On some winches 8 braids will not work well. On some winches 3 starnds do not work well. There are 8 braids and then there are 8 braids. There are laid ropes and then there are laid ropes.
You can not generically say 'use a XX construction rope on all gypsies' nor can you say 'just get a XX construction rope'. Doing that will cost you money for no good reason and often it will also cost you performance. Like all things there are good ropes and there are bad rope, often they look the same and to the untrained eye it's often they look identical. 2-3 times a day we fix issues with people who have done the above. It usually costs them money they had no need to spend in the first place.
These quotes will cost money not needed to be spend and are just not 100% correct (I have removed the names as they are commonly said myths so who said them here is irrelevant)
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The only advantage of three-strand, besides price, is that it is much easier to splice.
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Some winches will eat 8 braid and 3 strand is the only option you have to use on them. In many cases a good 3 strand is far superior and stronger to many 8 braids.
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Some folks have tried to convince me that there's nothing wrong with 3 strand, just that there's something wrong with the 3 strand that I have here.
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100% true. We have 2 different lines of 3 strand ropes. One is purchased in the east based on
price, as most is theses days, and it's good for 99% of uses, including
anchoring BUT we'd never ever suggest using that range in a anchor
winch. We get a 3 strand from
Samson in the US, at nearly 3 times the price, as it does work a dream in anchor winches. The key thing being the materials the rope is made from and the manufacturing quality. I bet I could get this
winch working well in a few minutes just by changing the rope. He says with confidence, but only as he already doses it many times a week.
One very interesting thing we have learnt over the last decade plus is the supposedly very pricey US made
Samson rope is that it is the cheapest laid rope when you look at the ;lifetime cost'. By that I mean even though it can cost 3 times more it will generally last 6 times, if not a lot longer, than a
cheap nasty laid rope. Loomat things lifetime cost and it will save you money.
Rope strength, don't fixate on that as if you use your
gear correctly in a good seamanship manner strength shouldn't be an issue. Also to compair strengths you have to know how the rope loads are being reported. We have 2 local manufacturers who both make the same thing using the same materials. On a item they often show a 30% difference in loads. One reports minimums with terminations i.e a splice in the end, the other reports the best load they get in testing with no terminations. Both ropes will break at the same load on the test
bed. So watch for that as it can make 2 identical ropes look very different.
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Do you have a windlass? 8 plait will cooperate with the gypsy far better than 3 strand.
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Wrong sorry. That statement should read '8 braid will cooperate with some gypises far better than 3 strand BUT some gypies will take nothing but a 3 strand'
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Strangely, not that many people use double-braid, but it is in-between in price, flakes beautifully, and lasts a really long time.
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If yours lasted a really long time you are the exception to the
rule, generally double braids don't last long. They are serioulsy fragile compared to 3S and 8B's. Nick the cover and you have a instant 50% lose of strength, there abouts, and a rope that is only heading fast for the trash bin. Double braids are not a good choice for serious anchorers.
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Depending on the boat size and the water depth, going for all chain isn't always feasible.
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In the area you boat you don't have
coral so having all chain isn't so important as the OP who looks to be on
coral country in which case stay away from rope and do go all chain.
We do 100's of anchor systems a week, many being rope to chains, have for many many years. We also test with a few winch guys.
US$1800 for 300ft of 3/8" chain? Is that what it costs where?
Here 300ft of a EN made G40 10mm would set you back US$982, plus 15% sales tax if you aren't a visitor. US$1200 for the fully certified version... complete with 8 pages of 3rd party testing results on that very length of chain.
Sorry about the length, waiting for girls again. At times it is good to be a bloke, they are currently bra
shopping 
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