On Aug 17, 2013, at 9:58 PM, Evan Martin <7martinn@GMAIL.COM> wrote:

if you're lazy and cheap like me, carry a small vice-grip pliers and clamp
at the base of the cylinder when fully extended. and then you've got an
extra vice-grip pliers around when you need them, anyway.

Or pop one end of one strut off, slide on a pre-measured/pre-cut length
of the proper diameter PVC, so that when you lift the hatch, the PVC
slides down and you just let the strut tube bottom rest on the top edge
of the PVC, holding the hatch up. Mine will stay up doing that, with
a Gary Lee ladder, with 2 Rotopax fuel tanks and a 30lb mt. bike
on the hatch.

bob.....whom also uses a mechanics hood strut clamp sometimes.....
just for safety. ;-)
looks like this: http://www.amazon.com/Universal-Support-Strut-Shock-Clamp/dp/B0031MKFTK