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  1. #1

    Default New Guyline Idea - Strap Adjuster Hitch

    Hey guys, I’m a knot enthusiast and just wanted to share a simple new guyline hitch that works just like backpack strap adjusters and Lineloc systems. It has the same advantages over traditional loop-type slip & grip hitches (eg, Tautline, Midshipman, Adjustable Grip) including:

    • Nearly twice the continuous adjustment range
    • One-handed glove-friendly operation
    • More leverage
    • Hitch remains stationary (adjust by reaching a hand out from underneath tarp edge)
    • Stronger (legit climber/arborist ascending knot)


    Give this hitch a whirl - I think you’ll like it.


  2. #2
    Registered User 2Hobbits's Avatar
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    Looks ideal!

  3. #3

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    works like a prusic

  4. #4
    Registered User Venchka's Avatar
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    No give that you get from rubber bands or shock cord in heavy gusts.
    Cheers!
    Wayne

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    Quote Originally Posted by Venchka View Post
    No give that you get from rubber bands or shock cord in heavy gusts.
    Cheers!
    Wayne
    That's what I've done with my tent guylines... included some type of shock cord so that your guy lines stay taut when the winds blow (a trick I first learned from a backpacking book published like back in the 70's).
    The real trick I've found is in finding the right type and amount of shock cord to use. Too strong and your lines don't have any give. Too weak and you wind up fully stretching the shock cord still leaving you without any give.

    I've used a variation on the Tautline Hitch for ages (because it was simple to learn, impossible to forget, not very complicated, and more importantly, WORKS).
    But the last time I decided to trick out my tent, I decided to get a set of ultralight guyline tensioners: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0792WN5L4
    I permanently connected them to the guyline attachment loops of the tent with simple sewing elastic cord: https://www.walmart.com/ip/Dritz-Bea...-5-Yd/55283639

    I cut the elastic into 1' long pieces. For each guyline, I attached the tensioner to the tent by looping 4 pieces of the elastic thru the tent loops and the top of the tensioner. The loops were closed using a double fisherman's knot (or was I smart and simply looped a 4' long piece of elastic four times so I only needed one knot to close all 4 loops).

    The result is effectively eight 6" long pieces of elastic that allows me to pull the guylines taut and still have a little flexibility in the wind.

    For nubies, the problem is that if you synch a guyline very taut, a strong enough wind load can come along and either loosen your knot or loosen your tent stake in the ground leaving your tent/tarp flapping a little bit in the wind.
    The addition of elastic allows the tent/tarp to give a little bit under a wind load without loosening the knot or the tent stakes, and when the wind is gone, the guyline is still taut.

  6. #6

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    Thank you, I'm going to have some fun with this!

  7. #7
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    Nothing wrong with this but I've been using Blake's hitch for years and the Alpine butterfly or other 'push/pull' knot is unnecessary.

  8. #8

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    Quote Originally Posted by cmoulder View Post
    Nothing wrong with this but I've been using Blake's hitch for years and the Alpine or other 'push/pull' knot is unnecessary.
    Agree. My tent & hammock tarp are guylined with the Blake's Hitch. Still use Alpine Butterfly knot on occasion but not here.

    Appreciate your creativity & ability to think outside the box.

  9. #9

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    Quote Originally Posted by cmoulder View Post
    Nothing wrong with this but I've been using Blake's hitch for years and the Alpine butterfly or other 'push/pull' knot is unnecessary.
    My guess is that you’re using the Blake’s hitch in the traditional format** - ie, tied on the working end to form a tensioned loop, just like all the other traditional adjustables (tautline, midshipman and adjustable grip hitches). The issue with the traditional configuration is that a tensioned loop is inherently limited to 50% continuous adjustment range - ie, 4ft of slack can only be adjusted between 2-4ft, before requiring a retie. Also, the knot moves away from the shelter, so usually cannot be reached just by reaching a hand out from underneath the edge of the tarp/fly during rainstorms (floorless shelters).

    Strap adjusters, Linelocs, and this particular configuration (Blake’s tied on the standing end), all use a tensioned SINGLE-STRAND configuration so 4ft of slack can continuously adjust 0-4ft; and the hitch remains stationary at my tarp/fly edge.

    The Apline Butterfly is optional, but the one-handed operation it provides keeps my clothing (elbows) cleaner/dryer when adjusting my floorless mid while ‘inside’ during rainstorms.

    ** please correct me if I’m wrong, and if so, please post a pix of your Blake’s guyline set-up.

  10. #10

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    Is line tangling ever an issue?

  11. #11
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    The issue with the traditional configuration is that a tensioned loop is inherently limited to 50% continuous adjustment range - ie, 4ft of slack can only be adjusted between 2-4ft, before requiring a retie.
    One thing I discovered about Blake's early on is that it works in both directions. When I was first trying to learn to tie it, I tied in reverse — the Anti-Blake's, if you will — and like a blissfully ignorant dumbazz used it successfully in the wrong direction for quite a while, several times in some quite strong winds. It never slipped a micron. Not that I'd ever recommend this for aborists, climbers or any critical application.

    This fortuitous error taught me something; instead of having only half the available distance for adjustment, I could slip that loop around the stake and proceed to cinch the loop right down to the ground.

    However, I also use the Clove hitch (loop-behind-loop method) to attach cord to stake, so this is almost never an issue for me since it's stupid easy to re-do this knot at the stake.

    Of course there's no shortage of people who think we're idiots for not simply using Lineloc 3s.
    Last edited by cmoulder; 11-30-2021 at 17:46.

  12. #12

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    Quote Originally Posted by Recalc View Post
    Is line tangling ever an issue?
    Not any more than anything else I’ve used. I personally use ~3ft guylines around my mid’s perimeter and when not staked down, I let them hang as 3x1ft lengths.


    Quote Originally Posted by cmoulder View Post
    One thing I discovered about Blake's early on is that it works in both directions. When I was first trying to learn to tie it, I tied in reverse — the Anti-Blake's, if you will — and like a blissfully ignorant dumbazz used it successfully in the wrong direction for quite a while, several times in some quite strong winds. It never slipped a micron.

    This fortuitous error taught me something; instead of having only half the available distance for adjustment, I could slip that loop around the stake and proceed to cinch the loop right down to the ground.
    Yes, you can tie Blakes (as well as the other 3 traditional hitches) with 180-degree reversed knot orientation - that turns all of them into ‘zip-ties’ (itself a great application - the reverse midshipman is most often used knot period). And yes, the ‘zip-tie’ config is capable of continuously adjusting down to zero.

    Again, please correct me if I’m wrong here, but if you do use the zip-tie config as a guyline, you are still stuck with a loop, so in my example above, for you to match a 4ft single-strand config’s continuous adj range of 4>0ft, you’ll will need TWICE the cordage, or 8ft.

    If you only have 4ft of slack, and still want to use the loop configs, then the least work/reties would be to use the traditional config to cover 4-2ft, then retie as a zip-tie to cover the 2-0ft. At least that eliminates traditional config’s ‘half-life decay’ issue of multiple reties. Also not sure how you could resolve the knot-movement issues with loop configs. I forgot to mention early that the Alpine Butterfly (adding both leverage & single-handed operation) is really only a viable option for stationary knots.

  13. #13

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    For some reason, I can not edit my post for typos on this website and so:

    Quote Originally Posted by reppans View Post
    … the reverse midshipman is MY most often used knot period)….

    ….I forgot to mention EARLIER that the Alpine Butterfly…..

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    Actually I use Blake's in a zip-tie configuration on my HG Palace DCF tarp... I'm now primarily (as in 99%) hammock camper so longer guy lines are usualy required. The Palace can be brought right down to the ground, so that's how I set it up.

    But a prusik loop would also work well for that application.

    As far as knot movement (slippage?), it doesn't occur with Lawson Glowire, Guywire and Ironwire that I use exclusively. It weighs a bit more than some other options but is ideal for guylines and ridgelines.

  15. #15

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    My use of ‘movement’ and ‘stationary’ only refers to the knot’s location vs the tarp/fly tie-out. Single-strand adjusters are ‘stationary’ and close to the tie-out so can offer ‘indoor’ adjustments (at least w/ floorless shelters) - ie, need only expose hands to a rainstorm. Loop-type/double-strand adjusters generally ‘move’ along the guyline and away from shelter - ie, require going outside in a rainstorm to adjust.

    The prusik guyline system does have the single-strand advantages of stationary and efficient continuous adjustment, but (AFAIK them) lacks both the leverage and single-handed operation of strap adjusters, Linelocs, and this system. The prusik is the equivalent of this system if you delete the alpine butterfly, except requires a separate cord.

    At least we seem to have established that this isn’t the Blake’s hitch that you (or others) have used for years.

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    Thanks. I'm getting a new tarp soon and will replicate your setup on one corner and give it a try!

  17. #17
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    So I installed it on the corner of my tarp and gave it a try... works great!

    A key point... you want to tie the Alpine butterfly really close to the Blake's hitch—just as in reppans's photos—because the Alpine butterfly acts as a stopper for the Blake's hitch... too big of a gap and it takes an excessive distance for the Blake's hitch to engage.


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    .... oops, double post! ....

  19. #19

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    Good video, thanks for trying it out!

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    Thank you for coming up with the idea and the photo illustration.

    There's a lot of stuff out there that IMO is unnecessarily complicated and 'Rube Goldberg-y' .... I'm always interested in solutions that employ simple knots instead of hardware. Yours is the most elegant I've seen in quite a while!

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