Dog rescue harness / Bartacking

[SonnyC]

Hi,

 

I have been working on a dog rescue harness / backpack. The backpack is designed for medium to large breed dogs 60- 100 lbs. Is bartack the only way to go for safety and strength on the harness attachment points?

[RaisedByPikas]

Considering all sewn harnesses and slings use bartack I would say so. I guess you could tie various knots but that would be bulky.

 

I'll go ahead and assume that you are also planning on double backed buckles and not the pinch type buckles or belt type that most dog packs use.

[SonnyC]

Thanks for the reply.Yes I plan on using Military / Parachute buckles. I have seen on previous post were many have used industrial sewing machines and not bartack machines on some harness. Time to step up and figure out what type of bartack machine to buy for home use.

 

Thanks,

Sonny

[rob]

you could always just buy one. Probably cheaper than buying a bartack machine. Multiple companies make them.

[markwebster]

I had this conversation about sewing my own cam slings. I was advised not to. We have some very experienced sewing people on the board, but I'm not one of them, though I did by an industrial machine. Bar tack machines run up into the seven thousand and up range.

 

If it's not for human life support, you would probably be fine sewing boxed x's instead of bar tacks.

 

There is a guy on here "crackers" who gave me some great advice, he sews backpacks for a living, and really knows his stuff in the sewing industry.

 

A thread here:

http://cascadeclimbers.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/886179/Re_industrial_grade_sewing_mac#Post886179

 

my juki, which will sew through 1/4 of anything, including 2 layers of full grain cow hide,purchased at

http://www.sewingmachineservice.com/

 

 

 

It's all about the walking foot:

 

 

 

If I had to do it over, I think I would buy a slower, beefier one for sewing *super* heavy stuff, like up to three eighths of an inch. But they run up to $3000...expensive for a hobby toy. sure is useful having a nice machine if you like saving money and inventing/improving stuff like jackets, packs, bivy sacks, mittens, tents, etc.

 

 

 

[SonnyC]

Hi Mark,

 

Thanks for the great links. The upholstery shop that has done the sewing can make

some nice boxed X's. I will make sure that we use the right thread and possibly have the shop here in Vegas test it for strength.

 

Thanks,

Sonny

[JeffreyR]

I am not totally sure what you are planning to do with your harness, but for most SAR applications I have seen something more along the lines of this used.

[OlympicMtnBoy]

You can also reasonably approximate a bar tack with a close zig-zag stitch on a beefy home machine and running a straight stitch back through it. Basically what a bar-tacker does just not quite as controlled and standardized. I would guess you can get 10KN pretty consistently with some careful work which should be fine for a dog who isn't taking lead falls.

[shapp]

PM Hanman, he is the man, I have cams and hexes he has bartacked and I use them without any reservation.

[hanman]

Mid 50's Pfaff 130 does the trick if you can find one. Small in size but weighs like 78 lbs. Sews Type 18 webbing, ballistic nylon, milspec, climbingspec, dive web and leather up to about 1/4" thick with some adjustments. Back in the mid 90's I owned a small sewing shop, and did alot of static and dynamic testing on our webbing products. Properly formed bartacks always were stronger than the base material. Take an old Petzl draw, cut apart tack, you'll find a narrow tack overlayed with a wider lock tack on the reverse run. This is is how I have always done them.

 

 

Cheers!

 

 

MH

 

 

[SonnyC]

Hi All,

 

Thanks for all the help, what a great forum. It would be a lot cheaper just to buy a harness but I want the added feature of the backpack. I have already made one and now starting on the new revised harness/backpack. With the bartack sewing on the harness it should be bullet proof or close. The boxed X's sewing should be just as good but why take a chance. The money for a used bartack machine will be tough to part with but what is the price for safety.The reason I have been asking all these questions is that I spend many hours hiking/hunting for meteorites... yes you read meteorites with my dog in remote areas. www.nevadameteorites.com I just recently attended an advanced K9 down (medical) class and had no idea what could happen to your best buddy. The backpack rolls up in a small pouch and attaches to your backpack.If something should happen you could backpack your dog out of the back country

and if air rescue is needed the harness could handle any situation.

 

Sonny

 

[num1mc]

Good luck and good hunting. It looks like fun, and Brix looks like a good buddy

[pcg]

Mid 50's Pfaff 130 does the trick if you can find one.

One just went for $130 on eBay this morning.

[snoboy]

Find a copy of 'On Rope' at your library and read up on the sewing techniques contained within.

[tugboat]

pfaff 138 is a newer model of the above mentioned pfaff...find them for between 500 and 1000$. They will run nylon or spectra 92 thread. They wont run 138.

[tugboat]

Remember "bartacking" is quite particular to the climbing industry.....originating from modified blue jean bartackers.

 

There are pros and cons to bartacking. Too big a topic to get into here. But the majority of the safety sewn goods industry do not bartack (for good reasons)...They use safety stitches developed over years of proven technique in industries such as Parachuting, sailing, Rescue Harnesses, Rigging and so on.

 

Bartacking has its place, but it can be used incorrectly esecially when strength sewing webbing to fabric.

 

Box X and multi point "W" stitching can be superior depending on the circumstances...

 

You don't need a bartacker to strength stitch in general.

 

Another good book is the "Parachute Manual"

Edited March 6, 2011 by tugboat