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Safest rope for surf, wakeboard?


csilcox

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Had a mishap last weekend that ended up feeding the fish a third of my thumb and as I lay in bed throbbing and burning I have been putting a lot of thought on this.

I assume the thicker and stiffer the rope is safer t maybe for surfing. I would guess the "t-handle" is safer than a narrower traditional shape ?

What about wakeboarding? I keep shuddering thinking of what could of happened last weekend as I was letting my four year old ride with me when my thumb went bye-bye! We were just carving on my surf board at wakeboard length after my 7 and 8 year old boys were done wakeboarding.

I do know that the thin spectra type line that I usually use for wakeboarding us going in trash but what are your opinions for safety going forward? I have both type surf ropes but kids are more into wakeboarding now....I can assure you that it has not been a fun week whatsoever but I do know I wouldn't ever want any of my children to ever have to go through this pain!

I have dead multiple similar posts on this and it seems most are a bit older so I was wondering if any new products or opinions are out there?

Thanks any and all opinions !

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I have a Ronix surf specific rope with the smaller triangle handle. It's a thicker rope with foam spacers to pull you in. I wouldn't get a thing rope. I've seen too many people try to pull themselves in close and wrap the rope around their hand/wrist. There are also straight braided lines with a thick end, which avoids handles/loops

Edited by saxton15
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Surf rope I would be fine with any of the newer thick style. T, small handle, or braid for a handle. I'm not fond of the just braid handles but that's personal preference.

As for wakeboarding you don't have many options. Most of the ropes now are pretty thin. Uncoated dynema seems to be the thinnest. The coated spectra is a little thicker but not much. Your only real option for getting thicker is going back to a poly rope. I can't remember if its poly E or poly P that is the non/low stretch version. But depending on what length you ride it will most likely be hard to find poly in what is pretty common for dynema and spectra.

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pictures or it did not happen..... no, no , no - just a joke.

I use a ronix surf rope with a small triangle, very happy with that.

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Pretty gruesome pics so I will spare you! Thanks for replies! I had my daughter riding on board with me so I think I was adjusting rope to keep her away....I have ridden rope less with my kids numerous times before at surf distance....never again at longer length......things can go bad way to fast!

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Sorry to hear about your unfortunate incident. I am not sure there is a safe rope out there, in fact it is probably the most dangerous part of boating. A wakeboard rope is intended not to stretch and there forefore high tensile strength. I ride a hydrofoil and have a bunch of money tied up in wings and a ski. In the hydrofoiling community it is commonplace to use a trick release. There are several available and vary in cost. There are mechanical versions (Comptech) and there are velcro type. The Comptech (which I have) attaches to the boat and uses a clevis type release system and is adjustable to specific lbs of force. The Velcro type is a little more rudimentary but serves the same purpose and is attached to the boat end of your rope. There are others, but I have each of these and both have done their job, but I can't take the Comptech with me on another persons boat... The reason it is common on the hydrofoil is that you are strapped to the ski and if the rope gets tangled around you or the ski and bad things happen with Dyneema or Spectra lines... The trick release will pop before anything bad happens to you or your family if used properly. I will not ride or let anyone else ride without one. This will make any rope little safer. Hope this helps... Wishing you a speedy recovery.

http://www.cinchmax.com/id3.html

http://skyski.com/store/safety.html

Jay

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This is the rope I use. The big foam grips are easy to hold so most people naturally hold them. I've always been worried about someone getting caught on the rope but we keep an eye on everyone and no issues yet for us. post-25119-14310035339108_thumb.jpg

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

  • Like 2
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Sorry to hear about this. It is one thing that is always in my mind when we are surfing.

I hope you are better soon and very happy none of your children were injured. Hopefully they were

not too traumatized by seeing dad get injured.

We use a surf specific rope with the smaller handle as well.

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We have a surf rope (CWB-Maybe?) that has knots and a t-handle. It seems fairly safe as it is about 2-2.5 inches wide. I'd highly recommend it.

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Boy I hate to hear stories about boating/rope accidents. Makes me cringe. Sorry about your accident.

We started surfing the end of last summer and the rope that was recommended to me was a Ronix thick braided rope with the small triangle handle. My 10 year son knew to not wrap the rope around his arms or hands as he was pulling himself in to get in the sweet spot. But watching him behind the boat and having that triangle handle back there dangling around still made me really nervous. So I quickly bought a new Ronix surf rope that is just the thick braided rope with knots and no handle. I just feel it is a little bit safer not having that handle back there.

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The T-bar style are fine if you aren't a 300lb guy like me, else they suck because they just don't have enough surface area to hold onto with all my weight. I use a small CWB floaty triangle handle with foam covering on the rope line itself for pulling into the sweet spot. For wakeboarding, I use a cinch strap (i'm a hydrofoiler as well) but we use it with our wakeboarders as well. It's not perfect but far better then nothing... Sorry to hear about your hand...

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this sucks. I'm still not sure I understand how this happened? You were surfing at wakeboard length with a wakeboard line? How did you get your wave long enough to be way back there? How fast were you going?

I get pretty upset with people behind my boat if I see them pulling themselves in and or coiling the surf rope. If I set the rope to the right length, my riders should be able to "surf in" to the boat from the back of the pocket without using the rope. So if I see my riders either coiling the rope or tugging themselves in, I get mad because they are either (a) adding unnecessary danger (the coil) or (b) doing it wrong ("pulling in" rather than "surfing in").

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Really sucks to hear about this happening again. I've been telling you guys the stories about my SIL's hand or "The Official Toe Boat" so others don't have to live thru it too. Get a quick release & use it. Using a wakeboard rope surfing is a big no no. And letting the rope dangle at your feet, or behind you as you surf, is just asking for problems.

Hope you heal well. Tough lesson to learn.

http://www.themalibucrew.com/forums/index.php?/topic/40415-are-ropes-dangerous-yes;-should-you-loop-the-rope-in-your-hand/?fromsearch=1

Edited by Bill_AirJunky
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