I used mine to hold up a tarp and keep the sun off our backs at a kids party.
Didn't want some of the cold blooded guests from getting to warm and frisky:
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Update: I've had several emails about the first pic - It's a bit of rock climbing hardware called a 'friend' or a cam that you use to help stop yourself hitting the ground when you fall. It's an indictment of what has become of my life that my friends are now used to hold up a tarp rather than out on a wild crag some place.
