7/74 Amsteel "Blue" UCR barely used - is this normal?

[MikeCD]

Does anybody have any feedback on what I might be doing wrong when constructing or using my ucr's? For most of the ones I've made so far the bury has ended up being too short. While I aim for around 10 inches on most of mine once the thing is constructed the bury is 6 in or less. But on the one I'm posting photos of here, when the bury is fully milked it's about 12 in, or if I loosen it it's at least 10 in. But if you look you'll notice one end of the very the rope itself seems to have shifted out of the weave and is more like loose strands for about a half inch. On the other end of the brewery you can see that the outer portion has remained compressed even when I try to loosen the braid across the bury. I used this UCR to support my hammock, and I weigh just at 200 lb. I'm wondering if my tree straps are too low and I'm well below the preferred 30° hang. I think being at less than 30° intensifies the pressure against the strap. Does that make sense to y'all? Could that explain why the ucr's outer or sleeve rope looks damaged on both ends of the bury?

Pics
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[LowTech]

I'm a little confused, but if you're taking about the section of the blue "shuttle" that appears unwoven where the grey line exits . . . that's what some of mine look like as well.

"Sent w/o me knowing"

[MikeCD]

I'm a little confused, but if you're taking about the section of the blue "shuttle" that appears unwoven where the grey line exits . . . that's what some of mine look like as well.

"Sent w/o me knowing"

Thanks, yes I am as well as how compressed the shuttle (thanks for the word!) it's right next to the unwoven portion.

[Phantom Grappler]

That section at end of bury that looks like separate strands, can be from pulling inner part of bury in wrong direction from bury. Pulling it sideways or pulling it in opposite direction can make the braid look like single strands.

It is probably still going to have enough strength to do its job.
The proof is in the pudding, if you continue to use it, and it does not fail, then it’s ok.

Having a long enough bury, is the same, if it works, then it works. If it slips, maybe the bury was not “milked” thoroughly, or the bury was constructed too short.
If bury is too short, maybe you can take it apart and remake it to correct length. Otherwise, replacement is one option, and switching to a whoopie sling is another solution.

When constructing a UCR and then using it, some add a slip and grip knot at end of bury to help keep bury taught. Sometimes the bury sheath can be bumped causing it to slip. Some have an eye loop wrapped around amsteel near end of bury in a Prusik knot to help maintain tension, and keep bury from releasing when it gets accidentally bumped.

Many years ago, I was experimenting with a way to make UCR more secure. I made the sheath or outer part of bury with 7/64 amsteel. Then I made the core or inner part of bury with 1/8 amsteel!
It was hard to splice, and could be adjusted, but took extra work to adjust, because 1/8 inside of 7/64 is tight. This would allow a minimal bury length and an extremely tight grip, with little chance of ever slipping. I did not complete project and never hung hammock from my science project!

[LowTech]

Here's a few pics of mine. They are in use and have been pretty consistent for the last year.
The part of the shuttle that takes the pressure first (the end of the shuttle that gets attached) is much tighter similar to what you're showing.
You can see what PG is talking about w/ the non-used end loop on the shuttle. I just ran the main line through the loop twice from the same direction and then when it's straightened it causes the loop to wrap around it twice. A technic I've used to make my soft shackles more secure as well.IMG_20240127_123932950.jpgIMG_20240127_123946255.jpgIMG_20240127_123813246.jpg

"Sent w/o me knowing"

[MikeCD]

I actually haven't been making a loop on that non-used end of the shuttle. Instead I just make a "handle" by burying ~3 or 4" back into the line and burying it right until the loop disappears into itself then milking. That leaves the last ~3-4 inches of the line thicker (because it's buried into itself) and is easy to grab. I do the same thing with the non-used end of the buried-line. This results in my shuttle row having one loop and one "handle" and the buried rope having one loop and one handle. This slightly reduces the amount of rope used and weight for the overall project.

But the way y'all are using your non-used loops is interesting. I've been adding a quick slip-knot on the buried line where it exits the shuttle to further prevent slipping, but on UCRs where I make the shuttle-bury too short this results in hyper-compression of the bury, making it basically impossible to loosen the UCR later. (Just one of my learning experiences as I'm new to this).

I'm really appreciating the feedback from y'all's experiences! I need to buy some more rope and make a few new ones - almost all of mine need longer shuttle-buries.