These worked great for me. Exactly what I wanted. I bought a package of 50 hooks to make up small 12" shock cords for the guy lines of three backpacking tents. I have a 3 person, a 2 person, and a 1 person tent. The tents all have a have rain fly with respectively 8, 6, and 5 guy out points where you can attach guy lines to hold down the tent in bad weather. The guy lines also help to get the tent taught for maximum room inside and maximum air flow to prevent condensation inside the tent.
But I noticed that in prolonged heavy winds, the line tensioners on the guy lines will loosen up and slip when wind creates momentary slack in a given guy line. It's no fun going outside the tent in a storm at midnight, again at 2 AM, and again at 4 AM to re-tighten all the guy lines. But I noticed if just a little tension is maintained on the lines, the tensioners do their job and don't slip.
The solution was pretty easy to see. A small length of shock cord that could provide just 6" or so of give would allow winds to batter the tent without ever losing tension on any line no matter which way the wind shifted. No more getting up several times to keep adjusting the guy lines.
So I looked around at off the shelf shock cords and found they were either really expensive or they wouldn't satisfy my requirements. I will be carrying these in my pack up and down the side of mountains so they had to be small and light. They also had to be smooth so they won't damage delicate tent fabrics. Strength wasn't my top concern but they had to be reasonably strong. They needed to be impervious to weather. And they had to be quick and easy to pop on and off.
So, in the course of looking for ready made shock cords, these little do it yourself hooks popped up on an Amazon search and the light bulb came on.....just make your own shock cords in whatever length, thickness, and color you want. Brilliant.
I wanted something on the thin and light side. So I chose some neon orange 3/16 shock cord as the best strength to weight for my application. These hooks were the ONLY ones I found that said they were specifically designed for 3/16 shock cord.
It took me about an hour to make up 19 custom shock cords 12" in length. I used the following tools and there were no problems.
1.) Cutting board
2.) Tape measure
2.) Pocket knife
3.) 2 pair of pliers
4.) 1 pair of diagonal jaw wire cutters
The 3/16 shock cord I bought fit perfectly in these hooks. There was zero problem inserting the cord but it holds securely once assembled. You definitely need the 2 pair of pliers. If you can assemble these bare handed all the way until the ring seats with a click, you're a better man than me Gunga Din.
So where did the diagonal cutters come into play? I cut off all the gates on the hooks for a few reasons.
1.) I wanted quick connect / disconnect capability.
2.) I had no worries about the hooks ever coming loose as they will be under constant tension. So the gates did nothing useful.
3.) The gates on these hooks are really stiff to the point that they are really tough to unhook from say a piece of 550 paracord.
4.) I snapped off the gate on one hook with just finger pressure when I was testing it out on 550 paracord. They aren't that strong, just stiff.
So I used the diagonal cutters to clip off all the gates on the 38 hooks I used. Someone else may find them useful but I was actually looking for an open hook in the first place. It took 5 minutes to remove them with zero damage to the rest of the hook. The useless gates on these hooks almost caused me to deduct one star. But the solution is so easy and quick, in the end I gave these hooks 5 stars.
I had one really nice surprise from this DIY project. When it came time to put all three tents away, I pondered what to do with the new shock cords. I could have just shoved them in the stuff sack with the tent but, I decided to wrap them around the outside of the stuff sack for each tent instead. The result was that the 5, 6, or 8 shock cords keep the tent rolled tight inside the stuff sack and cut the volume of space the tent takes up by about 50%. And that means the tents take up a lot less space inside my pack. Bonus!
Another bonus, if you're moving around your campsite after dark, tent guy lines can be hard to see. If you bump into them, you can rip the tent stake out of the ground or worse, rip your tent. Or the worst, trip and hurt yourself. With shock cords on the guy lines, they will give a little rather than tearing your rain fly or causing you to trip. There's enough give that you'll feel it against your body and have time time to stop moving before the tent or you suffer any damage.
I'm really happy with these hooks.
| Item Package Dimensions L x W x H | 6 x 5.8 x 0.4 inches |
|---|---|
| Package Weight | 0.02 Pounds |
| Brand Name | Fms |
| Material | Plastic |
| Manufacturer | Frontier Market Solutions, LLC |
| Part Number | FMS-SH-SC-4 |
| Style | Modern |
| Size | 4 Pack |
