LifeLines vs Rails

[RCEDO1952]

Ahoy Sailors,

Question, is there a reason, other than cost, for why solid rails are not used instead of wire lifelines?

 

[kendall]

In my opinion, lifelines don't hurt as much when you hit them.

I've hit wire lines hard enough to bend the stanchion and didn't even get a bruise, I've hit a pulpit at slightly more than walking speed, and bruised myself up pretty good.

Plus, I think that for the same strength of a cable, you'd have to have a much heavier tube.

Ken.

 

[sailingdog]

Weight—Solid rails would be much heavier than lifeline wires
Cost—solid rails are much more expensive than lifeline wires
Utility—Solid rails hurt more, as pointed out above, and are far more expensive to replace when damaged.

 

[larryw]

A friend of mine has a IP cat with solid rails, (well, they're actually tubing) all around the outside deck. They look great and offer a lot places to secure fenders, etc, but I'd hate to have to replace them, TFS. I was going to replace the first run of cable from the stern pulpit to the boarding gate with tubing on my boat, but never did it.

 

[alexco38]

Almost all powerboat has tubing.

 

[zeehag]

i had thought of placing solid rails partway back from my pulpit, as i have a sprit and that would be a good idea--but only partway----and spectra line the rest of the way...