Sea Kayaks Techniques Bulletin Board

Re: Safer rigging

Posted By: Brian Nystrom
Date: Tuesday, 5 March 2002, at 6:25 p.m.

In Response To: Safer rigging (Brianne Corbett)

: Brian...

: 100% correct. The bungees are not good perimeter lines at all. My boat has
: static perimeter lines that completely encircle the boat. This is the best
: way.

Agreed.

: However, I have found two improvements that I am implementing for this
: season. First, I am replacing my current standard nylon lines with
: Spectra-core. I get a big time strength increase with Spectra core
: cordage. Spectra-core is made of a special extremely strong form of white
: polypropylene. It doesn't sag like nylon ropes do. That helps keep the
: lines taut.

Polyester lines don't stretch when wet, either and they're a fraction of the cost of Spectra. Spectra is great stuff, but I think it's overkill, since you'd rip the fittings out of your boat before any of the commonly used deck line material broke.

: Second, I plan to switch from one single length of rope doing a 360 around
: the boat to many individually secured sections. This will improve the
: overall redundancy and reliability of the rigging system and keep the
: lines more taut.

I keep the bow and stern separate. I don't like having decklines beside the cockpit, as they get in the way of installing the spray skirt. Besides, you have the coaming and the rigging fore and aft of it to grab if you're in that area.

: I also have added 3/8" braided polypropylene "grab handles"
: just behind the cockpit coaming. They lie flush until needed and then they
: pop-out a bit to allow a perfect hand grab... much more reliable than
: grabbing the coaming. They work extremely well with a stirrup or C-Step
: system.

That's a good idea. I don't use any kind of stirrup, since it's not necessary with proper self rescue technique (kicking your feet to the surface before attempting to slide up onto the aft deck).

: I use these hand holds only for this purpose. They are a pure self rescue
: tool. That keeps them in top condition. And if they should get damaged...
: it takes about 5 minutes to replace them by threading a new section of
: cord through the two big washers under the deck and then tying a big
: Ashley Stopper knot on each side... simple yet very effective.

: Another rigging feature I have implemented is paddlefloat straps. Bungees are
: suicidally worthless for big people using a paddlefloat in rough water.
: Companies like Seaward Kayaks use flat webbing straps with Fastex buckles.
: I use this system over the top of and just inside of my rear deck bungees.
: I can use the bungees to increase tension on the float... but it is the
: straps that bear the entire load. They are bolted to the deck with 1/4'
: bolts and giant washers spreading the force load.

: Set up this way, the paddlefloat is truly a rigid outrigger with no tendancy
: to scissors.

I agree completely and have done the same thing myself on some boats. With a Greenland paddle, I prefer to use the typical toggle setup as it's even more rigid than straps and faster to use.

: Fortunately, I have never needed this rigging "in the wild." But I
: can assure you that I feel 110% better having top quality rigging and
: knowing that it actually works under very rough conditions and that I can
: rely on it.

I haven't used mine for self rescue, but that's because I almost never paddle alone and rarely swim.

Messages In This Thread

Unsafe perimeter lines
Ben Staley -- Monday, 4 March 2002, at 12:50 p.m.

Re: Thanks for the good beta, Ben *NM*
Shawn Baker -- Monday, 4 March 2002, at 1:13 p.m.

Re: Unsafe perimeter lines
Tim Mattson -- Monday, 4 March 2002, at 2:03 p.m.

Re: Unsafe perimeter lines
dan -- Monday, 4 March 2002, at 3:07 p.m.

Re: Unsafe perimeter lines
Jed -- Monday, 4 March 2002, at 3:09 p.m.

Re: Unsafe perimeter lines
LeeG -- Monday, 4 March 2002, at 4:28 p.m.

Re: Unsafe perimeter lines
Tim Mattson -- Monday, 4 March 2002, at 6:16 p.m.

Re: Unsafe perimeter lines
Jed -- Monday, 4 March 2002, at 7:04 p.m.

Re: Unsafe perimeter lines
Shawn Baker -- Monday, 4 March 2002, at 10:34 p.m.

Re: Unsafe perimeter lines
LeeG -- Monday, 4 March 2002, at 10:42 p.m.

Re: Unsafe perimeter lines
Brian Nystrom -- Tuesday, 5 March 2002, at 11:12 a.m.

Safer rigging
Brianne Corbett -- Tuesday, 5 March 2002, at 6:13 p.m.

Re: Safer rigging
Brian Nystrom -- Tuesday, 5 March 2002, at 6:25 p.m.

Question for the Day
Shawn Baker -- Tuesday, 5 March 2002, at 7:06 p.m.

Re: Question for the Day
Brianne Corbett -- Tuesday, 5 March 2002, at 9:12 p.m.

Re: Question for the Day
Shawn Baker -- Wednesday, 6 March 2002, at 10:34 a.m.

Re: Question for the Day
Brian Nystrom -- Wednesday, 6 March 2002, at 1:10 p.m.

Re: Question for the Day
LeeG -- Thursday, 7 March 2002, at 7:15 a.m.

Re: Question for the Day
Brian Nystrom -- Thursday, 7 March 2002, at 12:48 p.m.

Re: Question for the Day
LeeG -- Thursday, 7 March 2002, at 4:42 p.m.

Re: Question for the Day
Brian Nystrom -- Wednesday, 6 March 2002, at 1:08 p.m.

Deck line materials
Brian Nystrom -- Wednesday, 6 March 2002, at 1:02 p.m.

Re: Deck line materials
Brianne Corbett -- Friday, 8 March 2002, at 7:50 a.m.

Re: Deck line materials
Brian Nystrom -- Friday, 8 March 2002, at 3:08 p.m.

I have one boat with and one without...
Craig Mackinnon -- Tuesday, 5 March 2002, at 9:00 a.m.

Make that "taut" perimeter deck lines...
Craig Mackinnon -- Tuesday, 5 March 2002, at 9:16 a.m.

Re:perimeter lines; rethinking rigging
Ben Staley -- Tuesday, 5 March 2002, at 10:48 a.m.

Does the boat have sheer clamps?
Brian Nystrom -- Tuesday, 5 March 2002, at 11:31 a.m.

Re: Does the boat have sheer clamps? *Pic*
Ben Staley -- Tuesday, 5 March 2002, at 12:02 p.m.

deck lines
risto -- Tuesday, 5 March 2002, at 12:41 p.m.

Re: deck lines
Brian Nystrom -- Tuesday, 5 March 2002, at 5:23 p.m.

Re: deck lines
risto -- Thursday, 7 March 2002, at 5:02 a.m.

In defense of a good "Cat FIght"
Jed -- Thursday, 7 March 2002, at 7:32 a.m.

Fanning the flames, eh Jed?
Brian Nystrom -- Thursday, 7 March 2002, at 12:35 p.m.

OOPS!!! I didn't realize this was tongue in cheek
Brian Nystrom -- Thursday, 7 March 2002, at 2:05 p.m.

Re: deck lines
Brian Nystrom -- Thursday, 7 March 2002, at 7:37 a.m.

Re: deck lines
risto -- Thursday, 7 March 2002, at 12:31 p.m.

Re:perimeter lines: recessed rigging
Shawn Baker -- Tuesday, 5 March 2002, at 2:01 p.m.

Re:perimeter lines: recessed rigging
Jed -- Tuesday, 5 March 2002, at 2:32 p.m.

A suggestion
Brian Nystrom -- Monday, 4 March 2002, at 5:52 p.m.

Unsafe perimeter lines
dan -- Monday, 4 March 2002, at 7:35 p.m.

YOU are the man..........!!!!
Bruce S. -- Tuesday, 5 March 2002, at 1:11 a.m.

Yeah, way to stay with it...
Craig Mackinnon -- Tuesday, 5 March 2002, at 8:47 a.m.

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