Honestly? I saw all these YouTube videos raving about hog rings versus this new fancy stuff or old staples, and nobody had actually put them head-to-head. So I figured, why not me? Grabbed a bunch of stuff and put on my “lab coat” (okay, it was just my usual grubby t-shirt). Here’s exactly how it went down.
Digging Out The Tools & Materials
First things first, had to gather my victims. Went rummaging in the garage:
- The Hog Ring Contenders: Dug out my trusty manual hog ring pliers and a box of standard steel hog rings. Found some galvanized ones I forgot I had too. Got lucky.
- The “Alternatives” Crew: Grabbed some hefty stainless steel staples I normally use for fencing. Also hunted down some plastic zip ties – the super heavy-duty ones, not the flimsy garbage. Had some U-shaped nails kicking around from a framing project ages ago.
- The Test Subjects: Needed stuff to bind! Cut up pieces of leftover chicken wire fencing, a chunk of old rubber mat (like you’d use in a horse stall), and some burlap sacking I found in the shed. Figured different materials would stress the connections differently.
- Measuring Pain: Found my old spring scale (the kind you hang things from) and a decent digital fish scale. Also grabbed a big pair of channel locks to apply twisting pressure.
Setting Up The Battleground
Cleared off the workbench. No fancy setup, just clamped things securely in a big metal vise so they wouldn’t wiggle during tests. This wasn’t NASA, it was my slightly cluttered workshop basement.
The Real Deal Testing
Started slow, testing each connector on each material combo. Tried to be fair, putting rings/staple/zips in roughly the same spots.
- Straight Pull Test (The Tug-of-War): Hooked the spring scale onto one piece of the joined material, pulled steadily until something gave. Measured how many pounds it took before the connection failed – popped open, pulled through the material, broke clean, whatever. The Hog Ring Setup: Honestly, using the pliers takes practice! Fumbled a few rings before getting a rhythm. That squeeze takes surprising effort! Fired rings all over the place initially.
- Shear Stress Test (The Sideways Twist): Used the channel locks to twist the two joined materials against each other. This mimicked things being pushed sideways. Watched for bending, cracking, slipping out. Staple Headaches: Getting those U-nails through the chicken wire neatly was pure frustration. Often bent badly or didn’t go through straight. Zip ties clicked shut easily but felt… flimsy?
- The Corrosion Sneak Attack: Mixed up a salty sludge – basically seawater in a bucket. Dunked samples of each connection type and left them outside for a week. Checked for rust, brittleness, or failure.
What My Basement Lab Spat Out
Okay, results were messy! Not a clear winner everywhere. Surprise.
- Raw Pulling Power: On the chicken wire vs rubber mat, hog rings were absolute beasts. Needed way more force to fail than anything else. Staples came second but sometimes pulled through the material before breaking. Zip ties snapped surprisingly early, even the thick ones. They stretched like crazy first.
- Twisting Survival: Here, the U-shaped nails actually did better than expected… if I managed to drive them straight! They resisted twisting force pretty well. Hog rings held decently but showed noticeable bending where they clamped. Zip ties were a disaster – the plastic just sheared or slipped badly.
- Rust Never Sleeps: This was predictable but important. The stainless staples and galvanized hog rings looked fine after their salt bath. Standard steel hog rings were flaky and rusty messes. Zip ties were okay but felt brittle.
Wrestling With Reality
So, which is “better”? Annoying answer: depends.
- Need crazy strong tension? Hog rings (especially galvanized) are solid winners. That satisfying SNAP gives confidence. But damn, my hand got tired.
- Got softer stuff or hate fiddly tools? Heavy-duty staples might surprise you. Easier to handle initially, less bulk, decent holding power if placed well.
- Just need something quick and dirty? Heavy zip ties worked for light-duty burlap connections and weren’t terrible corrosion-wise. But forget it for anything needing serious strength or resisting shearing force.
Was it perfect science? Nah. I wasn’t using laser beams or a million-dollar machine. There’s the skill factor – I’m better with hog rings now than when I started this morning! And the results jumped around a bit depending on exactly where I attached things on the material. But seeing them break (or hold!) right in front of me, feeling the different tools… that tells you stuff charts can’t.
For fence repairs on my property? Probably sticking mostly with hog rings for critical spots. But for patching that burlap sack? Zip ties all day. Maybe keep some stainless staples on hand too. Guess I’m a messy toolbox guy now. At least I know what fails first!
