Silence Your Spanner

Jangling equipment is a nightmare when trying to be stealthy.

My birdspotting scope and tripod need to have a nut tightened on a regular basis (thanks to a DIY repair by the previous owner, my dad).  I keep a shortened spanner clipped to the tripod with a small carabiner just for this purpose.

Unfortunately, it jangles terribly when I move the tripod around, annoying me, scaring away birds and irritating other near-by birders.

This is my quick solution to the problem, which could also be used by the sort of chap who keeps his tools dangling from a belt.

Very simply, all it needs is a 5g sachet of Sugru, and a knife to open it.

Check the instructions on the packet for correct handling and use of Sugru.

Basically, all I did was roll pieces of the Sugru into small sausages, lay them along the carabiner and the spanner, then squidge them into place to wrap all around the carabiner and around the outside edges of the spanner.

Be careful not to obstruct the hinge and catch of the carabiner!

I only used a single 5g sachet, but it probably would have been ideal to use six or seven grammes.  I just didn't want to waste most of a sachet.

I used black for reasons of stealth, but if you are quieting tools that you want to find quickly, then the other brighter colours would be fine.

The day after this finished curing, I went out for two full days' hard birding in North Norfolk.

It worked.

Although the clip and spanner were not ninja-silent, the noise they did make was low enough that I was the only person who could hear them, and then only because I had my tripod over my shoulder, with the legs beside my ear.

I call that a success.