Best bow tie-down rope?

[Guest]

I use 2 3/8 braded poly ropes with truckers hitches to tighten. I tie to each side of the front of the vehicle to control side movement at the front.

 

[wgiles]

I've been using doubled 5mm accessory cord and have no reason to change, but, I have some 5/32" dyneema whoopie slings that I might try and see how they work.

 

[latremorej]

I've been using doubled 5mm accessory cord and have no reason to change, but, I have some 5/32" dyneema whoopie slings that I might try and see how they work.

Not a great idea, woopie slings are very difficult to loosen if there is no slack in the line. Try it out on your hammock sometime. Pull the woopie and hammock tight, no sag, then get in or just lean on the line to make it all lock in. They won't come loose very easily. You need some room on that bury to get the "outside" portion to expand and release the "inside" part.

I use 1/4" double braid rigging line from west marine. I think its branded as New England Rope. Holds knots well, very little stretch, and it floats.

Jason

 

[sweeper]

If you untied the belly ropes first you'd have the slack for the whoopees, but I still won't do it. I'm seeing rope stress on my whoopees at the point where the traveling part of the rope goes in and out of the fixed in my hammock. I'm not sure I'd want to put the stresses of the bow tie down on one.

 

[Cruiser]

I have a pickup and used polyester cam straps and I am lucky that the front tie down is far enough forward that I don't need front/rear end tie downs. A friend does car top and uses a pulley tension tie down front and rear, the cord he has is quite small, the trick is using a good quality marine rope for the task.

When I was searching for something to weave my seats, non-stretch was at the top of the list. PolyEthylene/Polypropylene/nylon will all stretch and nylon will stretch more if water is around.

I ended up with Marlow Excel Pro rigging cord:

http://ca.binnacle.com/Rope-&-Riggi...Pro-3mm-Mini-Reel-17-Metres/product_info.html

.... it is overkill in terms of strength, but I wanted at least 3 mm for comfort, anything smaller may crease my tender tushy.

It doesn't stretch and is quite economical ... even the 3 mm version would be strong enough for tie down, it comes in quite a few colours and holds a knot well, but is easily undone when the time comes. I use it for the canoe bow line, load securing in the water etc. it is light and strong.

This is widely available and may be a economical solution for you to try.


Brian

 

[yellowcanoe]

Just paracord. The bow/stern tiedowns are safety lines.. Attached to the car not the rack in the case of rack failure.. And yes we have had a rack tower break.. that line helped the whole assembly stay on the car in a 60 mph crosswind going 75 forward in Julesburg CO. We have lots of cam straps. Whether all or some are nylon of poly I dont know. We check them at each fuel stop when underway ( the first mile when starting up)

 

[Guest]

Question for folks more rescue knowledgeable. If painter lines are used as part of a Z-drag to unpin a stuck canoe what tensile strength rope is recommended?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bYsYm-YEb6w

 

[Odyssey]

Trip postponed; the 2 hailstorms and incessant rain yesterday kinda put us off the idea. So no boring photos of roped and racked canoe to share.
The bow and stern lines to tie on vehicle are only ever used for such, they don't do double duty. I have lots of less economical rope for other uses.
IMO so long as they have minimal stretch (ideally nearly none), hold and release a knot well, and are strong enough for job, then it will work.

 

[flyingbison]

Related question: How many of you use two tied down points for the rear of the vehicle vs. just one in back. I use two in front, but in the back I just run a single strap form the canoe to the trailer hitch.

 

[Glenn MacGrady]

What do you use to tie the bow to the front end of your vehicle? I can't seem to find any rope that won't stretch out while I am driving if there is a stiff cross wind. Should I just use cam straps instead? I've always avoided them for the bow tie-downs, because I thought they would interfere too much with my field of vision.

Nylon rope will work, sort of okay, and I used it early in my canoe-topping career before I was knowledgeable about rope stretch, especially when wet.

My rule for decades has been: NEVER use nylon for belly, bow or stern attachment. It will stretch when wet. If you tighten nylon rope when dry and it then rains, your lines will definitely become looser and saggier. If you tighten nylon rope rope when it is wet and then the sun comes out, nylon belly lines can tighten so much as it dries that it can damage a composite hull or other fragile hull.

I only use floating polypropylene ropes and straps for anything related to canoeing. Not the cheap twisted poly rope, although that would work, but a braided poly rope with a nice hand, akin to the rescue rope linked by Mr. McCrea. In fact, for bow and stern lines I just use my braided poly rope painters, which are 1/4 inch.

I now use cam buckle straps for belly attachment and think they are much superior to rope, especially for composite or other fragile hulls. Indeed, polyester has all-around better characteristics for straps than polypropylene, albeit slightly more expensive.

I prefer rope to straps for bow and stern attachment on vehicles, both for noise and visibility reasons.

I load canoes on one side of my van rooftop -- hence not centered -- so I just use a single line rather than a V. If I center a canoe on a smaller vehicle like a car, I'll usually do a V at both bow and stern if attachment points are available. There's no doubt that V's at both ends is the most stable configuration in the wind and at highway speeds. However, I've never had a problem with single lines for bow and stern, except for some wind shifting.

 

[wingnut]

I like these rope ratchets with 1/4" solid braid rope. Quick and easy to tighten, I use two at the front and rear.
https://www.amazon.com/Carolina-Nor...8&qid=1498597961&sr=8-4&keywords=rope+ratchet

 

[Sweetfancymoses]

Related question: How many of you use two tied down points for the rear of the vehicle vs. just one in back. I use two in front, but in the back I just run a single strap form the canoe to the trailer hitch.

Me too. The second one would be close to the first one anyway because of the location of the tie down points. That would make it only redundant as it would not add side to side stability. If usable tie down points were available closer to the corners, I would use two.

 

[Guest]

I use those nylon loops that fasten under the hood on each side. I think they will work on almost any vehicle

 

[wysedav]

I have a trailer with a canoe rack. On the cross bars I added Silicone rubber cushions. It's soft and super grippy. At the cross bars I use flat bungees. Bow and stern lines go to the rack towers. Never had any movement, and seems very secure. I inspect the bungees and replace as necessary (not very often). Really fast when loading multiple boats, anyone can do the bungees while I tighten the painters.

 

[DanOver]

No Title

I use the straps and buckles usually found with canoe foam block arrangements. I also use Orange pool noodles a lot.

I mount the canoe bow forward with a strap running from the left front undercarriage, through the bow handle and down under the right undercarriage. I use pieces of pool noodle to pad where the straps come up on the hood. One big strap goes around the center of the canoe and a third goes from the stern handle to a single hitch point on the hitch. Once again, a pool noodle piece pads the car from the strap/buckle. Once on the water, I put a piece of noodle on my center thwart and gunwales to keep things quiet if I'm fishing.