[at-l] A Knotty Bunch of Questions

[sloetoe at yahoo.com (Sloetoe)]

--- Bror8588@aol.com wrote:

> Can it be  made stronger by 
> doubling or twisting?  Has anyone had experience
> with  various thickness of 
> line?  Any stories or anecdotal tales?>  
> Skylander

Yes. (Actually sore subject department.)
It is my habit to walk through the woods and campsites
I inhabit and cut off and haul away all the crap line
that people pack into the woods, knot around trees,
and leave like so much disposable crap. I probably
hauled 200 plus yards out on our last long hike in
2004, one leanto at a time; and even more when forced
to camp nearer to roads in 2005. Whole bags of it.

PLEASE don't be taking rope into the woods. It's
heavy, you're going to pack much stouter rope than you
(or any non-climber) will ever need, or any tent will
ever survive. The lightest, bestest thing is venetian
blind cord from your local fabric store. Knots well,
costs $2.00 for 50' or more, is STILL stonger than any
tent fabric you're going to find, and is lighter than
snot. The only thing you would NOT want to use it for
is bear-bagging (as any cord will act as a saw when
hauling food bags up into tree branches), but since
most of us camp in hardened sites [or don't bear-bag],
use of the cables saves trees.

Whine over.