangles with the biggest (central) hole being 1/4", 3/16" holes next to the central hole, and (2) 1/8" holes for the line to run thru. In the pix below you can see the original bread wrapper clip next to a Ti Potato Clip. I made them slightly smaller because I had this little scrap left over from making some DIY tarp stakes (see my Gallery).



Then I used a hand punch to punch 1/8" & 3/16" holes. This is safer than trying to drill this little stuff.



But I couldn't punch the 1/4" hole so I had to drill it. CLAMP THE STOCK DOWN WHEN DRILLING. I am not kidding! When drilling small stuff like this, the metal can get stuck on the drill bit and turn into a blender blade. Ask me how I know!



Titanium is hard to cut, so I used Heavy Duty Tinsnips to cut out the shape. Don't forget to make the slots from the outside to the center. The slots need to be the diameter of the line. Make sure you nip off the sharp points EVERYWHERE. Then file and/or sand everything (even in the holes). This will hopefully prevent damaging your line or your fingers. Feel every edge and corner just to be sure. Paint these little fellows so you can see them (I lost one while I was making them!)



Enjoy!



Repeat - "I will not save money making these - I can save money by ordering Dutch Clips!" Heavy Duty Tinsnips $15, Handpunch $18, Drill $189, the list goes on!

Happy Trails

[tpkanu]

I just noticed that these look alot like the ones Redoleary designed!

I don't think I copied his, but they may have been lurking in my mind.

Thanks Redoleary.

Happy Trails