Any comments on hiking straps vs. ropes?

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Jonathan Levine
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Any comments on hiking straps vs. ropes?

Post by Jonathan Levine »

The "hiking ropes" thing is new to me - I've never seen a boat that used them instead of straps. Nor do I know how many years this was carried forward, or if in fact they're still in use now.

In this tramp's configuration there are six grommets for each rope - two at each end, two in the middle. The threading appears to be a knot under the tramp at each end and the rope dipping underneath in the middle. But that leaves an extra grommet at each end. I sort of like the idea of bringing the rope back up at each end and knotting it (redundant grommets), but having the knots on top is uglier than having them beneath.

What do people do?
Matt Haberman
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Re: Any comments on hiking straps vs. ropes?

Post by Matt Haberman »

Jonathan,

The beauty of the rope is that you can always get your foot under them (even wearing shoes) without using your hands. You don't want to lace them "tight", leave an inch or so of slack so you can push your foot under them. With a flat webbing hiking strap they tend to stick to the tramp when they are wet and it makes it tough to get your foot under them without using your hand.

Regarding lacing on the old wrap style tramps, I thought on the front grommets one was inside the bag and the other one was just aft of the bag? Regardless at the back of the tramp I believe the rear strap/rope wrapped around the rear beam. I think you could start with the rope in the rear grommet and the knot on the under side. Then take the rope around the rear beam and come back up from the under side of the tramp and through the next grommet. Next go down the aft middle grommet and tie a knot, come back up the forward middle grommet and then go down the aft front grommet. At that point you could tie a knot on the under side OR if the front grommet is in the bag you could tie it off in there.
Matt Haberman
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Jonathan Levine
Hot Shot
Posts: 43
Joined: August 30th, 2019, 12:17 pm
Boat Make/Model: SC19, SC20
Location: Southern Alberta

Re: Any comments on hiking straps vs. ropes?

Post by Jonathan Levine »

Matt Haberman wrote: May 28th, 2020, 8:50 pm The beauty of the rope is that you can always get your foot under them (even wearing shoes) without using your hands. You don't want to lace them "tight", leave an inch or so of slack so you can push your foot under them. With a flat webbing hiking strap they tend to stick to the tramp when they are wet and it makes it tough to get your foot under them without using your hand.
Kind of figured that. The only argument I can think of in favour of straps is that they wouldn't concentrate the force as narrowly across your foot, but I suspect there may be an illusion of better distribution that doesn't actually make much difference.
Regarding lacing on the old wrap style tramps, I thought on the front grommets one was inside the bag and the other one was just aft of the bag?
If by "bag" you mean a pouch on the tramp, there isn't one. What I have is four snap clips (which don't seem like a really great idea to me - easy to snag stuff) and a big bag made of the same yellow coated material as the tramp that attaches to them. The foremost grommet is aft of where that bag goes, and about 2' aft of the crossbeam. I assume this reflects different tramp revisions over the years.
Regardless at the back of the tramp I believe the rear strap/rope wrapped around the rear beam. I think you could start with the rope in the rear grommet and the knot on the under side. Then take the rope around the rear beam and come back up from the under side of the tramp and through the next grommet. Next go down the aft middle grommet and tie a knot, come back up the forward middle grommet and then go down the aft front grommet. At that point you could tie a knot on the under side OR if the front grommet is in the bag you could tie it off in there.
The rotted rope I took off was only 7', barely long enough to span the grommets. The old 15/17/19 manual says it should be 10', which might be enough to wrap around, so I guess I'll just have to play around with it.
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