Anybody seen these ?

Ya, those are pretty nifty! At first I didn't think I would have much if a use for those, but if you are trying to set up a tarp shelter with cold hands, those could really come in handy! Very interesting!
 
I have a feeling if they're plastic they'd end up broken or too flexible when you need them most. And regardless what they're made out of, probably easily lost.
 
Interesting looking little gadgets... a cross between a sliding tent line adjuster and the horns of a boat cleat.

To take up and keep the slack out of lines if you don't have a slider of some sort handy, the tautline hitch is a handy solution.
picture of "how to": http://www.netknots.com/html/tautline.html
animation of tying it: http://www.bsatroop818.com/Knotfiles/tautlinehitch.htm

Besides not costing any money (myself being cheap ;) ), the knowledge of tying a knot doesn't weigh anything in the pack.
 
They are probably fast also. A bonus with cold stiff fingers and a threat of rain or snow. :thumbup:
 
Now that I think of it, those remind me of my Petzl Pirana descender. Sort of.
Pirana.jpg
 
That is friggin neat. I beat my head all the time with tensoning issues with tarps. Now where do I get some near me hmm?

Skam
 
knots are a skill i have spent alot of time on and they work just fine for me

if it ain't broke ......
 
j_amie_k said:
knots are a skill i have spent alot of time on and they work just fine for me

if it ain't broke ......
Click to expand...

I agree. IMO, you don't even have to know that many knots--just 5 or 6 of the most useful ones and you are already far ahead of 99% of the rest of the world. And when you really need a knot, you won't have to worry about these gizmos breaking, being lost, being forgotten, or letting a heavy load under stress come loose.
 
Hey Pitman -

Spend 5 minutes learning to tie a taut line hitch or a slippery hitch and and this gimmick can be tossed out the window. Spend that $$ on beer, burbon, or a new blade!!
 
I can tie a couple of hitch knots and I'd still kindly like to have a couple of those things....NOT at 9 bucks a pop though.
 
scm2741 said:
Hey Pitman -

Spend 5 minutes learning to tie a taut line hitch or a slippery hitch and and this gimmick can be tossed out the window. Spend that $$ on beer, burbon, or a new blade!!
Click to expand...

I'm actually not too bad at tying knots and have a couple of good books on the subject.I just thought these looked like a handy gadget at a reasonable price and like with my fire starting kit etc I always like to have a few options!
There may be times when either your fingers are too cold to tie a knot or your hand may even be injured and these may just offer you an easier option !:D
 
As a few people have already said, a tautline hitch works well for many of those applications.

FWIW, a "tautline hitch" is just a rolling hitch tied back to the same rope. ;)
 
They just came out with those last Spring or Summer, IIRC.

And yes, as good Boy Scouts gone to seed, we should know our knots. Having the line and not knowing how to tie the knots is a waste!
 
A simple taunt line hitch, or even better, a blake's hitch has never let me down. In fact, I've probably been up in 50 trees, and every time came down on a blakes hitch... Must work, cuz I'm still alive!
 
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