Replacing S/S lifelines w/ rope

[ROCKYIV]

I’m hoping someone out there can help. A number of months ago I found a YouTube kinda link that showed how to change away from S/S lifelines to rope lines. Now I’m ready to take action but now I can’t find the video. If this is something you can help me find somewhere out there on the Internet, that would be an awesome Christmas present. Merry Christmas everyone!!🎄🎁🎅

[Iron E]

Search - "Dyneema Lifelines"

edit: and Merry Christmas

[chris mac]

As above, dynema lifelines is the way. I did ours with 1/4" amsteel, 3 years ago and they are great!

[thinwater]

Read everything on chafe 3 times, particularly as regards prepping the stanchions. Also, look for reports of 10 years or so. IME, unlike SS, wear accelerates with age.

[LouK]

DYNEMA is pretty easy to work with and there are stantion inserts (chafe preventers) available very inexpensively. Love mine.

[partingclouds]

I'll never go back to stainless. My Dyneema lifelines are five years old and still in excellent condition. Chafe is an issue, but can be easily prevented.

Just go for it. I'm sure you'll be happy that you did.

[Kello]

Forget youtube, what you need can be found on these sites: https://l-36.com/soft_shackle_howto.php , and, https://www.animatedknots.com/

Dynema lifelines are made up with a double brummel where the (tapered) tail is buried, 20" of bury for 0.25" thick line somehow rings a bell, look it up tho. Somewhere on those sites will explain how much tail to bury and how to do the taper. The soft shackle link will explain how to do a (diamond?) knot for slippery line, which you might want for your gates.

There is very cool hardware available for dynema lifelines, well worth your time searching for it, Defender and West Marine are likely good starting sites.

Some years ago I made dynema lifelines - what no one here has mentioned is "stretch". It took me four tries to figure out how long to initially make the lines to accommodate for their severely annoying "stretch", which I think may mostly be the settling of the tail bury.

Other (nagging) annoyances are the price of dynema, and it's (un-clearly long-term specified) UV tolerance. My dynema lifelines have been in the tropical sun long enough that I'm thinking about renewing them, but maybe with regular dbl-braid polyester line - anybody have thoughts or experience to share with "regular rope" lifelines?

[Dr. D]

What are the benefits of Dyneema (or other line) vs S/S for lifelines?

[Kello]

DIY


This site software says a simple "DIY" is too short for an answer, so here is some blather to help the Computer Lords.

[Iron E]

Originally Posted by Dr. D

What are the benefits of Dyneema (or other line) vs S/S for lifelines?

• No need for special tools (swage)
• Less expensive
• Can carry extra Dyneema for backup
• Less weight

I'm sure there are more, but those are a few good ones.

[leecea]

Question to the people who say their dyneema lines are still great after x-years. Unless there is physical damage to the dyneema, I thought loss of strength due to UV was the main issue - surely that cannot be determined by look?

I'm asking because I switched to dyneema lines a couple of years ago and am trying to understand how long before I should replace them.

I suspect there would be a difference in the type or dyneema or even the diameter, plus your location would determine how much UV you get (for example, I'm under shrink wrap 3-4 months per year).

Thanks.

[Pete7]

Originally Posted by ROCKYIV

I’m hoping someone out there can help. A number of months ago I found a YouTube kinda link that showed how to change away from S/S lifelines to rope lines. !🎄🎁🎅

Not quite right, but shows the basics:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=91B-...=RiggingDoctor

[RaymondR]

Why saddle yourself with another regular maintenance item when SS lifelines are almost a life-of-vessel item??

[Mickeyrouse]

There are a lot of attractions to rope lifelines. Namely, cost and relative ease of fabrication. A five year life sounds attractive. However, I’ve had stainless for as long as I’ve been sailing- a lotsa years- and on the 1/4” I’ve always used never had a hint of failure. In most cases I’ve used jacketed cable. It is much more comfortable to grasp and lean on. My present set is 15 years old and shows no signs of rust stain on any ends. I have replaced sections on which the jacket was worn or abraided to be safe. Made a series of cross-section cuts on the discarded pieces- no signs of rust. There are too many other things to worry about. I check the life lines regularly, and don’t sweat it. My guess is the stanchions are a weaker link in the chain.

[thinwater]

[QUOTE=Mickeyrouse;3854445...My guess is the stanchions are a weaker link in the chain.[/QUOTE]


This is a misunderstanding of how lifelines work. Of course the stanchions are weaker. All they do is hold the spacing of the lifelines. The tension is held by the pulpit and sternrail, which should be very well braced.



And yes, there are quite a few documented cases of Dyneema lifelines failing.


I've used Dyneema. There are things I like (comfort)... and durability is not one of them. We all go rah-rah, but they simply do not last like SS. They are a maintenance item, and as Ray said, we already have many of those. I just reworked mine after about 5 years, and yes, there were a few spots that needed attention (the lashings needed replaced--they are damaged by UV faster than the main line). At 8 years they will need replacement. Stainless will go 20 years easy.


Not what we want to hear, but the truth.