Repair / Join Strapping With Zipties

by kerns

4.7K96

Intro: Repair / Join Strapping With Zipties

I needed to fix a buckle onto a piece of strapping. I had a ziptie ready to hand. Cogito ergo fix.

STEP 1: My Usual Camping Supplies Include Spare Webbing and Zip Ties

I wanted to put a buckle on a piece of strapping the other day. At the time I was sorting out a jumble of my usual camping supplies and noticed my usual 'emergency bits' kit - zipties, a couple extra straps and buckles, etc.

STEP 2: Sharp Zipties Are Easy to Make

I snipped the rounded end of this tie into a better-for-stitching point with a pair of scissors.

STEP 3: The Ziptie As a Postmodern Self-constructing Paradigm

The ziptie becomes it's own needle; with a little wiggling to avoid tearing fibers, even this somewhat large bore tie stitched thru the woven strapping I had.

STEP 4: Had Me in Stitches

I only had a few minutes to try this out so I only put in one row of stitches. But it works quite well - I've got a fair amount of load on this strap now (it's holding up a wire storage cube in my garage) and the ziptie stitching is holding up with no apparent issues.

STEP 5: The Finish

The particular ziptie I used seemed less than perfect since it started slipping when I tried to 'zip' it tightly closed. But since load on the strap will cause the stitches themselves to bear weight *laterally*, and will not pull in the same plane as the ziptie's closure system, I think this looks like a good field expedient for repair or webbing construction.

7 Comments

ElFantastic0 16 years ago

For joining strapping, i always just use sections of heavywalled copper pipe. It takes a bit to find a tube that matches the width of the strap when it's smashed, but it produces a very strong joint. A sewn joint would be more flexible and lighter, but this is quick, abrasion-resistant, repositionable, and pretty much foolproof. Different kinds of malleable tubing can be used, and on wide straps, you can predrill holes in the partially-collapsed tubing, insert the strap and finish the crimp. You can then install wire rivets through the webbing to maintain crimp pressure across the entire width of the sleeve.

0.775volts 17 years ago

I'm not sure how much weight these will hold. It sounds like this is a good fix for backpacking equipment, but I wouldn't try it on a harness or the like. other than that, it's a great idea, Kind of suprising how well spur of the moment "Fixes" turn out to be as good as the real thing, isn't it?

Myself 17 years ago

Ooh this is great, I have oodles of ty-raps. It's good that your kit has the UV-resistant black ones, the natural-colored nylon ones wouldn't be appropriate for prolonged outdoor use because they'd get brittle after a few weeks of sunlight exposure. Sharp zipties ARE easy to make, most folks don't trim them flush, and the resulting burrs have resulted in much scabbing, and little scarring, on my forearms. (I work in telecom.) I've used sharp-cut ends as toothpicks, scrapers, and all sorts of things before, but never sewing needles. It's possible to cut a notch/barb into the end so you can use it to grab unreachable wires and things, too.

bowakowa 17 years ago

you need a pair of glo-rods my man. "It's possible to cut a notch/barb into the end so you can use it to grab unreachable wires and things, too." sure they're premade, but beyond handy when fishing wires or grabbing wires that are "unreachable".

theRIAA 17 years ago

if you had extra webbing.. a double overhand knot would be great