Rope construction
The rope material determines largely its use on board of sailing boats. However, the construction of ropes is another important factor. Twisted, single or double braid ropes, what do they look like? In the table below, you can read the different types of rope constructions and their purpose.
| Rope construction | Purpose | Splicing techniques | |
|---|---|---|---|
 |
Twisted ropes - three-strand |
Three strand ropes are typically used for mooring ropes and fender lines. On traditional sailing ships 3-strand ropes are still used for halyards and sheets. Ropes: P Classic |
There is just one technique to splice 3-strand ropes. Here's a link to our tutorial. |
 |
Twisted ropes - eight-strand |
Eight-strand ropes, also known as square plaited , are typically used for mooring ropes and anchor rodes.
Ropes: 8 Strand Mooring PES |
Have you mastered the 3-strand technique? Watch our tutorial and let's do it with 4 pairs of strands. |
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Single braid ropes - core only |
Many rigging purposes, such as back-stays, lazy-jacks, loops, shackles and leads. Here's a link to all our single braid ropes. |
- Videos eye-splices: when both ends are free and when one end is fixed - Videos softshackles, single loop, continuous loop with cover - Videos end-to-end splice for a tapered sheet and Dyneema lead halyard |
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Single braid ropes - cover only | Mainly used for dinghy sheets and control lines: Dinghy Race Grip. |
This is our splicing video for a hollow braid sheet. Rope splicing App: 3.1.2 |
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Double braid ropes - polyester core |
Used for mooring, halyards, sheets and control lines. The double braid polyester ropes we sell are: |
It is essential to include both core AND cover in the eye-splice. Here's our tutorial. In our Rope Splicing App: 2.1. |
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Double braid ropes - super fibre core |
Used for halyards, sheets and control lines. Our ropes have cores of: - Dyneema® SK38: DX Performance - Dyneema® SK78: DX Cup & DX Cup Grip - Stirotex®: S Cup |
There are many ways how to splice this kind of rope and it is not necessary to use to cover: - Eye splices: without using the cover, with the cover tucked back and eye splice using the cover - Make a tapered Dyneema sheet yourself with this tutorial |
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Double braid ropes with an inner cover of super fibre | Used for halyards and sheets. We do not sell these kind of ropes. | How to splice this rope is shown in this tutorial video. |
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Braided cover with a core of twisted strands | Used for halyards and sheets. We do not sell these kind of ropes. | We don't have a video for this one, but check out the book 'Splicing Modern Ropes' on page 39! Also we have a splicing tuturial in our Ropesplicing App: number 2.2. |
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Braided cover with a core of parallel fibres | Used for halyards and sheets. We do not sell these kind of ropes. | No video for this one either, but check out the book 'Splicing Modern Ropes' on page 51! Also we have a splicing tuturial in our Ropesplicing App: number 2.3. |
Do you want rope advice for your boat? Check out our rope advice here.
