Dock line brands?

[georgevazquez]

need new dock lines from my new 2100CC being delivered in a week or so. I looked at amazon and there is not a whole of brands that I know. I would like a 3/8 line 10-15 feet long in black. Any good name brands that you guys recommend? Thanks.

 

[pelagic2530]

need new dock lines from my new 2100CC being delivered in a week or so. I looked at amazon and there is not a whole of brands that I know. I would like a 3/8 line 10-15 feet long in black. Any good name brands that you guys recommend? Thanks.

Samson as a manufacturer is likely your best bet for any kind of rope. However, what kind of dock lines are you talking about?

If it's lines that you're going to keep aboard the boat and use to tie up to transient docks for a couple hours, or to tie up to the dock while you wait to load the boat on the trailer, I'd suggest double braided nylon. It's flexible, soft and easy to work with. I recommend having it professionally spliced unless you're willing to invest the time, effort, and money in materials and tools to learn how to do it yourself (for most people, not worth it). West Marine and other outfitters offer ready made lengths of double braid dock lines with an eye already spliced, or there are plenty of marina shops that will custom splice them for you.

If you're installing a permanent mooring line system in a slip, nylon 3-strand all the way. It's very easy to splice into permanent eyes yourself with very little training (a YouTube video will show you how), very abrasion resistant, and cheaper to replace after a few years in constant UV exposure. It can also be purchased in spools very cheaply, and cut to the size you need to build your permanent mooring system. It's not as flexible or easy to work with, however, so it's not as good a choice as the double braid for boat lines.

So, it's up to you what type of line you need to meet your specific requirements.

 

[georgevazquez]

Thank for all the info

 

[Brent]

Everyday use is braided and have an onboard bag of extra ones including 3 ply.
Some from West Marine, Seasense, New England, etc. Basically whatever is on sale when I am buying other stuff . Most are 3/8 and some are 1/2. No particular reason , like longer lines.

 

[Andy]

need new dock lines from my new 2100CC being delivered in a week or so. I looked at amazon and there is not a whole of brands that I know. I would like a 3/8 line 10-15 feet long in black. Any good name brands that you guys recommend? Thanks.

I believe 3/8" lines are a good match for your boat, and particularly a good match for your cleat size. (I wish boat manufactures would use larger cleats!). Depending on how you plan to use the boat, I'd recommend lines longer than 10' or 15'. Especially so, if you plan on docking at a variety of different marinas and/or boat slips. Every location will be different than the last. (Dock cleat and/or piling placement, accessibility, and how-many will vary with location). Properly moored, your spring lines alone should be at least as long as the boat; or as long as reasonable, (20'+), especially necessary if docked in places with large tidal variances. I'd recommend carrying 6-8 lines onboard at all times, and 15'-20' as minimum length. (I carry 12 dock lines; yes, my friends call me 'Andy-Overkill')...
If you were coming up to a dock, in 'challenging' conditions (strong winds, currents) and were trying toss a line over a pile or to someone at the dock, (hopefully already fastened to your mid-ship cleat) a 10' -15' line will fall short in most circumstances; it does not leave much length to 'work with'.

 

[pelagic2530]

I believe 3/8" lines are a good match for your boat, and particularly a good match for your cleat size. (I wish boat manufactures would use larger cleats!). Depending on how you plan to use the boat, I'd recommend lines longer than 10' or 15'. Especially so, if you plan on docking at a variety of different marinas and/or boat slips. Every location will be different than the last. (Dock cleat and/or piling placement, accessibility, and how-many will vary with location). Properly moored, your spring lines alone should be at least as long as the boat; or as long as reasonable, (20'+), especially necessary if docked in places with large tidal variances. I'd recommend carrying 6-8 lines onboard at all times, and 15'-20' as minimum length. (I carry 12 dock lines; yes, my friends call me 'Andy-Overkill')...
If you were coming up to a dock, in 'challenging' conditions (strong winds, tides) and were trying toss a line over a pile or to someone at the dock, (hopefully already fastened to your mid-ship cleat) a 10' -15' line will fall short in most circumstances; it does not leave much length to 'work with'.

Not to mention if you're tying up to pilings. Taking multiple wraps around a 12" piling will eat up some line, and you want to make sure you have enough to work with. On my 1700 I carry 2 x 20' double braided lines and 2 x 15'. I'm rarely if ever docking anywhere other than the boat ramp, but that gives me enough for a decent emergency tie up if necessary. Long lines are your friend, maybe carry a couple shorter ones as well for routine tie-ups at boat ramps, etc.

 

[sailmaster]

lines ...... dock lines need to be elastic so as not to cause dynamic shock and absorb the load. 3 Strand, because of its construction is FAR FAR more elastic than Braid.
Permanent lines you want to use 3 strand. I go undersized in my hostile environment and replace them when they become work hardened Slidey tubes of polyester are what is best for chaffing gear and will often cost more than the dock lines but is cheaper than gel coat repairs. If you want to go oversized you should put rubber stretch critters in the system.
One of the big costs in cordage is the lube used by filament manufacturer Blue and Gold Dupont are well known examples They also have different stretch rates gold being far more elastic than blue. Because of this only wash your lines with water do not use detergents
Temporary lines preferred is braid and or braid on braid. Cost more but does not have the handling problems and requires less skill to use and store
FYI the cheaper stuff has not been treated lubed etc and will harden quickly. A lot of the mexican and chinese stuff is not even in decent balance
a lot of the nationally recognized brands are not all that good
My favorite that has never let me down is YALE
Hard and Soft are measurements of how the line "feels" in your hand. Softer lines are usually easier to handle for recreational boaters
NYLON is the stuff for docklines and anchor lines. Avoid Polyester or Polypropelene it is not stretchy enough
BLACK IS BEST seems counter intuitive but the black lines have much greater UV resistance

 

[CGSailor]

All good stuff, I'll add two more considerations...how the line feels in your hand and then when you toss it. The breaking strength math might say a small diameter line is all that's required but tossing that light coil into a stiff off-dock wind might be a bit of an adventure. Personally, I prefer heavier lines for both double braid and 3 strand and have used 1/2" even when the math said 3/8". Bigger than that usually challenges the cleats on the boats I've owned.

 

[pelagic2530]

All good stuff, I'll add two more considerations...how the line feels in your hand and then when you toss it. The breaking strength math might say a small diameter line is all that's required but tossing that light coil into a stiff off-dock wind might be a bit of an adventure. Personally, I prefer heavier lines for both double braid and 3 strand and have used 1/2" even when the math said 3/8". Bigger than that usually challenges the cleats on the boats I've owned.

Excellent point. I personally go with 1/2" almost all the time for this purpose. I've used mooring lines as emergency tow lines to hip up to a disabled boat, or to pull someone a short distance out of danger. There's very little downside to having larger lines, and overkill is usually worth it in an emergency.

Same goes for anchor rode: the longest line on your boat should be able to serve as an emergency towline if absolutely needed. If you've got room in the locker, upsize your rode.

 

[Andy]

Excellent point. I personally go with 1/2" almost all the time for this purpose. I've used mooring lines as emergency tow lines to hip up to a disabled boat, or to pull someone a short distance out of danger. There's very little downside to having larger lines, and overkill is usually worth it in an emergency.

Same goes for anchor rode: the longest line on your boat should be able to serve as an emergency towline if absolutely needed. If you've got room in the locker, upsize your rode.

A lot of good points are being made.... The limiting factor for line diameter, is the size of the cleats. (and reasonable size; you would not need/want 3/4" dia. lines on a 25' boat). On our 2520, because of what I consider to be small cleats, 1/2" is all we can use. When needing to put more than one line on any of the cleats, the cleat is maxed out for space. Sometimes it requires 'Tying the Dock, to the Boat', instead of Tying the Boat to the Dock!.... On our last boat we used 5/8" and 3/4" diameter lines; the cleats and bollards easily accommodated the larger lines; they were 'properly sized' for the boat.