Webbing Fasteners?

[mr. dribbles]

I have been using 1" webbing from EMS to make different hanging straps but my sewing machine can't handle the thickness.

Question 1- is an overhand knot on a bight safe for hanging? It takes up too much webbing length so...

Question 2- has anyone used a fastener like the Chicago Screw (http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.chambordinc.com/images/chicago-screw.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.chambordinc.com/chicago-screw.htm&h=182&w=310&sz=8&hl=en&start=1&tbnid=CScj9CtWWKNaJM:&tbnh=69&tbnw=117&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dchicago%2Bscrew%26svnum%3D10%26hl%3De n%26sa%3DN) to make hanging straps?

[Toolshed]

Are you speaking of connecting 2 pieces of 1" tubular or flat webbing together?
I used to do a lot of climbing in my younger days and we used what is called a "water knot" which is to 1.
1. Tie an overhand knot loosely in one piece
2. From the short end of webbing leaving the knot, take the 2nd piece of webbing and follow through all the way around the knot tracing the fist webbing completely through the knot
3. Finish with the short end of the 2nd piece of webbing lying flat along side the long piece of webbing.

The tighter you pull the 2 lengths, the tighter the knot as it bights into itself and the stronger it becomes.

[mudhead]

Water knot=Ring bend. Good knot.

[mr. dribbles]

Here is my thinking- I use the straps that came with my Hennessey. Often, one strap is too short so I wanted to use one longer strap. I also want to make a hammock for my kid. So my goal was to make a simple hanging strap with a loop on each end.

Since my machine has trouble, I noticed that my wife's horse leathers use these Chicago Screws and thought I could melt a few holes in the doubled webbing and put in some fasteners. It would make an ENO type slap strap pretty easy to do. The fasteners take a beating from the horse without failing or pulling through.

As an aside, I use a disposable battery cautery from the operating room (it has a tungsten wire loop that gets red hot from two AA batteries) to cut ripstop and webbing. It zips through fabric and seals the edge. It would be perfect for melting a hole in the webbing.

[hammock engineer]

How much do your straps weigh?

If your machine cannot handle them. their are lighter options out there. The Speer ones I use weigh a little over 8 oz for 40'. My old machine handles them fine.

But to answer your question, as long as the knot holds you should be fine.

[mr. dribbles]

Thanks for the replies. The webbing is heavy and adding 8 to 10 inches for a knot is painful, but it's all I could find to play with. The sewing problem may relate to the thread tension- either the polyester thread breaks or the bobbin thread ends up on the bottom of the webbing. It works fine for fabric.

[troglobil]

The tighter you pull the 2 lengths, the tighter the knot as it bights into itself and the stronger it becomes.

Not to nitpick, but the tighter you pull, the the more acute the bends in the nylon strands. This is what weakens them. A ring bend is assumed to reduce the strength of webbing by 50%. 1" tubular webbing has a breaking strength of 3000lb. so I would not worry about strength when hanging a hammock.

[ozarkjeep]

are you sure your machine wont do it?

there is often a lever near the top of the sewing foot ( sometimes inside a cover) that determines how far down the foot goes.

if you adjust this for thickness of material, you can sew alot thicker stuff.

sorry if that is obvious to all of you expert sewers, but I didnt know it, and im sewing all tyoes of nylon doubled, and tubular webbing ( doubled) on an old kenmore machine.

[mr. dribbles]

Rather than struggle, Ed Speers' webbing seems to be similar to the Hennessey straps, and would be easier to work with. I'd also like to try working with Mule tape (http://www.neptco.com/website/neptco.nsf/7d737a13526b0df9862568b80063720f/55664ef307d0ef86852568f6007feaf6?OpenDocument) but can't find that locally yet. Anyone with experience using it?

[hammock engineer]

I am just starting to use the Speer webbing. I am really surprised with how light it is.