Splicing Zing it?

[Jcavenagh]

i use floral wire, doubled over. that 1.75 has a very small core and that's all i have really found to work well for me. i just push it through, grab the end of the zing it, then pull it back through. i wish i could find something that I wouldn't have to milk through the zing it though. no splicing tools have been small enough that i could find that would go through it easily

+1...the floral wire I have is coated with some sort of plastic so it is green. It is the only thing I have used with zing-it. Takes some patience for a longer bury, e.g. a large continuous loop, but does work well in the end.

[linxdev]

Is the loop turner too big?

[SilvrSurfr]

Wesspur sells a wire fid, part number SPL909, for $2.50 at http://www.wesspur.com/splicing/rope-splicing-kits.html

And if you wanna pay $39 for the coolest fid out there, check out the Yale Wire Basket Fid (SPL906), good for diameters up to 5/8. The wire basket works like a Chinese finger trap. Wicked cool at http://www.wesspur.com/splicing/spli...s-pushers.html

I get serious fid envy when I look at that bad boy.

[blkx01]

Gripfids- make your own & use the smallest hollow knitting needle size 4.

http://www.knitpicks.com/needles/8_N...__Dkpdpn8.html
http://www.loufrench.com/making_gripfids.htm http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8e9-t9aXa6M

[Jcavenagh]

Is the loop turner too big?

Mine is. It is a Dritz, Model 647, if I am reading the pack correctly. My loop turner works great for 7/64, but is too big for ZingIt.

[tgilmore]

wire fishing leader, coated is easier to handle ...stainless ok though.

[SmokeBait]

I use the same .024" diameter stainless steel fishing leader wire on both 1.75mm and 2.2mm Lash It/Zing It.

[Jcavenagh]

The floral wire is 24 guage coated wire. I double it and use the bend to insert into the core and pull through. As I do more splicing it gets easier and easier.
I spliced lock brummel fixed eye loops at both ends of two 1.75 ZingIt ridge lines last night. I started with 35 ft each and ended with 33 ft ridge lines. The fixed eyes are 3.5 in each.
They came out really nice.
Now I am going to make 4 soft shackle loops to prussic onto each of the ridge lines. 2 loops to tighten the ridgeline in from the the tree and 2 to pull the tarp out tight.
When that is done I will have hardware free tarp set ups (except, of course, I will still have stakes).

For the gram weeinies out there, each ridgeline weighs about 18 grams.
Pics when I am done.

[SilvrSurfr]

spliced lock brummel fixed eye loops at both ends of two 1.75 ZingIt ridge lines last night. I started with 35 ft each and ended with 33 ft ridge lines. The fixed eyes are 3.5 in each.
They came out really nice.
Now I am going to make 4 soft shackle loops to prussic onto each of the ridge lines. 2 loops to tighten the ridgeline in from the the tree and 2 to pull the tarp out tight.
When that is done I will have hardware free tarp set ups (except, of course, I will still have stakes).

For the gram weeinies out there, each ridgeline weighs about 18 grams.
Pics when I am done.

Jcavenagh, I'm getting confused by the numbers as I try to visualize your setup. So you made two single rope tarp ridgelines for two tarps, right? Why do you have fixed eye loops on each end of the ridgeline? Are you attaching a prusik to each fixed eye loop so you can tighten up both ends of the ridgeline where they attach to the tree?

And the other two prusiks are just to attach the tarp to the ridgeline, right?

[Jcavenagh]

Silvrsrfr - You got it. I'll wrap a ridgeline around the tree, pull the fixed eye loop toward the middle and then shackle it and slide the prussics in to tighten it at each end.
The other 2 soft shackles will pull the tarp out toward the trees.

I imagine that once I connect the ridgelines to the tarps, I'll probably just leave those soft shackles attached so that setting up will just require connecting to the trees and tightening out the tarp.

I know that getting a tarp key or flyz is easier, but I have all this ZingIt and I thought, why not play around with it. I wanted to see if I could make locked brummel fixed eyes at both ends. I wasn't sure I could do that. When it turned out so nice the first time, I just kept going for the second one. [NOTE: I did not use the McDonald method. I just pulled the first fixed eye through to make the second end.]
So, I made 2 ridgelines because I have 2 hammocks and tarps.
Each ridgeline will get 4 soft shackle loops.

Both of my tarps are 12ft. at the ridgeline, so a 33ft CRL will give me about 10.5 ft at each end.