Anchor chain

[FerrariSailing]

Hello all, I’m going to replace my rusty chain and wonder about going for stainless. Has anyone had experience of using stainless, what are the issues, if there are any.

[mlydon]

It’s very, very expensive - 3x acco steel, stronger though

[LongRange]

Stainless chain is typically weaker, not stronger. Much higher cost is the other disadvantage. On the positive side it does not rust as much, and the smoothness of the material makes stainless chain less prone to "castling", which can be important if the chain locker is shallow.

[UYA]

Aside from the price I think the biggest disadvantage is that stainless steel doesn't like warm water. That makes them unsuitable for the tropics, e.g. Caribbean waters.
They will develop tiny little holes (almost like worm holes) which are hard to discover but will weaken the chain until it suddenly breaks without warning.
We had to replace all our expensive shiny stainless steel chain with galvanized chain.

[Gregwah]

You may be interested to check out YouTube, (sailing Fair Isle )they do an interesting article, not sure which episode?

[slug]

Originally Posted by UYA

Aside from the price I think the biggest disadvantage is that stainless steel doesn't like warm water. That makes them unsuitable for the tropics, e.g. Caribbean waters.
They will develop tiny little holes (almost like worm holes) which are hard to discover but will weaken the chain until it suddenly breaks without warning.
We had to replace all our expensive shiny stainless steel chain with galvanized chain.

Yup

The stainless chain in the picture failed at 6 years
Crevice corrosion
Don’t use it

The only time stainless makes sense is when you often anchor in sticky black mud

The stainless doesn’t hold mud .. it falls right off during the lift

[Tin Tin]

if you have not read it already

Metals Used in Anchoring Tackle