How to Inspect Rope and Rigging Hardware

A line that has failed usually gave months of notice. Chafe, glazing, stiffness, a cover that had gone shiny, a shackle pin that no longer seated — the evidence was there, and it was in a place nobody looked. Inspection is not a ritual. It is reading the evidence.

What to look for on a rope

• Chafe. Look where the line touches anything: a chock, a block, a cleat, a stanchion, the eye of a fender. Chafe is the leading cause of rope failure and it is always localised, so it is found by looking at contact points, not at the whole line.
• Glazing. A shiny, hardened, melted-looking patch means friction heat. It happens where a line runs fast through a clutch or around a winch, and the fibres there have lost most of their strength even though the line looks intact.
• Stiffness. A line that has gone stiff has lost the flexibility that lets it share load between strands. Stiffness usually means age, ultraviolet damage, salt crystallising in the fibres, or a history of heavy loads.
• Cover damage. On a double braid, the cover is the protection. A breach exposes the core to sunlight and abrasion, and the core is not built to survive either.
• Discolouration or mildew. On natural fibre this means rot, and rot starts in the core where you cannot see it. On synthetic line, dark patches often mean contamination or the early stages of ultraviolet degradation.
• Hard spots and flat spots. A hard lump or a flattened section means the internal structure has been damaged. This is what a line feels like after a serious shock load.

The feel test

Run the line through your hands along its whole length, feeling for changes. This is the single most effective inspection technique and it finds things looking never will: a soft section where the core has failed, a hard section where it has glazed, a thin section where it has worn. Do it in good light, with dry hands, and take your time. A forty-metre line takes two minutes.

What to look for on hardware

How often

• Before every use: a visual check of the line and hardware you are about to load. Ten seconds. This is where most problems are actually caught.
• Seasonally: a full inspection of every line and fitting, with the feel test on every rope. Do it at the start of the season, not the end.
• Annually: a documented deep inspection including hardware, splices, terminals and the strong points they attach to.
• After any incident: any shock load, any fall arrest, any contact with a propeller or a sharp edge. Inspect immediately and retire on evidence, not on appearance.

Write it down

A written record turns inspection from a habit into a system. Record what you checked, when, what you found and what you decided. Write the purchase date on the whipping so the line's age travels with it. The value is that when a line is six seasons old and you are wondering whether it is still good, you have evidence rather than a feeling.