Swageless lifeline fittings

[chuckwayne]

Spectra lifelines

Steve's right-some people like spectgra for lifelines because it's strong, corrosion free, and softer on the crew-but, it's hard to work with, has to be protected from UV, and is expensive. Steve's also correct, only uncoated SS wire is approved for racing under ORC rules, local race committees not using ORC may or may not allow it

 

[Rodney]

Nicopress

Nicopress swage sleeves are not made of lead. Most are tin or zinc plated copper, and they are also available in stainless steel and aluminum. For stainless cable, As far as strength, Nicopress sleeves hold up to the full rated strength on 7 x 7 and 7 x 19 cable. on 1 x 19 cable, 2 swages are used to reach full rated cable strength. This was proven during destructive testing done personally by me when building my own ultralight aircraft. The cable always broke before the nicopress swage slipped. Drawback of Nicopress is that they are ugly, they are subject to installer error (not crimping enough), or not being crimped enough because the tool used is out of adjustment, or not using the proper swaging tool.