Hunter 320 life line size
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On lifelines
I am currently refitting a Hunter 312 with new lifelines and we used 3/16". But keep in mind that the size of the wire is almost purely cosmetic. Consider: does a sailor on a 25-ft boat weigh less than one on a 40-ft boat?
I believe lifelines are rigging and should be tensioned to actually work. If they won't support a 200-lb sailor leaning on or grabbing them, they're pointless and you would do well to leave them off completely and cultivate the 'highly-developed horror of going overboard' that has kept many ocean sailors on deck for centuries.
I used 5/32" wire for lifelines on Diana because that's the roll of 1x19 I had (from the rigging). We used 3/16" on this guy's boat because the fittings were more readily-available than those for 5/32" (WM do not carry 5/32" LL fittings at all) and he balked at 1/8", perhaps with good reason.
That said, that awful white-plastic-encapsulated stuff should always be avoided. Reasons:
1. It is made with 7x7 or 7x19 wire rope, not 1x19 like your rigging. These wire-rope patterns have more crevices to admit and trap water, which leads to corrosion. These are also weaker than 1x19.
2. If your lifelines are corroding, you will not notice it under the white stuff. Your first indication may be a clean snap of the wire. In all cases the white-encapsulated stuff should be replaced completely every 10 years or so.
3. Swaging new fittings onto the wire with the white stuff requires two fits, one for the overall length and one to the edge of the white stuff. If you guess wrong, either you end up with wire rope showing between the white stuff and the fitting, or you end up with the fitting butting hard into the end of the white casing, most likely stopping the swaging process from fully compressing the fitting to the wire. If I can't convince the owner to go with 1x19, I charge twice as much to swage wire rope with white stuff than I do to swage plain 1x19, and this is why.
4. The overall diameter of white-encapsulated lifeline wire disguises the fact that the wire within is much narrower. I would rather have 3/16" of solid 1x19 wire rope than 3/32" of 7x7 wire rope and 3/32" of plastic.
5. The 7x7 wire rope inside the plastic splinters more easily than does naked 1x19. This is the stuff old-school wire halyards were made from, and, coupled with the dangerous reel winches it called for, its tendency to fray and give sail handlers unimaginably painful wire splinters is a major reason why wire halyards have fallen from favor. Should the plastic stuff come off or be bared too much by the swaging professional, you can expect it to fray-- and in the very application where wire-rope splinters would be most disadvantageous.
6. A harness shackle slides more easily along 1x19 than it does along the white stuff; but of course one should never rely on the lifelines as primary security when wearing a harness at sea.
7. Davis Instruments offer short lengths of white plastic clip-on shroud for the sections of lifeline nearest the cockpit, that people may lean on, so that negates any perceived 'need' to have the white-encapsulated stuff for the whole lifeline system.
Do not be tempted to use 'hand-crimp' lifeline fittings. The packages actually say 'Not for high-load applications', as though they're not crucial for safety. If lifelines aren't crucial, I don't know what is. Rigging Only will not sell hand-crimp lifeline fittings; and they have good reason for that.
Modern ocean racers (and, indeed, many sanctioning bodies) have been specifying Dyneema cordage instead of wire rope for lifelines. This is a Sampson product, carried by West Marine and others, that is deceptively strong and remarkably easy to rig with. Its properties:
1. It is vulnerable to any knife blade. Theoretically you could compromise Dyneema lifelines by dropping an open Leatherman on one.
2. It is way stronger than wire rope. I mean WAY stronger. One length of 3/16" Dyneema will lift a weight in excess of my entire boat (4200 lbs). That's equivalent to twice the diameter in 3/8" Sampson XLS.
3. It is cheaper than stainless-steel 1x19 wire rope, by a lot.
4. There is a very simple splice specified for it (that I have not yet fully learned) that anyone can do without special tools.
5. It is soft to the touch and endures UV exposure pretty well; but its replacement cycle is shorter than that of 1x19 wire rope.
Do consider it.
I am currently refitting a Hunter 312 with new lifelines and we used 3/16". But keep in mind that the size of the wire is almost purely cosmetic. Consider: does a sailor on a 25-ft boat weigh less than one on a 40-ft boat?
I believe lifelines are rigging and should be tensioned to actually work. If they won't support a 200-lb sailor leaning on or grabbing them, they're pointless and you would do well to leave them off completely and cultivate the 'highly-developed horror of going overboard' that has kept many ocean sailors on deck for centuries.
I used 5/32" wire for lifelines on Diana because that's the roll of 1x19 I had (from the rigging). We used 3/16" on this guy's boat because the fittings were more readily-available than those for 5/32" (WM do not carry 5/32" LL fittings at all) and he balked at 1/8", perhaps with good reason.
That said, that awful white-plastic-encapsulated stuff should always be avoided. Reasons:
1. It is made with 7x7 or 7x19 wire rope, not 1x19 like your rigging. These wire-rope patterns have more crevices to admit and trap water, which leads to corrosion. These are also weaker than 1x19.
2. If your lifelines are corroding, you will not notice it under the white stuff. Your first indication may be a clean snap of the wire. In all cases the white-encapsulated stuff should be replaced completely every 10 years or so.
3. Swaging new fittings onto the wire with the white stuff requires two fits, one for the overall length and one to the edge of the white stuff. If you guess wrong, either you end up with wire rope showing between the white stuff and the fitting, or you end up with the fitting butting hard into the end of the white casing, most likely stopping the swaging process from fully compressing the fitting to the wire. If I can't convince the owner to go with 1x19, I charge twice as much to swage wire rope with white stuff than I do to swage plain 1x19, and this is why.
4. The overall diameter of white-encapsulated lifeline wire disguises the fact that the wire within is much narrower. I would rather have 3/16" of solid 1x19 wire rope than 3/32" of 7x7 wire rope and 3/32" of plastic.
5. The 7x7 wire rope inside the plastic splinters more easily than does naked 1x19. This is the stuff old-school wire halyards were made from, and, coupled with the dangerous reel winches it called for, its tendency to fray and give sail handlers unimaginably painful wire splinters is a major reason why wire halyards have fallen from favor. Should the plastic stuff come off or be bared too much by the swaging professional, you can expect it to fray-- and in the very application where wire-rope splinters would be most disadvantageous.
6. A harness shackle slides more easily along 1x19 than it does along the white stuff; but of course one should never rely on the lifelines as primary security when wearing a harness at sea.
7. Davis Instruments offer short lengths of white plastic clip-on shroud for the sections of lifeline nearest the cockpit, that people may lean on, so that negates any perceived 'need' to have the white-encapsulated stuff for the whole lifeline system.
Do not be tempted to use 'hand-crimp' lifeline fittings. The packages actually say 'Not for high-load applications', as though they're not crucial for safety. If lifelines aren't crucial, I don't know what is. Rigging Only will not sell hand-crimp lifeline fittings; and they have good reason for that.
Modern ocean racers (and, indeed, many sanctioning bodies) have been specifying Dyneema cordage instead of wire rope for lifelines. This is a Sampson product, carried by West Marine and others, that is deceptively strong and remarkably easy to rig with. Its properties:
1. It is vulnerable to any knife blade. Theoretically you could compromise Dyneema lifelines by dropping an open Leatherman on one.
2. It is way stronger than wire rope. I mean WAY stronger. One length of 3/16" Dyneema will lift a weight in excess of my entire boat (4200 lbs). That's equivalent to twice the diameter in 3/8" Sampson XLS.
3. It is cheaper than stainless-steel 1x19 wire rope, by a lot.
4. There is a very simple splice specified for it (that I have not yet fully learned) that anyone can do without special tools.
5. It is soft to the touch and endures UV exposure pretty well; but its replacement cycle is shorter than that of 1x19 wire rope.
Do consider it.
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