Flat webbing tied in a water knot for alpine draws

Is this ok to use? I am by no means using these home made runners on a regular basis, but only when a route calls for a ton of slings/runners. I am reading online and it says to use tubular, but when I look up the ratings for flat webbing, it exceeds the strength of my cams. Therefore is tubular only used because the knot gets tighter than with flat?

Yes it is ok to use. This was very common before sewn runners were available and popular. It will be plenty strong.

Pros:

Cheap

Downsides:

More bulk.
Can come untied over time when not weighted. Keep an eye on them.

You can tie them and hang some weight from them for a day or two. This may reduce the chance of them coming untied.

Sewn slings are pretty cheap though.

Yeah I am just doing a route in a couple days and realize that i need more alpine draws than i currently own! Thanks for the input. So what are the positives to using tubular webbing instead of flat?

To clarify, lots of tubular webbing appears flat. What specific webbing are you using?

it isnt open when cut. it is simply one piece of nylon webbing. 1 inch wide.

You nailed it in your question, tubular takes knots easier than flat webbing. Flat webbing is stiff and tubular is supple so it might also affect how easy it is to extend the alpine to full length or put it back together. Tubular webbing is plenty strong so you shouldn't worry about one being stronger than the other. 1" is also very wide, it will make your alpine draw beefy and hard to use. Try using the half inch tubular webbing so it will fit better.

Mike-Mayhem wrote:it isnt open when cut. it is simply one piece of webbing that i believe to be nylon.

So here's my only worry: It appears to me you don't know the origin of this webbing, or it's specific construction. Webbing can have various strengths. Not all 1" webbing is created equal. If you don't KNOW that this meet's a certain spec (and it sounds like you're not even sure it's nylon) DON'T TRUST YOUR LIFE TO IT.

Buy webbing that's specific to your purpose. It's cheap insurance. If you can't find it locally, you can probably stop somewhere close to where you're climbing and pick some up.

Does this count as a "yer gunna die" post?

+1 on the bulk factor too.

It's fine as long as you're over the age of 65.

thanks for the input everyone! I now know the differences between flat and tubular webbing.

Flat webbing typically isn't as strong as tubular?

Some of the newer lightweight carabiners have narrow baskets for holding webbing and a 1" piece could creep up and load the gate area. Use caution with wider webbing.

5/8" Bluewater climbspec tubular webbing is strong. I've used that.

Nearly impossible to find the old 1/2" tubular webbing. Not sure anyone makes it anymore. Wasn't near as strong as the wider stuff (even 9/16" was a fair bit stronger).

Make sure you leave long tails and tighen your knot up in all directions! And, recheck that knot all the time!

I see you're in Bozeman, send me a PM if you want some tubular webbing for slings, I've got extra laying around so no need to macgyver anything dangerous out of mystery webbing.