Saturday, July 24, 2010

Making a Three-Way Bridle Hitch


Click to enlarge.

It's too hot to do anything outside (heat index of over 105 today) so I made a three-way bridle hitch while I sat in the air conditioning.

The basics to making a three-way bridle hitch can be seen in the picture above: a welded circle ring, some webbing or heavy cord, three clips, a needle and thread.

The only "trick" is the use of heat-shrink tubing, which is slipped over the sewn parts (it needs to be slipped up the leash before the clip is put on, as shown in the middle section), and then heated with a lighter in order to finish it up.





The result is serviceable and cheap, and gives me the kind of snaps I prefer on a leash.

For the record, I have a few nice leather leashes, but the cheap stuff works just as well. And really, who am I trying to impress?

My favorite leashes, are long leather euro-leads (eight or nine feet) with brass snaps of the kind shown. They are not cheap and the longer length versions are hard to find.
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4 comments:

aficat said...

Have you tried looking in equestrian catalogs for leather leads? I bet a few would fit your bill.

Anonymous said...

Maybe I'm a dog training snob but I LOVE the feel of a fine, well-broken-in 3/8 inch leather lead in my hand. A leash that light gives you an excellent feel for what the dog at the other end is doing. And the dog an excellent feel for what you're doing.

It's a very good thing.

Seahorse said...

It wasn't too hot to ride this morning! Well, it was, but we rode anyway. (G) Then, I escaped into the A.C. at Petco, where I was somewhat disappointed in their offerings. Tough to find nice leather leads anymore. I did get a few stop-gap things I needed, but in all I've done far better ordering things online, following guidance. I sure have a lot of rust to scrape off re: dog ownership.

Seahorse :))) ---> My tail wagging!!!

nofiron said...

Nice work.
I did my binocular and camera slings with the tubular material I got from the rock climbing store.
I have one dog now and too many leads.