Negligible wt for plane carry, or small version works (apparently) with "on belt" carry. Appears to do some real work. Looks like "cats meow" for hunters lifting game for dressing.
I would think some "slickish" polly type rope would be good. I doubt the old style natural fibers would slide well with too many "back & forths"....
I can't recommend it, I haven't ordered mine yet. It has won awards. I pasted it here from an off road explorer web site.
Got to be better than just a rope if your proverbial ox is in the ditch....

http://www.akcooltools.com/hitchmaster.html

Demonstration video:
http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=FsNaTZY3xX ... sNaTZY3xXs

Anyone have any real world experience with these?
lc

No experience with these but for 25 bucks a better and lighter still option is 2 carabiners. You need some radius for the rope to go around or they will get cut with any significant weight. Carabiners are far more versatile. Learn to rig a z pulley for mechanical advantage. It's not hard.

As with any block and tackle arrangement, although the pull advantage can be significant (minus the friction losses), it takes a lot of rope to move very far--and of course, that rope can't have any stretch in it (not nylon--maybe braided Vectran--read "pricey"). For instance, that 40' rope that the video mentions, if used in an 8:1 set up to move something pretty heavy, can only move the object less than 5'--which may be enough, but if not, there's a lot of re-stringing to do. So while the doodads themselves may be pretty small and light, the necessary rope is much larger and weightier.

Then there's the issue of what to tie off to, to do the pulling. For instance, imagine you've just landed at a backcountry airstrip, taxied off into the grass into the soft sand or mud that you didn't see, and you're all alone. To extricate your airplane and get it back onto the strip, first you have to decide where to tie onto the airplane that won't break or bend. Then you have to find something within a relatively short distance from where you've tied onto your airplane to tie the other end of the block and tackle to. Pulling horizontally, even a big strong man can't exert a whole lot of pull, so you'll probably have to use that 8:1 advantage. With 40' of rope, that something must be only a few feet from the airplane. Perhaps the tie-downs that you always carry will hold, especially if you string all 3 of them together with more rope. Or maybe you thought ahead and carried that nice aluminum boat anchor you bought last summer (if you could find a place to put it in the airplane), and a shovel, so that you can bury it in the ground--and then move it every few feet as you pull the airplane out.

Point: No easy answers. The gizmo may work just fine, but not by itself.

Cary

Single strand para cord is worth a 500+ lbs. load. If you have "plenty" you could easily braid several together to multiply that number.
Para is light and has MANY uses for lots of things-including survival applications. Having "significant" amounts handy in the backcountry is prudent.
Yes, Soy, 'biners can be used in a lot of very versatile ways, including this app-if one is aware of how.. That is a very good point.

As far as anchor points when none are available, a search of off road forums, instructions, and videos pertaining to winching will give numerous options.... And Murphy typically does dictate none will work in your particular dilemma..



Ok, I'm a gimmick/gizmo kinda guy....
lc

Ok, I'm a gimmick/gizmo kinda guy....

Aren't we all?

Cary

I have a rope Come=a=long, not at home to see the make, but it works!
Not feather light, but then I'm not either!!

if soyAnarchisto's idea about using carabiners for an improvised winch or come-along is nearly perfect, what about sliding a plain nylon or Delrin pulley onto the carabiners to increase the radius and reduce the friction? These pulleys can be kept separately, so that the 'biners can be used normally for some tasks, then re-purposed into a higher load pulley tool when necessary, by simply sliding the plastic roller over the 'biner?

The AKCOOLTOOLS website has a really interesting little wire twister tool called Clamp-Tite. To me, it looks like you could make much better safety wire clamps with this tool than the standard wire twisters. It appears to me that you can get more clamping force by using this tool, because the standard aviation twister will overload the wire in a smaller spot than what the Clamp-Tite will do. The Clamp-Tite looks like it puts the clamping force over a longer wire length.

Now, we're talking about using safety wire differently than it was intended (to secure fasteners), but using safety wire to attach airplane parts is also a standard practice for some manufacturers, as well as a universal "field repair" technique.

The AKCOOLTOOLS website has a really interesting little wire twister tool called Clamp-Tite.

I bought one at OSH after seeing it demonstrated. For "in the field" repairs, it could be very valuable. I'm sure the FAA wouldn't like it on anything certified, but it looks to me that it would make better clamps than "approved" ones that can be bought. The hawker girl showed us how to use it, and showed clamps made with it, ranging from light safety wire to plain old hanger wire. At OSH, it was only $25 (unless you just had to have the SS version for $65).

Cary

I've got the SS version, Have used it many times, A lot of times not having the right sized clamp, Kind of a PITA sometimes, but way better than no PITA!!
From 4" hoses down to 3/8"
Kind a like the Leatherman, not the best at anything, but sure can save your sorry Ass when you don't have anything else!
It lays around in the bottom of the tool bag for long stretches of time, lonely and unused!!
Amazing what else you can tie together with it!!

EZFlap wrote:if soyAnarchisto's idea about using carabiners for an improvised winch or come-along is nearly perfect, what about sliding a plain nylon or Delrin pulley onto the carabiners to increase the radius and reduce the friction? These pulleys can be kept separately, so that the 'biners can be used normally for some tasks, then re-purposed into a higher load pulley tool when necessary, by simply sliding the plastic roller over the 'biner?

The AKCOOLTOOLS website has a really interesting little wire twister tool called Clamp-Tite. To me, it looks like you could make much better safety wire clamps with this tool than the standard wire twisters. It appears to me that you can get more clamping force by using this tool, because the standard aviation twister will overload the wire in a smaller spot than what the Clamp-Tite will do. The Clamp-Tite looks like it puts the clamping force over a longer wire length.

Now, we're talking about using safety wire differently than it was intended (to secure fasteners), but using safety wire to attach airplane parts is also a standard practice for some manufacturers, as well as a universal "field repair" technique.

Hey EZ, Next time you are at the trade show, wander over a few booths and you can demo both of these things. I picked up both of them there for about half the cost, and without the plastic case and the other fluff. The wire clamp comes in handy all the time, and it also makes for a really tidy finish. As for the rope tool, I have a rack full of biners, pulleys, ascenders, prusiks, and come-alongs and rope-alongs. I also consider myself pretty good with ropes and knots. But I respect an inventor willing to pursue a neat idea- yourself included. I tossed a set of these into my snowmachine kit for recoveries.

-DP

p.s. Petzl already makes plastic pulley rollers to go on carabiners, as you suggested. The important thing is to use them with oval-shaped carabiners, which Petzl also makes. The asymmetrical D biners don't allow the pulley to run true.

Jesus, Easy Flap Your Avatar is enough to give grown man a heart attack., or a young man a hard on What"s that sexy girl with the tousled hair got in her hand??? It looks damned suggestive. Not that I'm complaining or anything.

exodus wrote:Jesus, Easy Flap Your Avatar is enough to give grown man a heart attack., or a young man a hard on What"s that sexy girl with the tousled hair got in her hand??? It looks damned suggestive. Not that I'm complaining or anything.

Yeah, Candace is the kind of girl that can make a guy write bad checks. Apparently she's got quite a grip on your... attention, eh?

Check out the video she stars in at my website. That avatar photo is a still capture from the video.

I was doing a crane job yesterday with a young guy who was a rock climber and a tree trimmer. He had some real trick hardware ( one was a new to me type of 'beaner with a super trick latch that had to be twisted/pulled/pushed just right to open the gate, it had a little button that had to be depressed also, all this but still easy to use) and was real adept at belaying himself around the tree after I flew him up. Like the 100' cell tower I did the day before (in scenic Kemmerer Wyoming ) I noticed these guys always had a backup, they never free climbed but were always lanyarded in, most times in two spots. Not as ballsy but OSHA approved.

I love my rope comalong I carry in the airplane so much, it has become my go to tool for pulling and lifting. Much handier then the cable types, and yeah we're talking pretty light loads here, 1,000 lbs max, I also have a 2 ton chain one I use for bigger pulls. the rope 'long and mule tape (300'!) and about 50' of para cord is always carried along with my usual tie down ropes.