Life of dyneema rope when first few feet are always outside

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Life of dyneema rope when first few feet are always outside

Post by Harper » 12 Oct 2017, 3:52 pm

You know how some guys run around with the first few feet of their winch rope run out and hooked onto a tie-down point or recovery point.... It's handy to have it out when you are going to use it, but in the mean time that first bit of rope is exposed to UV, weather, dust, and everything you don't want it constantly exposed to.

How much do you reckon this shortens the life of that part of the rope?
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Re: Life of dyneema rope when first few feet are always outs

Post by on_one_wheel » 12 Oct 2017, 5:08 pm

Prolonged sunlight would have to make a difference to the life of the rope.

Like everything, how long it lasts in the sun is a massive variable depending on the quality of the rope. Surely some ropes are better UV stabilized than others.

I don't have a winch fittet to my 4wd but if I did, I'd be looking for some kind of sheath to cover the first few meters of the rope.
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Re: Life of dyneema rope when first few feet are always outs

Post by Chronos » 12 Oct 2017, 5:28 pm

I wouldn't stress about it too much. Having worked in the marine industry I've seen dozens of boats with halyards and other lines left out on masts and the decks day after day with zero impact.

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Re: Life of dyneema rope when first few feet are always outs

Post by Chronos » 12 Oct 2017, 5:53 pm

I should point out that the strength is in the core not the sheath that's exposed to UV. I'd be more worried about grit and dirt penetrating the sheath and abraiding the fore fibres

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Re: Life of dyneema rope when first few feet are always outs

Post by Rikta » 12 Oct 2017, 6:15 pm

dyneema isnt unlike bow strings, my old mans have been sitting on his 80lb hoyt in the elements for ages and havent so much as stretched
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Re: Life of dyneema rope when first few feet are always outs

Post by AusTac » 12 Oct 2017, 7:59 pm

Had mine wound out for a few years now, try to keep on top of washing it whenever it gets muddy, haven't had any issues
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Re: Life of dyneema rope when first few feet are always outs

Post by SendIt » 15 Oct 2017, 10:59 am

Harper wrote:You know how some guys run around with the first few feet of their winch rope run out and hooked onto a tie-down point or recovery point.... It's handy to have it out when you are going to use it, but in the mean time that first bit of rope is exposed to UV, weather, dust, and everything you don't want it constantly exposed to.

How much do you reckon this shortens the life of that part of the rope?


I don't have a number on how much it shortens the life by, but the way I look at it is, why would you do it at all?

Leaving a run out like that seems like a statement to me, 'look at me, I have a tough 4x4 with a winch'.

There is no reason not to run the whole line in. It takes 1/2 extra second to do it.

99.9% of the time your line will be wound up doing nothing, why wouldn't you protect it as best you can for that time by just running the whole line in.
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