navahoIII wrote:How is it that the loops don't separate at some point?
There's a simple trick to making Danny's solution more positive locking. You can find it on the L-36.com site. Here's the image:
Ignore the stuff on the right, that is, just pretend it's the same thing as in Danny's first picture (which is kind of mirror image to this one by comparison).
The twist is shown on the left, where one part of the Amsteel has been pushed through the other, forming a small eye.
That eye can be worked open (very easily) when the knot is to pass through and then snugged up again (tension will pull it closed, if it's at the correct location at the very tip of the loop). But unlike a simple loop it's much less likely to fall open on its own, so the knot is held more positively.
Because Amsteel is so slippery, the eye should open again, just as easily after it has been loaded.
You do not need any dedicated tools to do this, for poking through like that, a simple "cone" of electrical tape will be enough to get the end started through the hole, and something like a Phillips screwdriver (or a chop stick, but not the blunt-end, disposable kind) would be enough to dig the hole.
You "push" on the rope from both sides of the hole, that opens the braid and makes it easy to form the hole.