The many uses of Voile straps
Duct tape, WD-40, Swiss Army knife, and . . . Voile straps. (It’s pronounced here in ‘Merica as “Vo-LAY”, yes I know that's not proper French, I'm going with how the company pronounces it.)
Their tagline is “Infinitely Useful”, and that's a good description. I've heard them referred to as “Voilà” straps, because using them sometimes feels like a magic trick.
You can find a lot of similar straps made with Velcro. They're not nearly as strong, and the Velcro does not work very well in snow or icy conditions.
These straps, made in Utah USA, are super handy for lots more than attaching your skis together.
Inexpensive, lightweight, and tough
The buckle doesn’t freeze in snow or ice
You can tighten or loosen ‘em with gloves on
Stitch two or more of them together if you need something extra long. Take a few extra wraps if you need to shorten one up.
How long? 25 inches is a good length. If you need something longer, you can attach several of them together.
How wide? They come in various widths: narrow, medium, and stout. I use a shorter narrow one for crampons, and use the medium width 25 inchers for most everything else.
Keep a pair in your pack, you can use them for loads of things!
Strap your skis together (duh)
Attach skis (or pretty much anything else) to your pack
On long sidehilling sections, add a strap to your uphill ski pole for a good grip
Repair a broken ski pole (along with a splint of some kind)
Broken ski binding? Attach your boot to the ski
Forgot your climbing skins? Put a bunch of straps around your ski (photo below)
Lost ski? Strap a shovel blade to your boot to make a mini snowshoe (photo below)
Fix a broken ski boot buckle (photo below)
Attach an ice axe to a ski pole for a DIY Whippet ski pole (only heard of this, never seen it)
Somehow lost a climbing skin? Put 3-4 straps around your ski for “tire chain” traction
Going up a really steep skin track? Put a strap under your foot for extra traction
Convince a wet / uncooperative climbing skin that doesn't want to stick to your ski
Rig a rescue sled (with a tarp, skis and maybe poles)
Repair a broken backpack buckle
DIY Whippet axe/pole combo (photo below)
Strap down (narrow) stuff on your car roof rack
Repair a broken raft or kayak oar/paddle
Cinch down most anything to a bicycle or motorcycle rack
Strap your crampons together and secure them to your backpack
Repair a broken crampon and strap it to your boot (photo below)
Make a hanging stove with your Jetboil (photo below)
Cinch down a coiled rope without any fancy tie off knot; photo below. (Very handy for glacier travel, good way to deal with the extra rescue rope instead of loosely stuffing it into your pack)
Lash together branches to make an emergency shelter
Splint, yikes! (See below . . .)
Tourniquet, double yikes!!
Rig an A frame pyramid tent by connecting 2 poles; no center pole, so more room. (Check out the photo below from Graybird Guiding. See a longer article here for more details on setting up a tent like this.)
image: @graybirdguiding
Is someone seriously hurt on a ski tour? Straps can be the foundation of a rescue sled. (Photo credit: @mountain_madness_inc)
Lost a ski? Broke a ski or a binding? Strap a shovel on the bottom of your boot and you might be able to clomp back to the car. (Photo and tip from Graybird Guiding.)
image: @graybirdguiding
Lost your ski? You might be able to shuffle out by strapping shovels together for an emergency snowshoe. (From cascademountainascents.)
Lost your ski and no shovel? This is gonna be slow, but you can cut some branches, strap them to your boot and hopefully make it back to the trailhead. (From cascademountainascents.)
Forgot your skins? Whoops! Time to break out every strap you have so you can make it up the hill.
image: @benwooster
Busted crampon? No problemo. (Photo credit: Sean Isaac)
From climbing guide Chris Lyle @lile.chris comes this photo. “The binding broke and would not switch from up to down. Ski straps saved the day!”
Hiking uphill, a rock damaged one of the top buckles. Put a strap or two on it, ready to go again. (Technically not a Voile strap, but you get the idea.) Photo credit: @smileysproject
Sure, there are various ways to tie off a butterfly coil, but using a Voile strap is faster and less hassle.
How about a DIY Whippet? Some skiers don't like them because they don't want to descend with an ax in their hand. This way you can strap an axe to your ski pole on the steep/icy up, and take it off for the ski down.
image: Ben Markhart https://www.instagram.com/reel/Cs4mSnhA22q/?hl=en
Here's a pretty clever one I saw on Mountain Project. Put a strap around the top of your Jetboil, add some cord, instant hanging stove.
image: Ian McEleney https://www.mountainproject.com/forum/topic/121448987/hanging-stove-setups#ForumMessage-121534164
Check out this photo: a broken leg from a 2021 glissading accident on Mt. Rainier. The rescue team left the splint on and in place all the way to the hospital. Just a foam pad and two Voile straps, nice work!
Photo below by Nick Davis via Facebook, shared with permission.
And finally, from Instagram a little closing humor:
