Mooring line shrink wrap

[petem]

Morning all. Can anyone recommend a supplier for mooring line shrink wrap end caps?

 

[andsarkit]

Do you mean these?
end caps

Usually used to seal cable ends.

 

[philwebb]

Use heat shrink for electrical cables and cut it to length. The best stuff has a glue inside. Available from RS components or I had some from EBay recently. Also good for protecting cable joint.

 

[srm]

I use the stretchy rubber self amalgamating tape. If cutting the rope put the tape on first then cut so both ends sealed.

 

[greeny]

Do you mean these?
end caps
View attachment 161454
Usually used to seal cable ends.

I used to use those to good effect in the days when I had a free supply. Worked well. Supply dried up so I'm back to white self amalgamating tape now. If you do source them, make sure they are a reasonable fit to start with
because the ones I had only shrank a bit. Not like heat shrink tube.

 

[colind3782]

I used heavy duty heat shrink cut to size with a tiny bit longer than the end of the rope. This folds in on itself quite well and looks neat. Glue lined would be even better.

 

[RunAgroundHard]

Heat Set Rope End Caps - Prevent Fraying! | Ropes Direct

Back in the 80's I remember they were blue, hard plastic. They slipped over the ends, shrunk a bit and that was that. I have not seen that type in an age.

 

[B27]

Man up, brandish your Julian Clary sewing kit and use some sort of whipping.

It's not hard, doesn't take long, needs no power or heat source and reliably works.

If you're using heat, you might as well just melt the rope ends with a hot knife or whatever.
Heat shrink has its uses, for instance it's good for protecting the wear point of a soft eye.
It's also a good answer for shock cord ends.

 

[Simonpk]

I still use a naked flame to melt the ends, then mould into shape with a 'very' wetted thumb & forefinger.

 

[Boater Sam]

Dip the end in paint and let it dry.

 

[duncan99210]

Try this stuff: Amazon.co.uk
I‘ve seen it used to good effect and there’s a range of colours to go at.

 

[westernman]

Or these:-

Amazon.co.uk

 

[thinwater]

Man up, brandish your Julian Clary sewing kit and use some sort of whipping.

It's not hard, doesn't take long, needs no power or heat source and reliably works.
...

A good whipping identifies a true sailor. Most of my docklines are melted ... ... because I don't care, but most of the running rigging is whipped, mostly because I like it better.

 

[Neeves]

I like to whip and heat shrink on top. You can source heat shrink for rope, which is heavier duty than heat shrink for wiring that has a shrink ratio of as good as 4:1, but 3:1 is more common. Comes in a variety of unshrunk diameters. It shrinks well in boiling water which means if you extend usage beyond rope ends, to protect a splice, it will not impact (at all) the strength of dyneema. Using an open flame for dyneema means the heat is uncontrolled (and boiling water is usually only 100 C. ) - open flame...??)

Just google;le heat shrink for rope.

We buy from Chinese sources, Aliexpress or Temu, and buy 1m lengths of a cross section of diameters

Jonathan

 

[westernman]

I like to whip and heat shrink on top. You can source heat shrink for rope, which is heavier duty than heat shrink for wiring that has a shrink ratio of as good as 4:1, but 3:1 is more common. Comes in a variety of unshrunk diameters. It shrinks well in boiling water which means if you extend usage beyond rope ends, to protect a splice, it will not impact (at all) the strength of dyneema. Using an open flame for dyneema means the heat is uncontrolled (and boiling water is usually only 100 C. ) - open flame...??)

Just google;le heat shrink for rope.

We buy from Chinese sources, Aliexpress or Temu, and buy 1m lengths of a cross section of diameters

Jonathan

Does it fold down nicely and stick well at the very end of the rope?

 

[Neeves]

Does it fold down nicely and stick well at the very end of the rope?

When it shrinks, in boiling water, any overlap (excess at the rope end) shrinks more than the cover itself (as the cover is restrained by the rope core). The cover shrinks tightly but is removable, without damage to the core, if you use a sharp knife. The excess, that has shrunk more you can trim, again with a sharp knife, leaving about 1-2mm excess - it will be retained almost as long as good whipping. I use clear shrink covers.

I'd include pics but I'd have to take new ones and I'm a long way from home.

I mentioned Temu as a source:

Temu seems to have been established in competition with Aliexpress but has a different Modus Openrandi. It is Chinese owned but based internationally, they operate in Australia, UK, USA etc. They source from China but if you have to send something back it goes locally. It does not have the range of coverage of product as Aliexpress but dealing with a local operation adds a different sort of convenience. The product we have sourced comes to us direct from China (as far as we can tell). Its new and we have used it a few times and have been happy - so far.

If you google Temu you can find more detail of the structure, and find the Temu website. Our exposure is to the Australian 'arm' it may be different in the UK.

I confess we have not used Temu to source shrinks covers, for rope, only Aliexpress for shrink covers (there are a lot of sources, a few of which sell 4:1 covers).

The covers we source are thicker than electrical covers but, I'd have said more tactile than electrical covers. Some covers contain glue - which we have not used. We use shrink covers on rope variously - protect splices and whipping and as sleeves for possible abrasion (but for severe abrasion applications there are better materials). If you are cutting rope (I hate cutting rope) then make two whippings with a gap, apply the heat shrink at where you intending cutting and overlapping all the whipping. Shrink and cut, much neater - though many will say a bit of a faff. . .

One 'odd' application. We have made Barber hauls, with snatch blocks at the 'end', from dyneema but find the result is very 'floppy' and sometimes you cannot stretch far enough to apply. By chance we realised that adding a shrink cover provides some rigidity to the splice and allows an extra 200mm of reach. Its not perfect but better than other options (though others may not have the problem in the first place ).

Jonathan

 

[westernman]

When it shrinks, in boiling water, any overlap (excess at the rope end) shrinks more than the cover itself (as the cover is restrained by the rope core). The cover shrinks tightly but is removable, without damage to the core, if you use a sharp knife. The excess, that has shrunk more you can trim, again with a sharp knife, leaving about 1-2mm excess - it will be retained almost as long as good whipping. I use clear shrink covers.

I'd include pics but I'd have to take new ones and I'm a long way from home.

I mentioned Temu as a source:

Temu seems to have been established in competition with Aliexpress but has a different Modus Openrandi. It is Chinese owned but based internationally, they operate in Australia, UK, USA etc. They source from China but if you have to send something back it goes locally. It does not have the range of coverage of product as Aliexpress but dealing with a local operation adds a different sort of convenience. The product we have sourced comes to us direct from China (as far as we can tell). Its new and we have used it a few times and have been happy - so far.

If you google Temu you can find more detail of the structure, and find the Temu website. Our exposure is to the Australian 'arm' it may be different in the UK.

I confess we have not used Temu to source shrinks covers, for rope, only Aliexpress for shrink covers (there are a lot of sources, a few of which sell 4:1 covers).

The covers we source are thicker than electrical covers but, I'd have said more tactile than electrical covers. Some covers contain glue - which we have not used. We use shrink covers on rope variously - protect splices and whipping and as sleeves for possible abrasion (but for severe abrasion applications there are better materials). If you are cutting rope (I hate cutting rope) then make two whippings with a gap, apply the heat shrink at where you intending cutting and overlapping all the whipping. Shrink and cut, much neater - though many will say a bit of a faff. . .

One 'odd' application. We have made Barber hauls, with snatch blocks at the 'end', from dyneema but find the result is very 'floppy' and sometimes you cannot stretch far enough to apply. By chance we realised that adding a shrink cover provides some rigidity to the splice and allows an extra 200mm of reach. Its not perfect but better than other options (though others may not have the problem in the first place ).

Jonathan

Thanks for the detail.
Much appreciated (I am too lazy to do whippings)

 

[Neeves]

Thanks for the detail.
Much appreciated (I am too lazy to do whippings)

Laziness is fully accepted, the whipping just looks nice through the transparent cover (it is not needed).

J