Reflective Cordage, harder to tie?

[blackbird04217]

I just bought two 50' sections of Nite-Ize for my hammock setup that should be arriving shortly. I thought the reflective value would be useful when I take this camping with others, to avoid tripping.

I'm not amazing at knots, so I had been practicing my knots with my old parachute cord bearbag line which has been heavily broke in. When the new cordage arrived the first thing I did was try some knots and ... that didn't go so well. The reflective material creates little bumps making it hard to cinch a knot tight and in the case of the taut line hitch, it doesn't pull through very easily. Before just returning the product, I was curious if it needs to be broken in, or if it is just cheaply made and I need to get something better.

Sorry I tried to keep it short and to the point, thanks for the tips, looking forward to trying the hammock.

[hubcap]

Not all ropes are created equal. That being said, the reflective ropes I've dealt with are not the easiest to tie or untie a not from. I went to a yellow Zing it line I got from hammockgear.com

[Brewguy]

I have glo wire that Dutch and rip stop by the roll sell, Lawson I think, and it ties just fine. It is more stiff and less tangle prone than zing it or para cord. Also more than twice the cost of that nite ize line.

[Old Hiker]

Have not had that problem with my Nite-Iyz; however, maybe just use regular line and tie small loops of reflective line at the tent grommets and on the stake tops?

[Secondmouse]

I use Blue Water 3mm and it ties and holds knots very well. it also lights up extremely bright. about 3 times brighter than Kelty Triptease...

[4runner]

Where'd u get the Blue water 3mm?

[Venchka]

Where'd u get the Blue water 3mm?

I don't own any yet. It is in the REI catalog and Amazon.

Wayne


Sent from somewhere around here.

[Secondmouse]

Where'd u get the Blue water 3mm?

Amazon. it has amazing reflectance. several times more than Kelty Triptease...

http://www.amazon.com/BlueWater-Ropes-Blue-Water-Accessory/dp/B0038QY0HC

[pauly_j]

I have kelty triptease on my tent and I found it very difficult to untie when needed.

[Secondmouse]

I have kelty triptease on my tent and I found it very difficult to untie when needed.

Kelty Triptease has a Dyneema core and is very strong for its weight but the sheath can be difficult to untie. it works better with some kind of line lock tensioner...

[pauly_j]

I use it for additional tie outs at the apex, so I only put them on when exposed to wind. They go through line locks but the knot in question is on the end to stop it slipping through said line lock. I think I'll be avoiding doing it in future!

[Dogwood]

If it's used for hammock side tie outs I go with lengths of 1/16 bungee(shock cord). I suppose one could find reflective shock cord but I just tie on two tiny pieces of reflective flagging tape, yarn, or cord per each side tie out for visibility. On the hammock tarp side tie outs a yellow stiffer light wt rope like Zpacks sells. The Nite Eze you depict isn't that stiff making it harder to tie some knots and I'm guessing you really are overkilling the wt of rope you need for side tie outs if doing anything larger than the right 1.5 mm applied for the task. Paracord is too soft for tautline hitches IMO for side ties outs and is way overkill as far as tensile strength. So is 3 mm anything. For all my tarp guyouts with a tautline hitch at the stake end I like a stiff low stretch core with a grippy outer sheath in just a light color such as yellow. I'll also throw in an extra loop going from 2 to 3 loops when tying tautline hitches with less than desirable grippy cord to get a bit more bite on the tautline hitch offering greater hold but making it possibly harder to adjust or untie. I just did this last night with two tarps using some old Kelty Triptease and ZP's 1.25 mm yellow Zline. The Triptease was only for a large tarps's two main ridgeline tie outs.

[Dogwood]

I use it for additional tie outs at the apex, so I only put them on when exposed to wind. They go through line locks but the knot in question is on the end to stop it slipping through said line lock. I think I'll be avoiding doing it in future!

Different kind of line(larger diam 2.5 mm+, very grippy,) used for a good bite using 3 mm Lineloc 3's verse a lighter wt smaller diam line that can be used with a Mini lineloc system.

I've replaced all my 3mm sewn on at guyout webbing loops LineLocks with Mini line locs and lighter wt cord when I want to use line locs. easy enough to tie and use tautline hitches though in most 3 season weather.

http://www.mountainlaureldesigns.com...products_id=93

http://www.zpacks.com/accessories/spectra_cord.shtml