WindOnHisNose
BENEFACTOR
Lino Lakes MN (MY18)
It is a luxury for me to fly into an airport, proceed to a place to tie down and find permanent tie down anchors embedded into the concrete. That is the positive part of those anchors, but the negative part is that the wells into which the tie down bar is located is often submerged in water (after a rain), filled with dirt/gravel, or full of ice (in winter). Up until I came upon a method I’ll show you I would chip out ice (winter), or dig out the dirt until I could pass the end of my tie down rope through the opening. If submerged, it seems like there is always some stagnant, green, slimy gunk in the hole, making it less than desirable to stick my finger into the depths to see if I can pass a rope.
I recently visited a local REI store (always dangerous) and was walking by the rock climbing displays and saw something that has turned out to work really well…Stoppers. Stoppers are used for placement into cracks/crevices so that they can be wedged to support a great deal of weight. They come in a variety of sizes/ratings, with different shaped aluminum cams/nuts. The stoppers are rated according to the amount of force that would be needed to achieve “failure”. They are rated in kilonewtons, with 1 kN=224 lbs.
The idea is based upon the ease with which one end of the stopper cable can easily be threaded under the tie down bar, minimizing the need to dig deep into the well, and the stopper cable can be flexed so as to slip under the bar permitting the protruding end to be grasped without entering the muck. Slick.
I purchased a 10 kN (2240 lbs) stopper for each of the wing tie downs, and a 7 kN (1574 lbs) stopper for the tail.
I chose to slip a carabiner through both ends and to tie the rope onto the carabiner. With this configuration I keep one end of the tie down rope affixed to the carabiner, tied with a loop knotted with a good old bowline knot.
I simply slide one end of the stopper under the bar, retrieve the end and enter it into the carabiner, as shown. Why the carabiner? I am afraid that the stainless steel cable that comprises the stopper might cut through the rope, and the smooth carabiner pretty much eliminates this possibility.
The carabiner is also rated in kN, with a wide variety of forces available.
Julie likes this arrangement, in that it keeps her fingers less dirty and eliminates the need for her to tie a bowline knot (I tie it up and have no one except myself to blame if it comes loose!).
Here is how it looks complete with my tie down rope:
I inquired of the REI staff as to any concern regarding the direction of forces weakening the cable, due to being wrapped around the permanent tie down bar, and they thought it to be negligible. I chose the 10 kN and 7 kN size because of their length and size of the nut, in addition to their force rating.
I’m not sure about you, but the tie down ropes that are often supplied by the airport are often substandard, and I like to use my own ropes/straps. I think you might like the arrangement I’ve described, and would appreciate any feedback/mods that you might be willing to share.
Randy
I recently visited a local REI store (always dangerous) and was walking by the rock climbing displays and saw something that has turned out to work really well…Stoppers. Stoppers are used for placement into cracks/crevices so that they can be wedged to support a great deal of weight. They come in a variety of sizes/ratings, with different shaped aluminum cams/nuts. The stoppers are rated according to the amount of force that would be needed to achieve “failure”. They are rated in kilonewtons, with 1 kN=224 lbs.
The idea is based upon the ease with which one end of the stopper cable can easily be threaded under the tie down bar, minimizing the need to dig deep into the well, and the stopper cable can be flexed so as to slip under the bar permitting the protruding end to be grasped without entering the muck. Slick.
I purchased a 10 kN (2240 lbs) stopper for each of the wing tie downs, and a 7 kN (1574 lbs) stopper for the tail.
I chose to slip a carabiner through both ends and to tie the rope onto the carabiner. With this configuration I keep one end of the tie down rope affixed to the carabiner, tied with a loop knotted with a good old bowline knot.
I simply slide one end of the stopper under the bar, retrieve the end and enter it into the carabiner, as shown. Why the carabiner? I am afraid that the stainless steel cable that comprises the stopper might cut through the rope, and the smooth carabiner pretty much eliminates this possibility.
The carabiner is also rated in kN, with a wide variety of forces available.
Julie likes this arrangement, in that it keeps her fingers less dirty and eliminates the need for her to tie a bowline knot (I tie it up and have no one except myself to blame if it comes loose!).
Here is how it looks complete with my tie down rope:
I inquired of the REI staff as to any concern regarding the direction of forces weakening the cable, due to being wrapped around the permanent tie down bar, and they thought it to be negligible. I chose the 10 kN and 7 kN size because of their length and size of the nut, in addition to their force rating.
I’m not sure about you, but the tie down ropes that are often supplied by the airport are often substandard, and I like to use my own ropes/straps. I think you might like the arrangement I’ve described, and would appreciate any feedback/mods that you might be willing to share.
Randy