To expand on my post above... my feelings/opinion/experience anyway....
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Bolt cutters are like chisels... look at the blade angle. Bolt cutters squeeze/deform the metal until that last bit is weak enough to break.
The edges of the jaws only meet and depending on how strong the person is... they might not be able to squeeze that last little bit to make the break.
Plus... with the multiple layers and strands of the standing
rigging... the individual wires will slip around some as you squeeze them with the bolt cutters.
The wire cutters are a scissor-type action with very sharp opposing blades that pass each other completely. They were designed to cut through wire rope specifically. The jaws trap the wire rope/cable and hold it in place while the jaws/blades cut through the wires.
Hacksaws are flexible tools. The blade flexes... the frame flexes... those little teeth can break off the blade, blades bend and catch in the kerf. Then there's the possibility of the saw slipping and cutting the operator... especially under the circumstances this thread relates to.
Just getting the cut started can be a task under favorable conditions.
Grinders take more time than cutters depending on the strength of the person operating the cutters, of course! Like the hacksaw.. or perhaps more so... grinders can slip. Not necessarily slipping and injuring the operator... but slipping around until the disk bites, or out of the original kerf, wasting time starting the cut in a new place...
Be to be sure... no matter what you cut wire rope with... if it's under tension... it's possible to be hurt quite seriously from the loose end and the initial separation or later from whipping around in the air (as was mentioned before).