Vectran would not be a very suitable winch rope. It tends to fatigue
relatively rapidly with bending. It is useful as standing rigging on
sailboats but isn't used for running rigging. Technora is about the
same tensile strength and modulus (both have very high modulus)
without the fatigue problem. I don't have any proof of this but was
told this by someone who appeared to know quite a lot about all the
various new fibers being used in rope.


Gary,

Thanks for the information. Now, if the poly could be spliced ~50/50 or so
with something like 1/8" Validator 12
http://www.samsonrope.com/admin/data...dator12_LR.pdf ,
(Vectran) http://www.pelicanrope.com/peli05c.htm both the bungee and sag
effects could be reduced with some cost benefits. This could be a solution
for long runs. When we launched with 1000ft of Spectra on the end of the
wire rope, we didn't pull the Spectra through the rollers. Two synthetics
with a reasonable join might work well as a hybrid solution.

Vectran is stronger than Spectra with a higher critical temperature, but
with somewhat less abrasion resistence.

There are some interesting 1/4" vectran sheathed products
http://www.pelicanrope.com/new04.htm
for improved abrasion resistence.

And Plasma 12
http://www.cortlandcable.com/psrope/...PlasmaRev9.pdf
Spectra in a variety of sizes.

Frank Whiteley
Colorado