Home Made Grapnel

Climbing on a budget, I like to make my own gear when I can. Here is a copy of a popular grapnel made from No. 9 fencing wire. I wrapped it in picture wire from the dollar store and hit it with plumbing solder, ground off any sharp edges and taped it up. Took me a good half hour but it works great. Could maybe use some lead to give it more weight but works as-is.

Very nice homemade grapnel. I made one with some 1/4" j bolts and an eye bolt from the hardware store using 2 part epoxy as the bonding agent. Sometimes I'll stick a large rare earth magnet (1"x1") on the bottom to add weight and increase the chances of grabbing the bag. Just be careful using the magnet around camera equipment...

My version can be seen briefly and in action at 5:11 in the attached video link.