The LoopAlien Has Landed!

Knot tying is a skill and a perishable one at that. If you don’t practice and actually use knots on a regular basis you’re never going to be good at them. For those of you that struggle with tying knots, there are cool little gadgets that can help you – like the LoopAlien.

A LoopAlien look like two tiny different sized figure eights combined into one. They are very cool looking and fun pieces of gear to fondle and play with – yeah I said fondle! Yet behind the out of this world styling lies a highly functional and versatile piece of backpacking gear that can help those of you who are knot challenged.

They’re so Tiny!

The LoopAlien comes in only one size, tiny, but it is offered in three different types of metals: the obligatory titanium (2.9g), aluminum (2.6g), and stainless steel (7.5g). I’m sure the three different types of metal provide different strength ratings, but I highly doubt that anyone would be crazy enough to use a LoopAlien for anything more than lightweight cord applications. These are not meant for climbing or rappelling.

A LoopAlien in Action

There are probably dozens of ways to leverage this cool looking little gear gadget, but the most obvious one is as a cord or guyline tensioner. Here is an Instagram photo that I recently shared showing the step-by-step process of using a LoopAlien as a guy line tensioner.

Here is how the LoopAlien looks put into practice on my tarp. No knots necessary!

My friend, Derek Hansen of The Ultimate Hang, has written several blog posts about the LoopAlien on his blog. Check out one of Derek’s excellent videos that he kindly gave me permission to embed into the article.

You can read all of Derek’s LoopAlien blog posts here theultimatehang.com/loopalien.

Besides the obvious use of a LoopAlien for guyline tensioning, what are some other creative ways that you think this tiny device can be used?

Disclosure: The author of Brian’s Backpacking Blog was provided with complimentary samples of this product for the purpose of evaluation, testing, and feedback. He was under no obligation to publish a review. His thoughts are his own.

The post The LoopAlien Has Landed! appeared first on Brian’s Backpacking Blog.