Lifelines

[AaronS]

Hi there,

I've been away from SpartTalk for a while, been too busy playing on land, and have just gotten back to messing about in boats. I'm helping a friend rehab a neglected boat and the lifelines are in dire need of help. I do want to stay with wire, but I want wire that's uncovered-I don't trust the vinyl coated stuff. What wire type (7x7, 1x19 ?) is used, and are mechanical terminals a viable option, or should I have them roll swaged. I would also prefer 316 wire - is that available for lifelines? Thanks for any input. I've missed SparTalk, it's good to be back...

Aaron

[AaronS]

Never mind, I got the chance to do some research - looks like it will be 1x19 316 wire, but I'm still curious about the terminals question. Thanks,

Aaron

[Brion Toss]

Hello,
And welcome back! Yes, type 316, 1x19 would be the best choice for wire, because that alloy is most corrosion-resistant of the types generally available, and because that construction presents the highest ratio of volume to surface area, thus the least vulnerability to surface corrosion.
Rotaries are the best swages, but if you use them, get the swager to dip the ends in Boatlife or the like before swaging, to prevent internal corrosion.
And maybe you might reconsider high-modulus rope lifelines. They don't corrode or fatigue, are easy to splice, and can last as long as wire ones, given adequate UV coating and diameter. Softer to land on, too.
Fair leads,
Brion Toss

Just a thought about uncovered (bare wire) lifelines - we've made lots of lifelines out of bare 1x19 and bare 7x19 ss wire at customer's requests - and a very common complaint that we recieve back, after we have warned them of this - is that the bare wire is very unkind to leg hair, arm hair, head hair, wool sweaters, and clothing in general. This sounds very silly, but it is something you should think about. If you sail in shorts and have hair on your legs, it will get caught in the lifelines and it is Painful! Everyone laughs when we give them this warning, but they do not laugh when their leg hair is pulled out by the lifelines.