This tether was found by rescue workers at the Wing Nuts accident site; there were several fatalities.
This is dangerous even on deck--if the tether gets wrapped around a sheet or guy he has 2 clips to release to get free. Not good.
And this points a scary trend, where equipment companies design to standards but don't actually test the gear in the field. They give the gear to sailors to use, but that is hardly the same as structured testing where all likely use scenarios are systematically tested.
The solution? some brands are adding a ring or loop near the harness end. If you make your own, leaving the loop long enough will do. Or in my case, I simply clipped in a small biner to give myself a parking space.
The typical vendor response? You should have a knife. Please. Why not say I should fall off the boat?
(No, I don't used quick-release harness end clips. I single hand and can't imagine a senario where releasing will leave me better off. On the other hand, I can imaging the quick-release letting go or me clipping it incorrectly. My compromise. I still prefer to clip to the "parking space" and have only one clip on the harness.)
Life aboard is living large, in a small space. Every boat owner has found ways to make life in that small space easier, more comfortable, more convenient. The idea behind this site is to provide a place where these ideas can be shared amongst the boating community. To participate, send your contribution to SmallBoatProjects at gmail dot com.
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Thursday, July 10, 2014
Is Your Tether Quick Release Actually Quick Release?
With his typically engineering analysis, Drew over at Sail Delmarva asks some hard questions about tethers:
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