My first attempt at a DIY toggle was not so successful.

DIY_Toggles_1.jpg

I used some hollow aluminum tube that I found at the local hardware. I drilled a hole and added a zing it continuous loop. They lasted the night but I was glad I checked on them in the morning because the marlin spike hitch strap just about flattened them. Obviously my weight exceeded the crush depth of the material.

They were not easy to remove from the tree strap, but I found some backup toggle material to use for the second night.

My second attempt was much more robust.

DIY_Toggles_2.jpg

I found some alluminum "nails" used for attaching gutter channel to the eaves of a house.

It took a bit of polishing to get them slick enough but they work great. The steps I took were:

  1. Cut off the nail head and cut the resulting shaft in half.
  2. Chucked one of the shafts in a drill and "finish" them, locked the drill switch on and used it like a lathe
  3. Start with a fine toothed file to knock off the high spots not putting too much pressure on the toggle
  4. Change to 100 grit sand paper, repeat
  5. Change to 220 grit paper, repeat
  6. Finish with steel wool.


The trickiest part was drilling a hole for the lash it loop. But a pilot hole first then the finished size hole made it easier. I had a countersink bit and used it to de-burr the holes

I've used these on a few hangs and I use one for my food bag hang. Being solid, they did not crush like the aluminum tube did.

Mine weigh in at 6gr each and cost less than $2.00 US for a set of 4.