Hi guys,

I put together a pretty conprehensive video on splicing today:
https://youtu.be/-dvQ-Xva5xw (updated link)

It turned out pretty long and only of structured, but I'm pretty sure it covers all the bases: different splices, fingerloops and sling construction options. Hopefully my antipodean accent is understandable.

I hope you guys find it useful :)

Oh no! Well I got about halfway through it and came back to it later saying it had been taken down. Doing some edits and coming back I hope? But here's what I was working on typing up from the first half :P

Excellent! I've had various references I've patched together from sailing videos and such, but it's awesome to have them all in one place here, and specifically focused on techniques for slingmaking!

Your accent was perfectly understandable :) sounds like german and kiwi? Of course I'm cheating from your username, but I do know a german/australian and I've always thought that combo made for some cool-sounding english.

Sorry about that! Yeah I was watching it through and doubled up some of the clips. Doh! I'm fixing it at the moment and will update the link once I'm done. EDIT: Link/Video is fixed

It's the first video I've made with me talking, it's always wierd to hear how one sounds to others :D

Aha! Thank you for the bunching/milking technique to clean up the gaps in the braid after splicing. This is something I've run into in the past and ended up with some nasty-looking splices, but never put any thought into how to solve it since I'm just making slings for myself and I don't care how they look as long as they work.

I've never bothered much with locking stitches for preventing slippage, I've always just used a brummel. What is your preference on that? There are situations where a brummel is difficult(for example if one end of the cord isn't small enough to pass through the braid without significantly deforming it), so I imagine the locking stitch would be easier there. There is also the twist/untwist method Acroballistics shows here, but again depending on the situation a lock stitch might be simpler: https://youtu.be/9M2DGF2NUd4?t=486

That vectran does look quite stiff for being a single cord. I've never used it before - does it soften up over time like dyneema?

Also, since we're on the subject here, there is another way you can do the double finger loop with just a single cord if you want to save on weight rather than doubling up like in your video. Run the cord perpendicular through itself just like in your video, but then curl around the other end and bury it into the other side of the other finger loop(see photos). I didn't do a brummel there, but you'd probably want to do that or a lock stitch so it doesn't slip out, although it's less likely to slip out than a single finger loop.

...although as I'm typing this I'm realizing your way is probably better anyway since the single brummel locks both loops in place and then you can just trim one end after the brummel and bury it as you normally would - then you wouldn't have to completely double-up your cord like I was thinking. Move along, nothing to see here after all ;D

---

I'm glad it was helpful :)

Bury vs brummel is mostly just a situational thing for me. Often I'll have a pre-assembed release cord or something that I can't brummel due to the release tab being on there. I think the bury splice looks a bit nicer but both splices do tge same job at the end of the day.

Vectran does soften up somewhat but stays stiffer than dyneema in general. With a touch of wax it makes for a really nice stable feel when slinging. I've made dyneema single strand slings in the past but I don't like the feel and the floppyness of it.

I think both of our double finger loops are ultimately the same.. 1000 ways to skin a cat and all that  ;D
Doubling up the entire cord was purely a matter of making the sling out of a single length of cord + increasing stiffness. You're right that one could just do a regular length bury with whatever splice.

irgendeinekiwi wrote on Mar 24^th, 2026 at 11:53am:

I think both of our double finger loops are ultimately the same.. 1000 ways to skin a cat and all that

Yeah, you're right here. Your method makes doing the initial brummel a lot easier since it's before you made the loop instead of trying to do a brummel inside the finger loop like I suggested.


irgendeinekiwi wrote on Mar 24^th, 2026 at 11:53am:

Doubling up the entire cord was purely a matter of making the sling out of a single length of cord + increasing stiffness. You're right that one could just do a regular length bury with whatever splice.

Yeah, exactly. I've gone the other way on most of my slings and optimized for lower weight, so I'm always looking for ways to terminate cords/loops without having to double-up material. But I have made some doubled-up cords and the heftier feel is definitely nice, even if a bit unfamiliar for me.

I made a 120cm sling recently using 1.5mm Dyneema doubled spliced and lightly waxed. With a small leather pouch it was just under 18g while still having a half decent amount of stiffness/non-floppyness.  I'm focusing on accuracy rather than range at the moment so I haven't used it a huge amount though.

Oh yeah the small stuff weighs next to nothing. A 70cm spliced pouch sling with 2mm dyneema is ~6g. Great stuff for long-distance slings!

Thank you so much, man! Really appreciate the video.