Rope splices with metal thimbles

[emr]

Do you see any potential hazards or would you just say no to CYA? The rated thing doesn't make sense to me since common plastic thimbles aren't rated. The rope supports all of the weight.

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[NickfromWI]

I'd use it. Id inspect regularly for chafe- but I'd use it in a heartbeat.


love
nick

 

[flushcut]

Ditto, you are good to go.

 

[tophopper]

Now that you mention plastic thimbles, I agree, ratings need not apply. I would only dis-allow use based on CYA. The only potential I could envision would be the thimble working loose from the splice or knot, falling out or becoming mis-orientated.

 

[Marc-Antoine]

I put one on my 5/8" ringing line to sustain a shackle or steel carabiners.
(It isn't in a splice though, but in a figure 8 knot. I tried to splice this rope (used) but got really stuck, so I kept the 8 knot.)
I first put in a 5/8 thimble, fits well on the rope but it was too thin and bent at the contact point with the shackle.
It twisted too with the mini pulling away the rigged log with an unexpected side loading.
So I bought a 3/4 or 13/16 thimble, more stronger. To make it fit the rope, I hammered the sides until 5/8 inside. To avoid the twist, I arc welded the gap, then I filed and sanded all the edges and areas.
A little paint to avoid rust.

The thimble matches well the rope but fits very loosely in the fig 8 knot bight (because the setting of the knot under loads).
Even with that, and until now, no trouble in use, no obvious wear of the rope.

 

[Tim_B.]

We used stainless steel thimbles on all our halyards on our boat... eight, 1/2" double braid eye splices, I did them all myself and was often winched to the top of a mast on those very splices/thimbles. They lasted for years, with sometimes sails set for almost a month at a time (yes, really...23 days to cross the Atlantic) and we never had a major problem.
As a safeguard, I would whip the throat of the eye splice and also put whipping on either side of the thimble's pointy end.
If I didn't get the eye splice really tight it could rotate a bit and the thimble start to dig in...but there were some pretty large forces on those splices, far more than you or I would place on them while climbing.

Really cool story there, Fiona! Until I read this old post of yours I had no idea that you were a rope splicer! I don't ever recall you mentioning it anywhere else, but maybe I just missed it. Really cool that you felt secure enough in the quality of your workmanship to basically trust your life on it, if I'm reading you right.

I always like reading what you write. Thanks for staying a member here at the house.

Tim

 

[MasterBlaster]

 

[ruel]

We used stainless steel thimbles on all our halyards on our boat... eight, 1/2" double braid eye splices, I did them all myself and was often winched to the top of a mast on those very splices/thimbles. They lasted for years, with sometimes sails set for almost a month at a time (yes, really...23 days to cross the Atlantic) and we never had a major problem.
As a safeguard, I would whip the throat of the eye splice and also put whipping on either side of the thimble's pointy end.
If I didn't get the eye splice really tight it could rotate a bit and the thimble start to dig in...but there were some pretty large forces on those splices, far more than you or I would place on them while climbing.

Damn, eight halyards, what kind of rig is that?