Haul bag straps: connect ‘em with a cam strap
Big wall haul bags usually have a long strap and a short strap. The haul rope is connected to the long strap. The short strap is connected / clipped in some way to the long strap. In theory, this allows you to access your bag with all the weight hanging on the long strap, by unclipping the short strap.
The traditional way to do this is with a second carabiner, as shown on the left.
Looks nice in theory, but in reality this is often a serious hassle. If the weight of the bag is loading the master point carabiner, to clip and unclip that red carabiner on the short strap, you may need to hoist the entire weight of the bag, and have a hand free to work the carabiner. With a moderate bag this may not be a problem, but with a full load it can be very awkward and unnecessarily strenuous. Imagine doing this with a 100+ pound / 50+ kg bag, no thanks!
A better method is shown on the right, using a cam strap. Let’s learn how that works!
Instead of that pesky carabiner, use a cam strap to close your bag.
Get a 3 foot cam strap. You can get a two pack of 3 footers for about $15, here's a link for REI. (This is NOT an affiliate marketing link, I simply offer it for your convenience.) Or get a 4 foot and cut it to size.
Tie a clove hitch in the cam strap, and clip it to the haul point carabiner. The clove keeps the cam strap secure so you don’t drop it. Try to keep the buckle close to the carabiner.
Run the cam strap through the short haul bag strap, then back up through the cam buckle.
Now, simply pull down on the cam strap with your bodyweight. Nice, you've created a little 2:1 mechanical advantage. This hoists up the short strap and secures your bag, nice and level.
The cam strap is releasable under tension, making opening the bag just as easy. No more strenuous pig wrestling to unclip that short strap carabiner, schweeeet!
Sidenote: if you’re thoughtful about gear packing, you should hopefully not be diving in and out of your main haul bag during the day. In the morning, try to pull out everything you need for the day, and put it in a smaller day bag or a wall bucket that you use for things like snacks, water, sunscreen, wind shell, etc.
Here’s a more elegant way to do it, with this cool cam strap design from skotswallgear.com. Skot sews a small loop right next to the buckle, so you can clip it to the carabiner rather than using a clove hitch. Note that the strap then passes through the carabiner as shown on the left photo, and then down and through the lower bag strap. (At least that's how I think you're supposed to use it. :-)
Skot was nice enough to send me one for review, thanks!
Skot makes lots of well-crafted big wall gear, like the famous Alfifi, lightweight and easily adjustable tethers/daisys, rope bags, custom webbing for hooks, and more. Check out his website to see it all.
If you use a docking cord that’s tied to the long strap rather than clipped to the master point carabiner, this means that both straps should have no tension on them after the bag has been docked at the anchor. This allows easy access to your bag, regardless of what system you use to close the top. Lots more on docking cords at this article.
Finally, here's a short video showing how it works.
