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  1. #1
    Senior Member cmoulder's Avatar
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    In praise of Lawson Glowire

    When I first got into hammocking it became clear rather quickly that the ubiquitous Zing-it is the default go-to for most hangers when it comes to tarp and guy line cordage.

    Although I've been hanging for only a year or so, I am not new to outdoor stuff and am a relentless tinker-tester when it comes to perfecting and simplifying my backpacking kit, so I've experimented with a lot of Zing-it for various tarp setups and other applications. I am also a knot aficionado and will always choose knots instead of a bits of hardware when appropriate. At first, I saw a lot of people using various ingenious bits of bling, and my first impression was that these handy little jewels were essential.

    And after using Zing-it for a while, I was also starting to understand the need for bling; Zing-it just wouldn't work with some of my favorite knots, particularly the friction knots such as Midshipman's hitch, Prusik, Blake's etc. I tried to make it work by using Atwood Micro cord to make Prusik loops, and while it held much better than Zing-it-on-Zing-it, it still slipped over time after numerous slack-tension cycles from gusts of wind.

    Recently I decided to buy some Lawson Glowire and give it a try. I was doing a quick overnighter into the woods yesterday, mainly to see the fall colors at Harriman State Park and to tweak my HG standard Hex tarp with doors. I had set up this tarp somewhat tentatively last winter with Zing-it RL and guy lines just to make it thru the season, and there were some improvements needed to make it more easily deployable. But the main objective was to swap out the Zing-it for Lawson Glowire.

    And now that I've done it, I could kick myself for waiting so long! For the tarp RL, I made some 2-wrap Prusik loops for the RL D-rings. The Prusik loop ends were left open so that the loop could be tied directly through the D-ring, thereby avoiding any hardware. For attaching RL to trees, I used a bowline-type knot for the fixed head end, and a Midshipman's hitch (slight variation on Tautline) on the adjustable foot end for tensioning the RL. All these knots held all night long with not a micron of slippage. There was a lot of rain but thankfully it wasn't windy at all.

    Bottom line: If you're a die-hard all-knots-all-the-time kind of person, I highly recommend using this cord.

    hammock_fall_harriman_glowire_SMALL.jpg
    Last edited by cmoulder; 10-29-2018 at 12:41.
    Five Basic Principles of Going Lighter (not me... the great Cam Honan of OZ)
    “If everybody is thinking alike, then somebody isn't thinking.” ~ Gen. George S Patton

  2. #2
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    I've been thinking somewhat along the same lines lately, no pun intended.

    The ZingIt/LashIt along with various bits of hardware can be a lot of fun to play with. And I can see where it appeals to folks focused on weight and volume.

    That said, using cordage such as Glowire (and that includes several products in that diameter range) opens up a lot of options whether you want to use gadgets or go with knots-only. For example, Line-Locs and Line-loc hooks are great tie-out tensioners for cordage this size. Or, simply use a midshipman's.

    There's a place for the UHMWPE stuff and there's a place for other stuff.

    Wish Lawson was still allowed to participate here. He sells some great stuff.

    (I think I just used up my quota for saying "stuff" for a while!)
    Last edited by TominMN; 10-29-2018 at 13:11.

  3. #3
    Senior Member cmoulder's Avatar
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    lol... Nah, "stuff" is very handy stuff.

    And totally agree, various forms of UHMWPE are irreplaceable for many applications. And Kevlar for lightweight huggers.
    Five Basic Principles of Going Lighter (not me... the great Cam Honan of OZ)
    “If everybody is thinking alike, then somebody isn't thinking.” ~ Gen. George S Patton

  4. #4
    Senior Member OneClick's Avatar
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    I'd really like this stuff in a non-reflective version. Everything about it is perfect - bulk, weight, no stretch, nice feel, 2mm is easy to work with, no tangle, good with knots, etc. But the reflective stuff sheds everywhere. That's my only gripe so I just recently switched to their Statline.

  5. #5
    HandyRandy's Avatar
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    Agreed. These guys need more praise than they seem to get around here. It’s a better suited cord for our applications.

  6. #6
    Senior Member cmoulder's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by OneClick View Post
    I'd really like this stuff in a non-reflective version. Everything about it is perfect - bulk, weight, no stretch, nice feel, 2mm is easy to work with, no tangle, good with knots, etc. But the reflective stuff sheds everywhere. That's my only gripe so I just recently switched to their Statline.
    You know, I had read your recent thread about this and was looking for it, but there was no sparkly residue from this batch. I "sawed" it back and forth thru a tiny Nite-Ize S-biner (very sharp radius) quite vigorously for about a minute with no material coming off. But I'll look for it and will update here if it starts shedding after some use. The lines got really wet, obviously, so if that's a factor I should know soon!

    But that Statline looks excellent as well if you don't want the glow.
    Five Basic Principles of Going Lighter (not me... the great Cam Honan of OZ)
    “If everybody is thinking alike, then somebody isn't thinking.” ~ Gen. George S Patton

  7. #7
    Senior Member OneClick's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by cmoulder View Post
    You know, I had read your recent thread about this and was looking for it, but there was no sparkly residue from this batch. I "sawed" it back and forth thru a tiny Nite-Ize S-biner (very sharp radius) quite vigorously for about a minute with no material coming off. But I'll look for it and will update here if it starts shedding after some use. The lines got really wet, obviously, so if that's a factor I should know soon!

    But that Statline looks excellent as well if you don't want the glow.
    I'm 100% positive it's there. You need to point a flashlight at it in the dark, holding it basically between your eyes. That's why headlamps work well with reflective lines, since the beads require the right angle of light to "light up". Same with stop signs, running wear, etc.

    Like I mentioned in that post, you'll likely never know if you don't dry your tarps indoors. Or it's just piling up in your carpet!

    p.s. I like this stuff too much to give up. I think I may redo one of my tarps with this again, and just plan on never hanging it in my house. Worse case scenario, I can just hang it without guying it out to dry. Over-analyzing...it's what I do.
    Last edited by OneClick; 10-29-2018 at 14:23.

  8. #8
    ObdewlaX's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by cmoulder View Post
    You know, I had read your recent thread about this and was looking for it, but there was no sparkly residue from this batch. I "sawed" it back and forth thru a tiny Nite-Ize S-biner (very sharp radius) quite vigorously for about a minute with no material coming off. But I'll look for it and will update here if it starts shedding after some use. The lines got really wet, obviously, so if that's a factor I should know soon!

    But that Statline looks excellent as well if you don't want the glow.
    I've got just about every type of cordage Lawson makes and agree 100%, the quality is outstanding and works great in the field. I have experienced very minor reflective shedding with my Glowire setups, but not enough to worry about. I've swapped out just about all the guy lines on my hammock & ground tarps with Glowire. His new Statline product is very strong with no perceivable stretch and it makes a great ridgeline for hammock tarps, ground tarps or just about another application you can think of. And it's light enough to stow a hank in the pack for backup if needed on the trail.

    In fact, I see he's added black & blue to the color line up along with the original orange... time to place another order!

  9. #9
    Senior Member OneClick's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by ObdewlaX View Post
    In fact, I see he's added black & blue to the color line up along with the original orange... time to place another order!
    I really like the black...more of a dark dray. Much less "waxy" than zing-it/lash-it.

    More details: https://www.hammockforums.net/forum/...=1#post1929041

  10. #10
    Senior Member cmoulder's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by OneClick View Post
    I'm 100% positive it's there. You need to point a flashlight at it in the dark, holding it basically between your eyes. That's why headlamps work well with reflective lines, since the beads require the right angle of light to "light up". Same with stop signs, running wear, etc.

    Like I mentioned in that post, you'll likely never know if you don't dry your tarps indoors. Or it's just piling up in your carpet!

    p.s. I like this stuff too much to give up. I think I may redo one of my tarps with this again, and just plan on never hanging it in my house. Worse case scenario, I can just hang it without guying it out to dry. Over-analyzing...it's what I do.
    OK, I tried it again in the bathroom with all the lights off and indeed I saw a very small amount. That much I can live with, however.
    Five Basic Principles of Going Lighter (not me... the great Cam Honan of OZ)
    “If everybody is thinking alike, then somebody isn't thinking.” ~ Gen. George S Patton

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