I actually don't have any metal fittings on my lifelines. I spliced the forward end to the bow pulpit ran the line through the stantions and then about a foot from the end spliced in a loop. From there I ran a piece of cord from the loop to the rear pulpit ring (where a fitting would normally go) and back a few times to get a good bit of purchace and ties it off. This worked fine until my crew started begging for a belly band between the middle stantions, which I then had made up. It made the installation more complicated, but it does make the racing crew much happier.
As for replacing after 3 years... I am at 2 now, and see no wear at all in the line. If it becomes necessary I would of course replace it, but so far there is no chaff anywhere I can find, and none of the fibers are starting to fuzz from UV so I am not really worried about it for now. But even if I did have to replace the line every 3 years it still would come out significantly less than wire every 10. Since the basic system really only cost $120. The way I figure it is that the cost for 10 years for the line would come out to $360, vs the price for just the end fittings for wire would be more than that alone.
I don't have any pictures of it currently but I can take some and post them for you to see how I have it done.
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