There is no substitute for a working knowledge of knots but sometimes a well designed piece of gear can make your life a lot easier. This is the case with Nite Ize Figure 9 Rope Tighteners. These little things are deceivingly simple in construction, extremely versatile in application, and shockingly easy to use.
The Figure 9 comes in 3 sizes to handle different diameters of rope and different sized loads. They appear to be cast from aluminum and are very light weight. There are directions for their use laser etched directly on the Figure 9, though you will probably never need to reference them once you have used them a couple of times. Nite Ize makes them in both bare aluminum and black-coated finishes.
I have some of the largest ones (“big” size) that I use with climbing rope in my truck in place of ratchet straps. I have found them to be much more versatile than ratchet straps for securing loads, though there may still be times when the compound leverage of the ratchet strap is needed.
I also have several of the “small” size. My favorite use for them is to tighten the guy lines on my poncho/tarp tents. I have really come to appreciate the usefulness, light weight, and small pack size of a simple poncho or tarp in place of a tent when hiking. There are few more versatile pieces of gear than a simple GI Surplus or Ultra Sil-Nylon poncho. These Figure 9s make pitching a tight, crisp tarp/poncho tent fast and easy. They also make taking it down fast and easy. I can take down my poncho tent in less than 1 minute thanks to not having to pick apart knots.
The “small” size works well with paracord which I am sure many Jerking the Trigger readers use frequently. It also works well with braided spectra line, tether cord, and my favorite, jute twine. I typically keep a roll of jute twin in all my kits since it is cheap, it doesn’t stretch like paracord, and it makes an excellent tinder for fire starting. Nite Ize does not recommend that you use twine with the Figure 9 but so far I have not had a problem. Twine can fray relatively easily so I certainly wouldn’t use it to secure a heavy load in any application where I had to keep reusing the same piece of twine.
These Figure 9 Rope Tighteners make a great addition to your emergency shelter or general purpose tool kit.
