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Help Support Hardline Crawlers :
Braided cable vs. Sythetic rope
- Thread starter mcmen0317
- Start date
John Galbreath Jr.
38 Special & Solo Buggy
- Joined
- May 24, 2007
- Messages
- 8,613
I am a very safety minded person. But I would have been severely hurt at the SETTC event in 2010 spotting Garry Smith when I was pulling slack out of his winch line laying on the ground so he would not run over it with the tires. Well, he did not make the climb, and the slack came out of the line faster than I would have thought possible. The line pulled into my armpit and the line snapped. It bruised me immediately from my wrist to my armpit and my side. I thought I was hurt, and just sat down where I was. It was cold, so I had on a coat. There was a medic standing within 10 feet and he checked me out as Garry was exiting the vehicle. He told me I was not hurt, I told Garry to get back in and I heckled him on to the top of Los Primos. Never again, if you don't stop, you can just run over the winch line. Never again will I pick up one laying on the ground. If that had been cable, I may have lost my arm.
Re:
Yes, rope is well worth the money.
Cable crimps, gets stuck on the spool and if it is bound in there real good it is almost impossible to get unstuck.
If you are feeding it in to the winch and let it slide through your hand (gloved or not) a unsuspecting fray can grab your hand an suck it into the winch even if the operator stops the winch. It still turns a moment after power is released.
Cable will fly if it snaps in half. Rope tends to drop where it is and won't take off as far. It isn't as heavy as cable thus not flinging through the air as violently.
You can splice rope if you break it.
I can go on about the differences, but safety is the number one reason to go with rope. That alone is worth the cost.
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Yes, rope is well worth the money.
Cable crimps, gets stuck on the spool and if it is bound in there real good it is almost impossible to get unstuck.
If you are feeding it in to the winch and let it slide through your hand (gloved or not) a unsuspecting fray can grab your hand an suck it into the winch even if the operator stops the winch. It still turns a moment after power is released.
Cable will fly if it snaps in half. Rope tends to drop where it is and won't take off as far. It isn't as heavy as cable thus not flinging through the air as violently.
You can splice rope if you break it.
I can go on about the differences, but safety is the number one reason to go with rope. That alone is worth the cost.
Sent from my XT907 using Tapatalk
hokie_yj
Well-Known Member
After using rope for several years I'll never own another winch with cable on it. Period.
ridered3
Not Rigless
Have the materials in which rope advanced over the last few years? I've never dealt with either, but it seems like several KOH racers each year and done in by their winch rope breaking and thus making them unable to make climbs etc.
John Galbreath Jr.
38 Special & Solo Buggy
- Joined
- May 24, 2007
- Messages
- 8,613
ridered3 said:
I don't care what they say, rope is not as strong as steel. Period. However, just like I would not carry a jack that was not safe, or bad seat selts, I would not have steel, simply due to my safety and others that are close to you.
Rope snaps - eventually. Know how to braid it or tie knots. I ran my last line far too long and snapped it like 5 times in 1 day. Never broke at the "bad" knots, but not far from them. Never hurt anyone, or went flying.
If I had to replace rope every year, it'd be a small price to pay for safety.
We always joke about steel cable when people use it as "cable of death" but are always as safe as we can be with it.
If I had to replace rope every year, it'd be a small price to pay for safety.
We always joke about steel cable when people use it as "cable of death" but are always as safe as we can be with it.
ridered3
Not Rigless
JohnG said:
Certainly understand and agree with safety first with winch lines! Just curious about innovation and updates in their strength.
Rope is definitely the way to go. Much safer as everyone else has said.
You asked about improving technologies. There are only two major sources for the UHMWPE fiber right now, Spectra and Dyneema. I know Dyneema is constantly working to improve the tenacity of their product. In a perfect scenario, rope is stronger than a cable of a comparable size. Cable can just take more abuse, so just think ahead and try to avoid undue abrasion to the rope line.
You asked about improving technologies. There are only two major sources for the UHMWPE fiber right now, Spectra and Dyneema. I know Dyneema is constantly working to improve the tenacity of their product. In a perfect scenario, rope is stronger than a cable of a comparable size. Cable can just take more abuse, so just think ahead and try to avoid undue abrasion to the rope line.
I like to put 15,000# rope on a 9000# winch. Can't get 100' on the spool but lasts a lot longer and has to get pretty ragged before it snaps.
