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Thread: A Different CL

  1. #1
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    A Different CL

    Here's an idea for a situation where you have a need for a smaller-than-usual CL. The only caveat is that your CL will have a bit of heat-shrink tubing on it.

    Visualize that iconic image of a snake swallowing its tail. Start with a length of hollow-core cordage, e.g. Amsteel. Slip a short piece of heat shrink tube over it. Taper one end of the cord. Now bury that tapered end straight into the "mouth" of the other end. Milk it smooth. Slide the heat-shrink tube over the exposed raw end. Shrink it.

    You could add a lock stitch before placing and shrinking the tube if you're paranoid abut slippage but the tube alone should take care of that.

    Strongest possible CL and can be relatively small.

    This technique will also obviously work for joining two pieces of like cordage end-to-end.

  2. #2
    Senior Member hutzelbein's Avatar
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    The continuous loops from Warbonnet come with a piece of shrink wrap (at least it looks like it) on the joint. It doesn't take long for the shrink wrap to come loose and slide around on the loop. I would be worried about that if the shrink wrap is supposed to prevent the unraveling of the rope. Even with the shrink wrap in place, I think there is some serious possibility that strands start pulling out of the open end.

    If you want a very short CL, consider overlapping the buries inside the rope.

    However, I'm not a big fan of CLs and have replaced them with mini dog bones in all my set-ups. "Mini" because I make the eyes small - about as large as with the improved soft shackle. I fold the dog bone in half, and pull the middle through both eyes. This way, you get a very short loop and never have to worry about anything coming apart accidentally. It should also be a lot stronger than any CL.

  3. #3
    Senior Member jeff-oh's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by TominMN View Post
    Here's an idea for a situation where you have a need for a smaller-than-usual CL. The only caveat is that your CL will have a bit of heat-shrink tubing on it.

    Visualize that iconic image of a snake swallowing its tail. Start with a length of hollow-core cordage, e.g. Amsteel. Slip a short piece of heat shrink tube over it. Taper one end of the cord. Now bury that tapered end straight into the "mouth" of the other end. Milk it smooth. Slide the heat-shrink tube over the exposed raw end. Shrink it.

    You could add a lock stitch before placing and shrinking the tube if you're paranoid abut slippage but the tube alone should take care of that.

    Strongest possible CL and can be relatively small.

    This technique will also obviously work for joining two pieces of like cordage end-to-end.
    Here is a tutorial, with a measurement calculator, to make the type of CL described, sort of. Instead of leaving the raw threads externally it buries the line back in. (Tail into the ear???). The tail and mouth then run internally and meet-up again on the other side of the loop where the tapers are made to over-lap. This gives a CL with a cross-section having 2X number of fibers it started with.

    Design comes from the sailing industry.
    100% CL

  4. #4
    Member NeighborhoodNinja's Avatar
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    When im wiring vehicles i use a shrink tubing with glue in it. When it shrinks, the glue sticks it to the wire.
    Instagram: @tralenoutdoors

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    cmc4free's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by NeighborhoodNinja View Post
    When im wiring vehicles i use a shrink tubing with glue in it. When it shrinks, the glue sticks it to the wire.
    Aka waterproof or moisture-seal heat shrink tubing.

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    Quote Originally Posted by hutzelbein View Post
    I'm not a big fan of CLs and have replaced them with mini dog bones in all my set-ups. "Mini" because I make the eyes small - about as large as with the improved soft shackle. I fold the dog bone in half, and pull the middle through both eyes. This way, you get a very short loop and never have to worry about anything coming apart accidentally. It should also be a lot stronger than any CL.
    One thing I like about my "mini-eyed" dog bones is that you can use the same one for different lengths. I usually use mine folded in half to make a very short loop, the way hutzelbein describes, but if I need a little more length I can draw one eye through the other to cinch a loop around the end of my hammock (or whatever else), and clip a biner to the other eye.

    Re. heat shrink tubing and glue, I've always made my loops & dog bones with completely buried ends, so no fraying. I'd likely only encase Amsteel in tubing to prevent it from abrading another cord or fabric it might rub against. But I'm curious what (if any) effect heat when shrinking the tubing might have on the integrity of the Amsteel it encloses, and what kind of glue would adhere the tubing securely to the Amsteel.

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    Quote Originally Posted by hutzelbein View Post
    ...

    However, I'm not a big fan of CLs and have replaced them with mini dog bones in all my set-ups. "Mini" because I make the eyes small - about as large as with the improved soft shackle. I fold the dog bone in half, and pull the middle through both eyes. This way, you get a very short loop and never have to worry about anything coming apart accidentally. It should also be a lot stronger than any CL.
    No argument that your mini dog bones are probably stronger than CLs.

    If there's a downside to the mini dog bones it is that the contact (and wear) with the remainder of the suspension is always at a single point. There is no way to rotate the Amsteel as with a CL.

    The reality however is that very few rotate CLs anyway!

    The bottom line is that replacing worn CLs or dog bones is simple and inexpensive. One just needs to look at it as regular, required maintenance.

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