DIY Dutch Hook Alternative using Dog Tag S-hooks

[PopcornFool]

I haven't posted much, but have been hanging for a few years and lurking here longer. I finally saved enough to buy some Dutch bling this spring, only to discover that he's been forced to close down the warehouse.


So I got to thinking ... is there a way for me to create my own Dutchware? Obviously, I don't have a manufacturing plant in my garage or a ready supply of titanium stashed in the corner, but I do have a bunch of crap lying around; so I started digging.

I figured I'd start with something simple ... an alternative to the Dutch hook. For my tarp CRL, I'd been going the "no hardware" approach. For awhile, I simply pulled one end of my CRL through the eye I had spliced in the other end. Then I started playing with using a bowline and other tied approaches. Eventually, I just went with a cheap biner. And I mean one of those really cheap, buck-a-dozen, gates keep breaking, but just barely good enough biners you get at the dollar store. I really was looking forward to getting a Dutch hook for the simplicity and a bit of weight savings. (Plus it's the least expensive of the Dutch bling items I have my eye on.)

So if Dutch isn't shipping anymore, and I don't want to keep replacing broken cheapo biners, what else can I do?

I believe I've created something that will work just as well.

I found a bunch of small S-hooks. These come with the rabies vaccination tags I get every year for my dogs' collars, but I always just re-use the old ones and toss the new ones in a box. I'm sure similar s-hooks would be cheap and easy to find at any hardware store. The ones I have are steel and strong and weigh only 1-2g each (My scale kept wavering between 1g and 2g before settling on 2g. It doesn't get more granular.).

In short, I just took a pair of needle-nose pliers and rounded half of the S-hook into a closed loop (or thereabouts). Then I pinched the other end into a flatter, (more Dutch-ish?) hook-like shape. Because they are small (only about an inch long) and steel, it took a little elbow grease and wrangling with the pliers to get the S-hook re-shaped close to the way I wanted, but because they are designed to be crimped onto dog collars, they aren't so thick that it can't be done. It only took a few minutes.

Then I simply used a lark's head to affix the loop end of my CRL to the newly-shaped hook.

I've attached a couple of pictures to make it easier to see the size, weight, and before-and-after appearance.

It's not particularly pretty, but it's functional. And I wouldn't use this for anything other than my tarp CRL or tie-outs, though it's plenty strong enough for that. It's certainly heavier than a Ti Dutch hook, but I think I can probably handle the extra gram in in my backpack. And though Dutch hooks are relatively cheap, you can't beat free. Plus I get the satisfaction of having made my own gear (albeit a small piece of gear).

I'm relatively new to the forum (less than a year) and haven't posted much, but I would appreciate any thoughts or feedback.