Pins, rings, or wire?

[Delancey]

Or heaven forbid plastic zip ties? Curious to know what folks prefer and why?

[Island Time O25]

My first few years of boat ownership I used cotter pins. Then under the influence of a blurb in a sailing magazine I switched to rings. All was fine until I read another blurb dissing the rings in favor of the good old cotter pins. And lo and behold right after reading that blurb I needed to change the ring while under way and all the negatives described in that latest blurb became evident, i.e. mainly the difficulty to undo the ring under not so calm conditions. Off I went back to the cotter pins.

[Stumble]

Properly installer pins are great, but too many people bend them way past what's needed. I prefer rings since I find they tend to be easier to deal with. But I am not highly prejudice one way or the other.

[Wotname]

OK, just what are we mousing?

Shackles, rigging screws, clamps, connectors ?

I have voted "wire" as this will mouse most things.

[Jim Cate]

You should have had an "all of the above" selection, for that is what you would find on Insatiable II. Different means of securing in different places:

Wire on anchor shackles and screws holding gooseneck and vang fittings to the mast.
Cotter pins in rigging screws.
Rings in snap shackle pins.
Cable ties on less critical, easily seen shackles.

And lots of other places for each type, too.

So, no vote placed.

Jim

[Delancey]

Multiple choice poll, I think it says so down at the bottom.

Wire seems like one stop shopping that will work, or can be made to work, for any application but it's sort of a pain sometimes to carry around a spool of wire and wire cutters.

Personally, I have been using plastic zip ties more and more lately but I have noticed there are different qualities available and that the cheap ones should be avoided. I have used them on main halyard shackles with good results and next time I make up an anchor shackle I will probably give them a try.

Some might freak out at this suggestion but I don't usually anchor in a bed of razor blades so don't see what the big deal is. Good quality plastic ties should last for a thousand years or more in a landfill so probably good overnight or as long as it would go uninspected if used on an anchor.

Assuming I survive my experiment I will report any observed failures.

[UNCIVILIZED]

From a strict regimen of Naval Schooling, I was taught that Mousing means either of the following:
- Running multiple loops of small diameter wire from the eye the cross pin in either, an anchor, or D-ring shackle, through the body of said shackle, such that it could not accidentally come undone (after I heavily torque shut the shackle with wrenches).
- Running multiple loops of small diameter wire over the open end of chain hook type hooks, in such a way as to prevent the load on said hook from accidentally slipping off. In essence, to act as an ad hoc gate such as the gates on mountaineering carabineers.

So for me, I typically only mouse anchor type shackles. Mostly with small diameter wire, though on occasion I've pressed the right size ring pin into service for such. And for a very brief time, had a fascination with zip ties. Until the light went on, about them, literally. Meaning that most of the ones which I've run across hold up vs. UV about as well as PBO or Waterski tow rope.
And of late, small diameter (1.5mm - 2mm) Spectra line has my interest piqued, to use for said task.

Although, truth be told when I can find a high strength shackle which matches the WLL of G43 chain, & fits it. I like the type which literally has a cross bolt, into the end of which is machined a small hole for one's choice of seizing. And given that there's a nut on the cross bolt, I prefer to use ring pins through the hole, to secure the nut, simply as they require no tools, ditto on said type of shackle - KISS.

[Benz]

I think rings are my least favorite, as I had two of them get snagged (in an application where taping over them was impossible) and rip mostly away. I have begun experimenting with spectra twine here and there, and had good success so far, but it's too early yet to say whether I'm sold. I have one pin with a hole big enough for 1/8" nylon twine, which has worked very well for a long time, but it is on a pin that doesn't move and wiggle, so there's no chance of chafe. On wiggly pins I think my preference is cotters.
Ben
zartmancruising dot com

[Delancey]

These are the non-cheapies I was referring too. Black Nylon 6-6.

UV Resistant Cable Ties, Uv Cable Ties in Stock - ULINE

[UNCIVILIZED]

Originally Posted by Delancey

These are the non-cheapies I was referring too. Black Nylon 6-6.

UV Resistant Cable Ties, Uv Cable Ties in Stock - ULINE

Touché! And the UV & Chafe Résistance thing is what's had me thinking on real thin Spectra. Heck, for the last decade or two, braided Spectra fishing line's been available. So, yeah, they make it in all sizes.

[Delancey]

I hadn't thought of Spectra but might be a good choice in some situations since you can cut it with a rigging knife instead of wire cutters.

I wonder if it could be used for seizing rigging screws to avoid the meat hook/snagging issue associated with either rings or pins. I would think you would want to make sure the holes in the screws have chamfered edges.

I have a spool of 130 lbs braided tuna line for my fishing rigs, maybe when it warms up some I will give it a try for academic purposes to see what it looks like.

[FamilyVan]

Different tools for different applications. But for the majority of rigging I prefer cotter pins with rings being second.

As with good knots rigging should be both easy to assemble and dis assemble, as well as give you the confidence that it will hold in adverse conditions.

So- why do I like pins (for most- applications)?

They are easy to put in (even with cold hands). The down side is some kind of tool is required.

They are very fast to remove. The technique is put your marlin spike (or similar tool) through the round head and strike the far end of the spike with a drift. The pin is gone just like that. Downside again- you need a tool.

Another downside of pins is poor reusability.

Zap straps I find really hard to trim properly so you don't cut your hand on them.

What I think zap straps are awesome for is jury rigging quick repairs.

It's blowing like snot, your thingy came out of your whatzit, you know you have a bin of spare rings and pins in a drawer in your work shop, which is going to spill all over the place when you hit the next wave- but you have a bag of different sized cable ties hanging on your workshop door- sweet.

Sent from my SGH-I547C using Cruisers Sailing Forum mobile app

[Hudson Force]

I ticked all four boxes because I use all four of these as well as some small line on occasion; however, I usually just use the term "mousing" when I consider the shackles on my ground tackle and here I use wire. Maybe I should have only selected siezing wire.

[FamilyVan]

I forgot to acknowledge seizing wire in my response. I use wire for my anchoring gear. If I had a crane I'd use it for that too. But my boat isn't cool enough to have a crane.

Sent from my SGH-I547C using Cruisers Sailing Forum mobile app

[ryon]

Seine twine for mousing hooks, most shackles, robands, bowsing, and and for general safetying. Monel wire for bottle screws, metal fasteners, and for areas that are not readily inspected. Rings are fine for clevis pins, but I'll go with cotter pins in areas where the cotter pin ends aren't likely to jab me. I just finished our annual Christmas light install/uninstall, and find zip ties to be a PITA. I'll use seine twine for that also.