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"FASTENING" your ring of steps

emerald ghost

Active Member
SH Member
Joined
Jul 14, 2018
Messages
104
I have the cam buckle from Eastern and also the well known ratchet strap to secure my ring of steps.
Does anyone have another means by which you secure your ring of steps?
 
I'm curious as well. I've only got the OCB from HangN30 but I'm unimpressed.

Good question, thanks for the post.

I'll be following
 
Good question. I’ve tried the ratchet, the bullman cam buckle straps and the OCB. I like the OCB best for the weight. But ratchet is the strongest. The cam buckle sucked for ros. Some people do the new fangled amsteel truckers hitch method for ultra light. Curious if anyone has tried something else.
 
Torniquet method....with amsteel, lighter much quieter and just as strong as a ratchet strap! It's how they used to do scaffolding all over Asia and Thailand where I grew up. I use it for my steps!
 
I used the OCB buckles for EWO and Treehopper. The bigger handle on the Treehopper definitely lets you crank it down tighter but I stick with the EWO because it’s more compact. I don’t need it crazy tight because I am mainly on my one stick platform and just use 2 steps to get around the tree. Not putting much weight on them.
 
Torniquet method....with amsteel, lighter much quieter and just as strong as a ratchet strap! It's how they used to do scaffolding all over Asia and Thailand where I grew up. I use it for my steps!

this might be parlayed into a good method to attach single steps tightly to climb to height

a video or short description to get us all thinking about this would be awesome, if you have time

already thinking of how this can tension a quick attach system for climbing steps (combo daisy chain, soft shackle, ultralight tourniquet)
 
I’ve used the boat buckle and the one from EWO. I’ve broke one from Dano but I have several. I over tightened the one and a rivet failed. I hadn’t seen the one from treehopper until it was mentioned above. I’ll stick with the one DanO sales but would definitely reccomend the treehopper to anyone that struggled getting their Steps tight enough. It’s really never bans an issue for me.
 
I’ve got another method that I’ve been playing with but haven’t used on a hunt yet. It is essentially using a Nite Ize Dual CamJam like a truckers hitch. This cam can slide along your strap so I position it at the 3:00 position, pass the strap through the loop end by my last step and then double it back through the cam. When I pull the strap tight I get the 3:1 mechanical advantage like a pulley or truckers hitch so I can get it a lot tighter than just a cam buckle.

Here’s the cam:

Pros are that it’s very compact, no metal to metal contact and it’s quick and easy to secure and remove. In my testing and experience, I’d say this gets your ROS slightly less tight than an OCB but I, personally, find it quieter and easier to use.

Trade offs to every method - not sure what will end up as my go-to come fall. And standard disclaimer that this cam buckle is NOT made for this though it has a WLL of like 300 pounds. So use at your own risk.
 
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