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Cam Cleats

P

prvance

Active Member
Joined
May 12, 2020
Messages
122
What is best cam cleats for the money for a DIY on the Hawk sticks?
 
You don't have too many options. It comes down to "how much weight do you want it to hold" and you get about 2 choices per weight rating.

The Harken-150 is rated for 300lbs. Your stick will actually experience less than that against a tree, but you want to round up for safety margin anyway.

Personally, I got the 500lb rated version, so I can carry a deer up the tree with me while I'm goin' for 2. j/k. It's because I like cake.
 

Amazon.com : Lixada 2PCS Kayak Cam Cleat Boat Canoe Sailing Boat Dinghy Aluminum Cam Cleats Fast Entry Kayak Cleats : Sports & Outdoors

Amazon.com : Lixada 2PCS Kayak Cam Cleat Boat Canoe Sailing Boat Dinghy Aluminum Cam Cleats Fast Entry Kayak Cleats : Sports & Outdoors
www.amazon.com

I bought these and put them on my sticks. Did a weight test to 300lbs+ on both the cams and they both never failed. Been working eith them for two seasons now without issue. Sort of depends on what you’re comfortable with though.
 
JBDaddy said:
You don't have too many options. It comes down to "how much weight do you want it to hold" and you get about 2 choices per weight rating.

The Harken-150 is rated for 300lbs. Your stick will actually experience less than that against a tree, but you want to round up for safety margin anyway.

Personally, I got the 500lb rated version, so I can carry a deer up the tree with me while I'm goin' for 2. j/k. It's because I like cake.
Click to expand...

Where did you get the cam cleat rated for 500lbs?


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This is something I've wondered with the cam cleats.. how much tension is the line actually seeing.. I get that some of your weight is supported by the friction of the stick to the tree, but considering the angle of the strap/rope/whatever... how much tension is that actually seeing?
 
TooheyBirdie said:
This is something I've wondered with the cam cleats.. how much tension is the line actually seeing.. I get that some of your weight is supported by the friction of the stick to the tree, but considering the angle of the strap/rope/whatever... how much tension is that actually seeing?
Click to expand...
Somewhere on this site, somebody used a scale to measure the actual force on their sticks and the rope around the tree. I can't find that post right now but it's here somewhere.


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JBDaddy said:
Somewhere on this site, somebody used a scale to measure the actual force on their sticks and the rope around the tree. I can't find that post right now but it's here somewhere.


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Click to expand...
..thanks.. I'll have to dig around
 
When I tried and tested the smaller cam cleat rated at 150 pounds I was seeing if I could break it by jumping up and down on the step. Because it was rated at a low rate I wanted to be sure it was safe. I broke it and went to medium cam cleats which I have used for two years and I have had no problems


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Ontariofarmer said:
When I tried and tested the smaller cam cleat rated at 150 pounds I was seeing if I could break it by jumping up and down on the step. Because it was rated at a low rate I wanted to be sure it was safe. I broke it and went to medium cam cleats which I have used for two years and I have had no problems


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Click to expand...

What smaller cam cleat did you use? I think the micro I have coming is rated at 200#.

And which medium one has worked? Just in case I decide micro isn’t going to cut it.
 
Aaronpaul14 said:
What smaller cam cleat did you use? I think the micro I have coming is rated at 200#.

And which medium one has worked? Just in case I decide micro isn’t going to cut it.
Click to expand...


RF5000 | Ronstan Sailboat Hardware World

Ronstan offers a full range of yacht and dinghy sailing products including blocks, sheaves, travellers, furlers, rope cleats, stainless steel fittings, sheet and halyard winches and much more.
www.ronstan.com www.ronstan.com

I used this one and here are the specs. I was wrong. It has a max working load of 165 pounds and a breaking load of 330 pounds.

The center popped out of it. Keep in mind I was trying to see if it would break. Most of us would not jump up and down on a step on a tree. The force generated would be well beyond my 200 pounds.

I tested this a few years ago while building multiple different sticks trying to make them lighter. The small cam cleat was attractive because it was lighter and the sticks would stack better.

I also tried building carbon sticks at that time. Those broke too. I also tried 1:16 wall aluminium tubing too.

It is just a warning that the small cam cleats are on the edge of safe for anyone over 165 pounds.

Other sticks will have slightly different specs


Rope Ø 3/32 - 5/16 in.
Height 3/4 in.
Width 1 in.
Length 1 7/8 in.
Fastener Ø 5/32 in.
Fastener Hole Centres 1 1/16 in.
M.W.L. 165 lb.
B. L. 330 lb.
Weight 0.7 oz.


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Last edited:
I have never had a problem with a medium cam cleat


Rope Ø 1/8 - 1/2 in.
Height 1 in.
Width 1 1/4 in.
Length 2 5/8 in.
Fastener Ø 3/16 in.
Fastener Hole Centres 1 1/2 in.
M.W.L. 275 lb.
B. L. 550 lb.
Weight 1.8 oz.


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Ontariofarmer said:
I have never had a problem with a medium cam cleat


Rope Ø 1/8 - 1/2 in.
Height 1 in.
Width 1 1/4 in.
Length 2 5/8 in.
Fastener Ø 3/16 in.
Fastener Hole Centres 1 1/2 in.
M.W.L. 275 lb.
B. L. 550 lb.
Weight 1.8 oz.


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Click to expand...

Thank you sir for sending this!
 
This thread is a bit older, but wanted to ask: Has anyone used other types of cams such as these pictured? They aren't mechanical and the top one, in theory, would fit a stick and allow you to pull the line pretty tight before seating it in the cam and then I think it would be easy to lift the line out. the lower one seems to span the gap between using a versa button to pull out slack but instead of needing an overhand, you could cam the line to hold. The third picture is another cam cleat design specifically designed for a non-sailing application: People working on telephone poles use them on ladders to cam off a lineman-type line so the ladder stays secure to the pole. I'm still looking around for weight ratings and other types of cams like this but wanted to see if anyone had tried using something like these, what their thoughts were, etc.
1642509787057.png

1642509801532.png1642510037548.png
 
mprooch said:
This thread is a bit older, but wanted to ask: Has anyone used other types of cams such as these pictured? They aren't mechanical and the top one, in theory, would fit a stick and allow you to pull the line pretty tight before seating it in the cam and then I think it would be easy to lift the line out. the lower one seems to span the gap between using a versa button to pull out slack but instead of needing an overhand, you could cam the line to hold. The third picture is another cam cleat design specifically designed for a non-sailing application: People working on telephone poles use them on ladders to cam off a lineman-type line so the ladder stays secure to the pole. I'm still looking around for weight ratings and other types of cams like this but wanted to see if anyone had tried using something like these, what their thoughts were, etc.
View attachment 60426

View attachment 60427View attachment 60428
Click to expand...
I have tried some of the plastic pull down anchor locks and truly they aren’t designed for that much force to be applied to them. Remember that the force isn’t straight front and back, there’s a downward force applied as well. Add in some of them are very difficult to get the rope to pull all the way down into and out of, and it really isn’t good. You would be better to use a small steel or aluminum cleat and just wrap/tie it off similar to a boat mooring. But the harken cam clear works great and if fits on the hawk minis pretty well.
 
OOAL tried the "Clam cleat" style, which is similar to your bottom RH picture. There were failures and I don't believe they are using those any longer.
 
@Fl Canopy Stalker
Yeah, lots of them are not very heavy duty. Wondered about a standard cleat you'd see at a mooring or dock but you'd end up throwing a half hitch around it or figure 8 the line and that probably wouldn't be nearly as easy as getting the line undone in comparison to a harken cam. That said, I may pick up one of the more heavy duty pinch style cams and play with it a bit at low heights, put it through some stress testing.
 
mprooch said:
@Fl Canopy Stalker
Yeah, lots of them are not very heavy duty. Wondered about a standard cleat you'd see at a mooring or dock but you'd end up throwing a half hitch around it or figure 8 the line and that probably wouldn't be nearly as easy as getting the line undone in comparison to a harken cam. That said, I may pick up one of the more heavy duty pinch style cams and play with it a bit at low heights, put it through some stress testing.
Click to expand...
I put one on an old steel post hawk and I used oplux, instead of tying it off I would wrap the 8 over the clear twice and tuck the tail under the second wrap. It definitely isn’t as quick as the harken cam is but it was strong, and it was quieter than the nylon straps with a big cam buckle on it.
 
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