100 ' dock line

[Dshriber]

Does anyone have a preferred brand of dock line? I need a 100 ft rope to go in and out of the locks on the river. I currently have 1/2 inch by 100'16 stand extreme max utility rope. The rope continues to want to wrap up into a spiders nest and is extremely difficult to use and very dangerous!

any suggestions on the best brand and style?

Thank you!

Doug

 

[anmut]

I like a 5/8 dock line, something soft and well made (expensive). However 100' is a lot - can you use anchor line instead?

 

[biffdotorg]

At 100', I would be looking for an extension cord reel to wrap it up after use. That's a lot of rope to handle and keep tangle free.

 

[Dshriber]

any rope will work. they drop a hook down while in the lock. I just need to make sure it is easy to wrap and unwrap. thank you

 

[Dshriber]

good advice thank you. i learned the hard way yesterday. very dangerous in the lock

 

[ScottS]

Here is a usful tip/technique for stacking and storing your long lines. It deploys without tangles and stores nicely. This is how we recover, store, deploy climbing ropes that are routinely over 100'. I prefer this to a stacked coil. Feel free to point out any criticisms of the technique.

How to Butterfly Coil Rope:

 

[Frank Marshall]

I'm not a climber, and they have a lot more experience with rope. With my lack of experience, I would flake the rope into a 5 gallon bucket.
I found this demo on the internet: Flaking Rope It's quick, simple and manages the rope well.

 

[zipper]

There are a couple of ways we coil and hang our lines on the boats.

 

[Sbrown]

If you want it to be easy to access, easy to store, easy to deploy, able to be kept neat and clean while not in use and able to deploy whatever length of it you actually need while keeping the rest of it neat and protected, it's hard to beat a rope bag. All of our lines at the SAR station are kept in rope bags. One line per bag. From 50 footers on up. The advantages are endless. The only downside is it definitely can suck repacking a really long rope bag after a long day.

 

[brian86992]

Is this the product you're already using? I have 100' as my anchor line and it gives me no trouble coiling and uncoiling.

https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B07G8GDD9B/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

[Dshriber]

its this version -

Extreme Max 1/2 in. x 100 ft. 16-Strand Diamond Braid Utility Rope in Blue 3008.0289 - The Home Depot

Extreme Max Utility Ropes are designed to provide an extensive range of versatility in countless disciplines; from marine to the stables, to campsites or cargo trailers, these lines offer the durability

www.homedepot.com

I ended up ordering a thinner line that had good reviews on easy of coiling plus a extension cord holder. This blue line was extremely difficult to uncoil.

Thanks!

 

[drewkaree]

Extreme Max 1/2 in. x 100 ft. 16-Strand Diamond Braid Utility Rope in Blue 3008.0289 - The Home Depot

Extreme Max Utility Ropes are designed to provide an extensive range of versatility in countless disciplines; from marine to the stables, to campsites or cargo trailers, these lines offer the durability

www.homedepot.com

This blue line was extremely difficult to uncoil.

I don't know if you've attempted this, or if you're comfortable with this, but when I first got all my lines, I put them in a 5 gallon bucket with about a cup of fabric softener and I let them sit for at least a weekend. even with them going back in the water and whatnot, they have not lost their softness since that point.

 

[Dixemon]

I as well fake a rope in a 5 gallon bucket for my sand spike to shore anchor. Its 100' and tangles easily, even after coiling it to perfection. i have a caribeaner i use on one end and hook it to the side of the bucket, and fake it in there. never gets tangled that way.

 

[Mully262]

I don't know if you've attempted this, or if you're comfortable with this, but when I first got all my lines, I put them in a 5 gallon bucket with about a cup of fabric softener and I let them sit for at least a weekend. even with them going back in the water and whatnot, they have not lost their softness since that point.

= Lifehack.
Good to know!

 

[Dshriber]

thank you

 

[FSH 210 Sport]

Does anyone have a preferred brand of dock line? I need a 100 ft rope to go in and out of the locks on the river. I currently have 1/2 inch by 100'16 stand extreme max utility rope. The rope continues to want to wrap up into a spiders nest and is extremely difficult to use and very dangerous!

any suggestions on the best brand and style?

Thank you!

Doug

IMHO all you need is 3/8’ nylon yacht braid rope. 3/8“ is so much easier to work with rather than 1/2“.

Breaking strength is right around 5000 lbs. https://newcontent.westmarine.com/documents/pdfs/OwnersManuals/SAILBOAT_HARDWARE/Line Selection Guide 2018.pdf

That WM chart was for reference, I bought my 3/8“ rope at the hardware store for my dock lines, and double checked the tensile strength of course.

All my dock lines are 3/8“ as is my 300’ of anchor rope, I made loops by tying bowline knots in the ends, not quite as trick looking as a spliced in loop but about 1/10th the cost for a piece of rope.

As you coil your rope, use your thumb and fore finger to roll or twist the rope so that it lays flat against each other. The first vid show’s a good way to secure the tail of the rope by pushing a loop through and then putting that loop over the coils of rope and pull it tight. You can then use the tail to hang the coil by.

If the yacht braid starts to get stiff, just give it a good rinsing with clean fresh water an let it dry.

As one poster stated 100’ of line is a lot to deal with, if you need 100’ then just have two 50’ lengths and tie them together with bowline knots.

 

[FSH 210 Sport]

I don't know if you've attempted this, or if you're comfortable with this, but when I first got all my lines, I put them in a 5 gallon bucket with about a cup of fabric softener and I let them sit for at least a weekend. even with them going back in the water and whatnot, they have not lost their softness since that point.

What a great idea Drewkaree!

Did you use a cup of fabric softener, then added water to cover the ropes?

 

[Dshriber]

thank you

 

[drewkaree]

What a great idea Drewkaree!

Did you use a cup of fabric softener, then added water to cover the ropes?

Fed the ropes into the bucket, put the bucket in the shower, pour the fabric softener over the ropes, fill with hot-ish water to cover the ropes, then agitate for a minute or so.

I did this before we headed home for the week, then drained everything when we got back to the lake house the following weekend. Worked out to be about 4-5 days. I dumped the water, filled it back up with hot water and kept rinsing until the water was clear. Hung the ropes up to dry.

Some folks are wary of certain chemicals on anything on the boat. I look at that in regards to stitching on seats, and harsh chemicals like bleach for ropes (degrades them or at least weakens them, who knows when they'll give out on you then?). I may be 100% incorrect, but I don't feel any qualms about the fabric softener. Use at your own risk, as I am currently doing.

 

[drewkaree]

To add, going on 3 years of usage, no sign of degradation, and the ropes are STILL soft and pliable. This is everything I did this to:

3 of these: Shoreline Marine Double Braid Polyester Dock Line

4 of these: Extreme Max 3006.2159 BoatTector Solid Braid MFP Fender Line - 3/8" x 5', Blue

2 of these: Extreme Max 3006.2636 BoatTector Solid Braid MFP Anchor Line with Thimble - 3/8" x 50', Neon Orange

Took 2 buckets, and I have no idea how it would work on other types of line, but when the time comes to replace them, I'll look for the same type of line and do this again to everything. I picked up one of these and will be giving it a shot for the upcoming year - I'm not sure how it'll work for this, but this feels a lot stiffer and different than the other ropes:

O'Brien 6 Person Towable Tube Rope

If it doesn't work, I'm out some time and fabric softener. I'll try to remember to post my results. We don't use liquid softener, so I need to buy/borrow some. This will likely derail my experiment for the foreseeable future