Review: Loop Alien cord attachment devices

I just can't get enough of these shiny titanium cord-attachment devices.
I've already shown you the Piranha and Fishbone, both by Fishbones which are both awesome, and I have them on my person almost every day.

Whilst they were underway on Kickstarter, another kind of device came up, and I jumped on that as well. I have neglected to cover them until now, but have been spurred on by progress (and another Kickstarter by the same folks. From Canny Designs, comes the Loop Alien Original (small) and Loop Alien Ultra Fast Attatchment (large)

The original Loop Alien (small) is only 33mm x 22mm x 3mm (1.25" x 0.9" x 0.125") in size, I was surprised at just how small they were, but there is a lot of grunt in a little package. Made of Grade 5 titanium, these weigh only 4g. Canny Designs offer these in 6061-T6 aluminium (2.6g) , and 316L stainless steel. Three different metals to suit your different needs and budgets.

The smallest hole of the two "eyestalks" will -just- take paracord, if the end is finished to a point, but bear in mind the stresses this tight fit will put on the cord. Canny Designs recommends 1.75mm Dyneema (400lbs test) cord. Great stuff.

The NEW large LoopAlien UFA is 49mm x 32mm x 5.2mm (1.93" x 1.26" x 0.1875") in size and weighs 16g. It is about 1.5x larger in length and width and twice as thick as the small version. It's paracord friendly too!


The main difference in the UFA versions are the hole cut in the "body" of the device. This means that cord need not be threaded through the hole in the "body" as in the originals, but can rather be slipped through the gap, and over either of the "eyestalk".

Here is one of the UFA's, with paracord lashed through its large eyestalk, and looped through the body as a tensioned slider. Through the little eye, I had fed one of the lengths of 7/64 (2.5mm) silver Amsteel rope through the small eye, giving you an indication of the dynamics you can achieve with these little guys.

There are lots of ways you can fit the cords, either with knots, or self-knitting, in the same styles as those seen on the Fishbones. These however, lend themselves to doing guy-wire securing, and adjustable tensioning of loads of up to 45kg (100lbs).
Here's the small Original, also lashed with paracord, the slant of the eyestalks snags the cord nicely, securing the loop neatly, and with enough room to allow it to slide without rubbing on the opposing line.

I have not used the small Originals as much as I might have liked, not being fully paracord friendly limited my imagination a little, but I have been thinking of using them with shock-cord, to rig things to my kayak.

The larger ones the newer UFA's, which I got through Kickstarter as "super fast early delivery" are likely to go in my car with a spool of paracord, for emergency lashing options

These are very cool pieces of kit, and well worth a look in, especially if you are looking to replace your existing tensioning devices for camping or rigging.

I have been wondering if I could set up shade cloth over the whole of my backyard, (which is concreted over, and radiated heat like no ones business) to help with this summers heatwave.

These might just do the trick in adjusting the sails, to stand up to the hot winds.

Check these out, they are elegant and beautifully designed, as well as being very for for purpose.

Here's just a comparison with the two kinds of Loop Alien, and the two kinds of Fishbones

Lastly, to reiterate the manufacturers warnings:

*** The LoopAlien(TM) and LoopAlien UFA are not designed to support human weight. They must not be used as life saving devices, fall protection or in any manner where failure could cause property damage, injury or loss of life. ***

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