• The SH Membership has gone live. Only SH Members have access to post in the classifieds. All members can view the classifieds. Starting in 2020 only SH Members will be admitted to the annual hunting contest. Current members will need to follow these steps to upgrade: 1. Click on your username 2. Click on Account upgrades 3. Choose SH Member and purchase.
  • We've been working hard the past few weeks to come up with some big changes to our vendor policies to meet the changing needs of our community. Please see the new vendor rules here: Vendor Access Area Rules

Ultralight, minimalist gear rope

CharlieTN

CharlieTN

Well-Known Member
Joined
Sep 21, 2019
Messages
580
Hey all. I’ve had this length of 1.6mm dyneema laying around for a bit after making my pull rope over a year ago and I’ve been trying to figure out what to do with it. Got to playing around with it and trying to come up with an ultralight and minimalist gear rope.

Here’s what I’ve come up with.

Spliced loop on one end. Wraps around the tree and passes through that loop. There is a Blake’s Hitch with a loop on the drop end. I can use that to hang my pack from and adjust how low it hangs. In this most basic configuration it weighs .3 ounces.

IMG_1709.jpeg
IMG_1699.jpeg

With a weapon hanger (larger Nite Ize S-biner that I opened up one end a bit) I’m at a whopping 1.75 ounces

IMG_1705.jpeg

If you’re like me and I prefer to have a separate way to tension the gear strap so I can take my pack off without my bow dropping, I added a CamJam and the large s-biner as a weapons hanger and that put me at 2.37 ounces
IMG_1714.jpeg

In this configuration I will put the Blake’s Hitch on the portion that goes around the tree and I can then choose where to hang my pack. Typically I work out of my pack or pockets so I don’t hang much else on the gear rope.

IMG_1708.jpeg


And if you really want to go all out and add a couple of #2 s-biners for gear to be hung directly from the rope, then you’re at a whopping 2.62 ounces.

IMG_1710.jpeg


Just wanted to share with you all my tinkering today. I’ll give this a shake down but in testing it works just fine. Will easily hold my pack, roughly 15 lbs, and my bow or rifle, roughly 7-8 lbs either way. This setup is extremely compact, especially if you drop the CamJam.

I’ve tested this with a Fulcrum Bow Hanger from G3D and it works fine.
 
Mark@tn said:
Pretty slick is this “Amsteel” or a similar rope?
Click to expand...
It’s the same material as Amsteel, the “UHMWPE” (I think that’s the letters). It would be more closely to what is sold as Dyneema. I bought it off of Amazon, under the seller Emma Kites. 750lb breaking strength. It is a bit different than what EWO sells, primarily in that it has somewhat of a waxy coating that gives it the color. No big deal though.

IMG_2179.jpg
 
CharlieTN said:
Hey all. I’ve had this length of 1.6mm dyneema laying around for a bit after making my pull rope over a year ago and I’ve been trying to figure out what to do with it. Got to playing around with it and trying to come up with an ultralight and minimalist gear rope.

Here’s what I’ve come up with.

Spliced loop on one end. Wraps around the tree and passes through that loop. There is a Blake’s Hitch with a loop on the drop end. I can use that to hang my pack from and adjust how low it hangs. In this most basic configuration it weighs .3 ounces.

View attachment 92478


With a weapon hanger (larger Nite Ize S-biner that I opened up one end a bit) I’m at a whopping 1.75 ounces



If you’re like me and I prefer to have a separate way to tension the gear strap so I can take my pack off without my bow dropping, I added a CamJam and the large s-biner as a weapons hanger and that put me at 2.37 ounces


In this configuration I will put the Blake’s Hitch on the portion that goes around the tree and I can then choose where to hang my pack. Typically I work out of my pack or pockets so I don’t hang much else on the gear rope.

View attachment 92481


And if you really want to go all out and add a couple of #2 s-biners for gear to be hung directly from the rope, then you’re at a whopping 2.62 ounces.




Just wanted to share with you all my tinkering today. I’ll give this a shake down but in testing it works just fine. Will easily hold my pack, roughly 15 lbs, and my bow or rifle, roughly 7-8 lbs either way. This setup is extremely compact, especially if you drop the CamJam.

I’ve tested this with a Fulcrum Bow Hanger from G3D and it works fine.
Click to expand...
I just had a thought, looking at these pictures. Instead of the Camjam you could put a loop hitch of some sort - thinking Agile - with a toggle or a hook on the end of the loop. Effect would be similar to the Ultimate Stick Attachment only instead of catching a button the hook is catching the locked Brummel on the end you pass around the trunk.

Nothing against CamJams - they're great - but if someone is shaving grams this might be a way to do so. Especially if the toggle is a few inches of micro-diameter shaft with a hole in the middle for the Zingit.
 
Iron_llama said:
I just had a thought, looking at these pictures. Instead of the Camjam you could put a loop hitch of some sort - thinking Agile - with a toggle or a hook on the end of the loop. Effect would be similar to the Ultimate Stick Attachment only instead of catching a button the hook is catching the locked Brummel on the end you pass around the trunk.

Nothing against CamJams - they're great - but if someone is shaving grams this might be a way to do so. Especially if the toggle is a few inches of micro-diameter shaft with a hole in the middle for the Zingit.
Click to expand...
Yeah, I’ve been looking at it and thinking along the same lines. Maybe something on the long tag end of a Blake’s hitch which seems to really hold well on this type of rope. I even thought about basically doing a trucker’s hitch using a Blake’s hitch and loop, then having a second one to hang the pack on.
 
So I tried this yesterday with a truckers hitch between the end loop and a Blake’s hitch and while it worked well to get it plenty tight enough, it was honestly a pain in the but and i can’t imagine trying to do this in colder weather so for now I’m back to the CamJam.

If I can find a way to justify an order from Dutchware gear, they sell some really small, yet insanely strong carabiners. One of those might work well on the Blake’s hitch, then you just have to pull it tight, not the whole truckers hitch.
 
I’ve play around with this a lot the last 6 months. I settled on a full bury 7/64 with thimble & particle rope grab. The weight difference between 7/64 & dynaglide is minimal & the 7/64 full bury allows for a self tending hitch for pack height adjustment.
 

Attachments

  • IMG_1004.jpeg
    IMG_1004.jpeg
    1.6 MB · Views: 23
Cbigbear said:
I’ve play around with this a lot the last 6 months. I settled on a full bury 7/64 with thimble & particle rope grab. The weight difference between 7/64 & dynaglide is minimal & the 7/64 full bury allows for a self tending hitch for pack height adjustment.
Click to expand...
Do you have any closeups of it setup to see the components?
 
CharlieTN said:
Do you have any closeups of it setup to see the components?
Click to expand...

16’ amsteel for the main line
2’ for the dog bone, which makes the friction hitch
2’ for the adjustable hanger loops & loop to attach the pack hook
Particle rope grab
1/4” thimble
3/8” tubing locks in adjustable loops

With good small diameter amsteel tools takes about 30mins to build.
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top