Adjustable Daisy Straps ???

I wouldn’t be using it as an anchor, just for body positioning while leading. 

Not being helpful, just turning this into a meme.

Zackary Koylewrote:

Can anyone tell me why I couldn’t use a dirt bike strap as an adjustable daisy while aid climbing? It even has a built in alfifi from my POV…

I wouldn’t be using it as an anchor, just for body positioning while leading. 

Take that lenght between the strap and the buckle you have there and multiply it by some number and you end up doing more work over the long haul.  The alfifi is made to shorten that distance by about 6"-8" and over and over a 1000'+ route it's going to add up.  

Oh, plus top stepping. That rubber hook isn't going to slide up the spine of the biner. (sure you could take it off... but yeah)

I used to not see the light till I got one and well yeah... just do it :) 

I gotta preface by saying I haven’t done much aid climbing. I’m planning to climb Touchstone in a couple weeks, I’m gonna try to use the dirt bike strap. I’ll report back. The biggest reason is because I already have the dirt bike strap and I don’t exactly have a lot of extra cash for nice daisys. I’m gonna modify the strap a little too.

Would the distance between the hook and the buckle really change how far I can reach? I wouldn’t think that it would change how far I can get up on my ladders. Are aid climbers typically placing their next piece while hanging down on the previous one or while standing up higher on their aiders?

Zackary Koylewrote:

I gotta preface by saying I haven’t done much aid climbing. I’m planning to climb Touchstone in a couple weeks, I’m gonna try to use the dirt bike strap. I’ll report back. The biggest reason is because I already have the dirt bike strap and I don’t exactly have a lot of extra cash for nice daisys. I’m gonna modify the strap a little too.

Would the distance between the hook and the buckle really change how far I can reach? I wouldn’t think that it would change how far I can get up on my ladders. Are aid climbers typically placing their next piece while hanging down on the previous one or while standing up higher on their aiders?

For Touchstone, the dirt bike strap will work because the route isn't continuously steep or strange. It won't be the lightests, or the most effective, or the smoothest piece of gear, but DIY solutions are never that. 

The distance between the hook and buckle matter as the route steepens. On vertical to slabby terrain it doesn't matter because you're not using it to stay in place on your ladders. As the angle steepens, that distance affects how tightly you're able to hold yourself upright on your ladders with minimal effort by allowing the tension on the daisy to do the work for you. So you're correct that it doesn't change how far you can get up in your ladders, what it changes is how much work you have to do to stay upright once you've gotten up the ladders. 

Aid climbers are typically placing their next piece from whatever position makes the most sense in context of the effort, reach, and time of that placement. In general, standing in your 3rd steps (when it's steep) or 2nd steps (when it's vertical) or top step (when it's slab) are your workhorse steps for placements. There are, of course, outlier situations when other steps makes more sense for making a placement, but outliers, by definition, are not what is done most of the time. 

Fail Fallingwrote:

For Touchstone, the dirt bike strap will work because the route isn't continuously steep or strange. It won't be the lightests, or the most effective, or the smoothest piece of gear, but DIY solutions are never that. 

The distance between the hook and buckle matter as the route steepens. On vertical to slabby terrain it doesn't matter because you're not using it to stay in place on your ladders. As the angle steepens, that distance affects how tightly you're able to hold yourself upright on your ladders with minimal effort by allowing the tension on the daisy to do the work for you. So you're correct that it doesn't change how far you can get up in your ladders, what it changes is how much work you have to do to stay upright once you've gotten up the ladders. 

Aid climbers are typically placing their next piece from whatever position makes the most sense in context of the effort, reach, and time of that placement. In general, standing in your 3rd stps (when it's steep) or 2nd steps (when it's vertical) or top step (when it's slab) are your workhorse steps for placements. There are, of course, outlier situations when other steps makes more sense for making a placement, but outliers, by definition, are not what is done most of the time. 

I really appreciate the thoughtful response! That makes a lot of sense. No doubt I’ll invest in some good daisys here soon, just looking for something cheap in the interim. 

Playing devils advocate, if you cut the webbing to the hook and then tie webbing short to the buckle it works quite well. I’ve used this on bags instead of buying a dedicated daisy for the short strap. Long term just get Skots or Yates.

Cambuckle daisies are available on my website.  

https://www.skotswallgear.com/shop/iibtmqvirbhhj95vsix27tntlvxgwc

Here’s a link directly to the product listing.
one major difference between most commercially available motorcycle tie downs is the webbing that nearly all the currently available ones use. It’s not designed for the repeated tightening and releasing that an adjustable daisy sees over the course of a route.
The webbing I use is a heavyweight nylon that will absolutely hold up the task.