OBSERVATIONS

  • Joining two slings reduces the ultimate strength—and in some cases by up to and over 50%
  • When nylon and a Dynex or Spectra material were combined, the nylon failed in all configurations
  • In general terms, the narrower the material used, the greater the reduction in strength
  • Also in general terms, mixing widths of materials when joining slings results in a greater reduction of strength

DROP TESTS (ALL SAMPLES JOINED USING A GIRTH HITCH)

OBSERVATIONS

  • When webbing sizes are mixed, and under dynamic loading situations, the narrower strand typically fails (in all but one of our tests)
  • During one test a girth hitch slipped to a strop bend—this sample ultimately went many drops more than as if it had been girth hitched
  • More testing required to verify if a strop bend performs significantly better than a girth hitch in dynamic loading situations—we tested two more samples with intentional strop bends