How well do you sleep on a newly spliced snubber?

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HeadedToTexas

HeadedToTexas

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Jul 3, 2016
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Sandusky Bay
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Escape
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I balked at the $90 quote I got for a 20 foot section of ⅝” three strand and a 12” eye splice at each end with tubular nylon antichaffe on the eye, so I figured this was the time to master the eye splice. Simple in theory, less so in practice.

The section of three strand I chose for this first attempt was old, but better than scrap. Old meant a whole lot of memory on the three strands, and that meant sore fingers and thumbs after 40 minutes of splicing. Technically correct (I believe), but rather ugly.

IMG_4195.jpeg


Question is, where and how do you test splices to develop enough confidence to sleep soundly when at anchor using the snubber you just spliced?
 
Splicing 3 strand is pretty easy. Old line is much tougher than new line though. I do 5 tucks and never give it a thought as to it holding.
 
You can just tell by the looks of the splice even under modest tension. A few extra tucks never hurts.

I trust a decent eye splice made by me like I trust the manufacturer of many different critical systems on the boat...like hull layup, engine mounts, deck hardware mounting...etc...etc...

Of course 60 years of eye splicing and never having one fail helps.... then again at some point I started with my first one.
 
You have a couple of miss tucks and the start should have been flipped. Probably as strong as any splice which is 60% of the break strength of the rope.

I tend to do 6 tucks on anything to do with anchoring. Nobody ever said, " I wish I hadn't done the extra tucks." There's no kill like over kill.

Ted
 
I started over three times and it definitely got clearer and easier each time. My plan is to start with new rope on the next go. When it comes to snubbers, nylon or polypropylene? And ⅝" or 9/16"?
 
I like nylon for a snubber and i liked the 1/2 inch ones i made for the 40 Albin. I thought they had the right amount of stretch for most situations ( single snubber over the anchor roller). I had a 5/8 one that could be used in heavier weather.
 
Each one will be better than the last. Just do a couple of extra tucks and if it look decent, don’t worry about it
 
That splice is plenty "good enough". I make my bridle with 1/2" and 5/8" nylon. I like the strength and stretch. I only recently made the 5/8" bridle to use on my 43' boat if I expect a lot of wind. I like the stretch of the 1/2". However, I'm using it for a bridle, so I have two lengths of rope taking the load. For my snubber, I use 5/8".

Nylon is slippery, particularly new rope. So I use 7 tucks then a taper. The taper is easy, cut one strand at 7 tucks, cut another after 8, and the final after 9.
 
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To elaborate on what I wrote earlier, where the tucks join as one rope, the middle one should be on the outside, not the inside. The idea is to have the length of the cords the same from rope to the first tuck. In your picture, the center one is the shortest and has the highest load. I know I'm splitting hairs, but it's simple to do it better.

The second point is that the cords should circle around the rope it's being tucked through. The bottom cord heads in the right direction and then seems to turn back.

Ted
 
I like to splice 5 tucks, then drop one leg of the splice and tuck two more, drop one of those and give the last leg another tuck to taper the splice so it goes down the chain pipe better (horizontal windlass). To pretty up the ends of the strands, I like to take a blow torch (think soldering) and melt the ends of the strands into something pretty with no snags going down the chain pipe.
 
HeadedToTexas said:
I balked at the $90 quote I got for a 20 foot section of ⅝” three strand and a 12” eye splice at each end with tubular nylon antichaffe on the eye, so I figured this was the time to master the eye splice. Simple in theory, less so in practice.

The section of three strand I chose for this first attempt was old, but better than scrap. Old meant a whole lot of memory on the three strands, and that meant sore fingers and thumbs after 40 minutes of splicing. Technically correct (I believe), but rather ugly.

View attachment 156858

Question is, where and how do you test splices to develop enough confidence to sleep soundly when at anchor using the snubber you just
HeadedToTexas said:
I balked at the $90 quote I got for a 20 foot section of ⅝” three strand and a 12” eye splice at each end with tubular nylon antichaffe on the eye, so I figured this was the time to master the eye splice. Simple in theory, less so in practice.

The section of three strand I chose for this first attempt was old, but better than scrap. Old meant a whole lot of memory on the three strands, and that meant sore fingers and thumbs after 40 minutes of splicing. Technically correct (I believe), but rather ugly.

View attachment 156858

Question is, where and how do you test splices to develop enough confidence to sleep soundly when at anchor using the snubber you just spliced?
Click to expand...
Look fine and you should sleep like a baby so long as your ground tackle is up to the job😁
Click to expand...
 
oops....site to be very helpful in sizing and designing snubbers and bridles. I have a normal bridle made from 3/4" 3 strand nylon and a storm bridle, longer and made with 1" 3 strand nylon. I have 2 independent lines with a thimble on one end connected with a shackle and a loop sliced in the other ends. Very strong (much stronger than if they were spliced at the chain hook end) and easy to replace when the rope gets worn. Make sure you secure shackles with stainless steel wire, and use chafe guard.

When the wind is blowing 50 and the waves are 4 feet, you will be happy you took the precautions.
 
I only use a chain hook spiced to three strand as a snubber, but never for anything but a lunch hook in calm weather. Any other time use a bridle connected to the change with a dyneema prussic.
 
This is a more generic thread about eye splices, but for the record, the eye splices in my current case are at each end of an anchor bridle.
 
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