Good places to buy? Your favorite color? Ever break it?



[Edited on October 6, 2008 at 3:23 PM. Reason : DISCUSS! ]

10/6/2008 3:22:53 PM

haven't broken it, blue suits me fine, I don't think color really matters.

http://www.winchline.com/winchline.htm

Scott at http://www.rockstomper.com

amsteel blue seems to be pretty good quality/has good reviews/opinions

also, get 3/8"

[Edited on October 6, 2008 at 3:31 PM. Reason : .]

10/6/2008 3:29:10 PM

Quote :

"I don't think color really matters."

this is joel we're talking about...

about the only way to break it is if you drag it on something or otherwise cut/fray it. even then, it can be tied back together using a proper knot. you're supposed to keep it out of mud too.

10/6/2008 3:34:48 PM

Amsteel Blue is some crazy shit.
Splicing is easy on those hollow braids too.
You'd probably wanna get some friction savers/rope protectors. Abrasion will kill a loosely braided rope. The internal abrasion from soil is bad...

I buy tree climbing and rigging rope from http://wesspur.com/index.html
They have good prices on climbing rope, but I dunno if their Amsteel prices are the best.

10/6/2008 4:21:40 PM

I was hoping to find it somewhere cheaper than Viking (winchline.com) oh well. Bill Burke gave me a new Superwinch this weekend, so I think I will buy some nice line for it.

10/6/2008 7:24:20 PM

i bought mine from scott at rockstomper. fast service and gave me more guard than i planned on getting. good transaction A+++++++++ Seller

10/6/2008 8:15:00 PM

80ft is good right.

10/6/2008 9:34:36 PM

if you're doing 3/8" you should be able to fit 100 ft. 125 if getting 5/16"

10/6/2008 9:52:52 PM

what do you think about running 80 then using an extention if needed.

of course thats assuming most of my winching would be within 60ft or so.

[Edited on October 6, 2008 at 11:04 PM. Reason : gotta keep some line on the drum]

10/6/2008 11:03:34 PM

if you can fit 100' I'd just go ahead and run 100', 80 would work too if you wanted to do that instead.

10/7/2008 12:59:20 AM

Well I like the eyelet on the end of the Viking better, wont pull into the fairlead.

But 100ft of 3/8 is $300.


Same dia. and length from Rockstomper, with the regular loop on the end is $256.

10/7/2008 7:41:17 AM

1-Buy Amsteel Blue for $1.97/ft at http://www.wesspur.com
2-Buy the safety thimble from winchline.com
3-Splice in the thimble
4-profit

That's $50 you can use for a block or something.

[Edited on October 7, 2008 at 10:30 AM. Reason : ]

10/7/2008 10:28:58 AM

I've got http://www.masterpull.com on my rig. shit is tight. and it floats too. I think its the superline XD, with the locking hook, stainless thimble and a chafe guard.

you'll also need an aluminum hawse fairlead.

[Edited on October 7, 2008 at 5:14 PM. Reason : ..]

10/7/2008 5:10:08 PM

I get all my line from http://www.layline.com ....

10/7/2008 6:11:27 PM

Quote :

"1-Buy Amsteel Blue for $1.97/ft at http://www.wesspur.com 2-Buy the safety thimble from winchline.com 3-Splice in the thimble 4-profit That's $50 you can use for a block or something."

Id consider thinking about this if I could buy the rope for 1.50 a ft, it was clear viking would sell the thimble seperate, and I felt like fucking with the important end. I like the thinking though.

Quote :

"I've got http://www.masterpull.com on my rig. shit is tight. and it floats too. I think its the superline XD, with the locking hook, stainless thimble and a chafe guard. you'll also need an aluminum hawse fairlead."

All of it floats. And a roller fairlead is actually better, while it dosent look as cool.

Quote :

"I get all my line from http://www.layline.com ...."

Holy shit its $3.15 a foot there!

10/7/2008 7:58:07 PM

Quote :

"Id consider thinking about this if...it was clear viking would sell the thimble seperate"

$42 http://winchline.com/mcart/index.cgi?ID=276265510&PID=IT184&code=13

Quote :

"...and I felt like fucking with the important end. "

Splicing class II 12 strands: http://www.samsonrope.com/site_files/Class_2_12-Strand,_Eye_Splice.pdf

Quote :

"I like the thinking though."

Thanks
I'm a cheap bastard that will do some work to save a couple pennies.

Really though, hollow braid like Amsteel is the absolute easiest rope to splice. You basically stuff the end of the rope back into itself. Tension on the rop grabs the burried end making so much friction that the end cannot pull out. It's like a chinese finger trap.

All you need is:
-the ability to read
-electrical tape
-a chopstick (or other skinny stick. I'm chinese ) to use as a fid
-a big sewing needle (buy at Walmart, $1)
-some thick thread (repair thread at REI, $3) to use as whipping twine
-sharp scissors

It'd be good to learn how to splice it in case you ever break the rope.

[Edited on October 8, 2008 at 12:48 AM. Reason : If you were close to Rocky Mount I'd do it for you..blindfolded. its that easy]

10/8/2008 12:43:23 AM

What about line protector?

10/8/2008 8:50:58 AM

For line protector, go to REI and buy a couple feet of 1/2" hollow webbing.
Thats what their standard line protector looks like.

Just cut off however much you want, open up one end of the webbing, tape the end of your line to the end of a chopstick and pull it through the webbing.
You can secure it wil a few stitches of thread on each end, just make sure you have a little slack in the webbing (you dont want the webbing and stiches to be load bearing).
You can make it real fancy looking by taking some electrical shrink tubing and covering the ends of you new line protector to hide the frayed end. Just be careful not to apply the flame for too long. The fibers Amsteel's made of isn't as high heat tolerant as stuff like kevlar.

I don't know what their heavy duty line protector is made of...


Edit: on secoond though, get bigger webbing.
It'd be a pain in the ass to try and pull the webbing over the spliced section.
You'd probably want to bump up to 1". Make sure it's tubular, not flat.

[Edited on October 8, 2008 at 11:51 AM. Reason : ]

10/8/2008 11:38:26 AM

hmm

10/8/2008 11:48:36 AM

You can even buy cool colors like yellow and write your name on it

10/8/2008 11:52:13 AM

I guess I would have to see the splicing.

10/8/2008 11:54:53 AM

I just spliced some 3/8" Ice Tail.
It's very similar to Amsteel.
I'd post pics if I had my camera cord.

Took about 2 minutes, but I didn't taper the end. 1/2" webbing definately isn't big enough to use for a line protector. 1" webbing is bige enough and you could probably get away with 5/8", but that will be near impossible to find locally, and not worth buying over the net when you can find 1".

If you can follow those instructions then you'll be good to go.
If you don't have splicing equipment (which I don't suggest buying, its a waste of money), then don't taper the tail until you've actually pulled it through. its hard to work with a tail you've already cut.

[Edited on October 8, 2008 at 12:08 PM. Reason : ]

10/8/2008 12:07:27 PM

Its not really making any sense. Someone has to have pics of this

10/8/2008 1:58:02 PM

found it. holy shit I would be scared as hell that would come apart every time I winched.

10/8/2008 2:01:08 PM

it won't. like he said, it's like a chinese finger trap if you've ever used one of those bastards. i can splice/tie if you don't want to do it, but it really is super easy.

Quote :

"And a roller fairlead is actually better, while it dosent look as cool."

not for rope it's not. use a steel roller and you'll tear the rope up on the first pull.

10/8/2008 2:21:02 PM

When you splice this stuff you burry 2 full diameter fid lengths with an additional fid's length that is tapered.
For 3/8" rope that means you burry a total of 24 inches into the rope.
That's a huge amount and it will hold.
I've played around with 12 strand hollow braid and found you really only need 1 fid length to hold. 2 fids is very secure. Secure enough to put my life on it when I climb trees.
Think about it, if you buy it with the eye already made then they use exactly the same process to splice the eye.

If I were you I'd take BigBlue up on his offer to splice it.
It'd be a good learning experience and you can buy something like this with the money you save

If you ever break the rope or want to add more you can splice it yourself.
Splices = 90%+ breaking strength, knots = 40-70% breaking strength.

[Edited on October 8, 2008 at 3:17 PM. Reason : ]

10/8/2008 3:10:58 PM

^i've always just done two fids with tapering the end one. i think that's plenty for a non life dependent application such as this. i agree that if i was climbing or mooring a yacht or something i'd want some extra insurance. i think in this use it's not really worth wasting the extra length though. even at two fids that's still more than you really "need".

i've also never bothered with safety stitching and i don't know anyone else that has either outside of climbing. i know i've never had a splice fail, and i don't know of anyone else i know that has either. i'm sure i would if i was in your profession though.

10/8/2008 6:44:52 PM

Quote :

"cut splice (originally called cunt splice) - A splice similar to the eye splice. It is typically used for light lines (e.g., the log-line) where a single splice would tend to come undone, the rope being frequently wet. It makes a very strong knot. A cut splice is a join between two ropes, made by side splicing the ends slightly apart, to make an eye in the joined rope which lies shut when the rope is taut."

lawl wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rope_splicing

10/8/2008 7:38:39 PM

Quote :

"It'd be a good learning experience and you can buy something like this with the money you save"

I have 3 of those.

Well I would certianly like to learn to do it myself, from someone who knows how to do it.

As far as the fairlead goes, I dont care what you googled, a roller works fine for rope. In fact it actually is less abrasive than the hawse, althought the hawse will not hurt it. The two drawbacks to the roller are that winching at an extreme angle, like trying to upright the vehicle, the rope could get pinched in the corner of the rollers AND the roller sticks out a little further. There is a trick to it not getting pinched though, want to call the guy who showed me and ask him yourself?

10/8/2008 9:27:30 PM

10/8/2008 9:54:32 PM

hmmm, wonder why none of the comp guys or basically anyone else serious about their stuff runs one then? why do the majority of the manufacturers/vendors recommend using one? i don't give a shit what some bill burke wanna be says, steel rollers are for cable. not to mention it saves weight and doesn't stick out 5 feet.

10/8/2008 10:07:49 PM

oh god a roller is soooooooooooooooooooo heavy

yes old ass nasty steel rollers will fuck up rope. but they make delrin rollers now.

10/8/2008 10:10:26 PM

Quote :

"hmmm, wonder why none of the comp guys or basically anyone else serious about their stuff runs one then?"

well noone wants to be that guy

Quote :

"why do the majority of the manufacturers/vendors recommend using one?"

well if I was making the fucking pretty things, or selling them, I would be pushing them too!

10/8/2008 10:14:32 PM

yeah, i've heard about the delrin ones. haven't actually seen any in person or in action though. you'd still have the issues of pinching the rope like you mentioned above. they just replace the steel rollers in an existing unit, right? or is it an all new piece designed for rope? maybe if they were significantly cheaper than an aluminum hawse it might be worth it, but i can't imagine they are. how much are they? a decent hawse is ~$50...

10/8/2008 10:21:28 PM

http://winchline.com/mcart/index.cgi?ID=230477744&PID=IT230&code=13

Yeah its just the rollers that are Delrin. its like $75. More than the little hawse fairleads everyone uses, but less than the really nice ones. honestly, I am sure I will end up running a hawse.

[Edited on October 9, 2008 at 8:29 AM. Reason : ok]

10/9/2008 8:27:13 AM

https://secure48.mysecureorder.net/offroadonly/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=101

10/9/2008 8:58:25 AM

just remembered, i'll bet dustm might could hook you up with a deal on making some delrin rollers if you really wanted some to put into your existing roller. i know i've talked with him about making bushings and motorcycle frame sliders before.

10/9/2008 9:47:28 PM

I got the winch installed today, dont really see how the rope can get pinched on this roller, seems to be a little different design than the last one I had.

10/9/2008 10:01:26 PM