Watch these 2 videos and decide for yourself.

syn line breaking
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ag08H...eature=related

steel line breaking
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m1NnL...eature=related

 

You're going to bring up a crummy discovery channel show that should have been cancelled a long time ago as your argument that that doesn't happen? They use dummies that can't move or react in situations and are made up of way harder material than the human skin. Most of their tests are completely bogus. Until they use themselves to test things, you can't take any of their dummy tests accurately at all.

Also Thumbs up Scientist.

 

Have you ever seen a steel cable break? It is scary. If that hit you would be in the ICU for sure, might not kill you but you would be hurting bad.

Synthetic all the way, much safer, light weight.

 

What exactly do you mean by this? How do you spool it under load?

 

You should do this with both Steel and Synthetic... you completely unwind your cable... then you spool (re-wind) it back onto the drum while putting 500-1000 lbs of weight on the cable. This will ensure that the cable is stretched and won't bind when spooled out... It also helps with Bird nesting...

Oh, and synthetic all the way... My dad's Navy budy had a hand amputated buy a steel cable breaking... His story is that he was checking a cable that was under tennsion when it broke... it didn't amputate it right there, but it damaged it enough that it was amputated on the Hospital ship...

 

hook up to a tree in your yard or wherever. preferbly with a slight incline. and winch in. have someone in the vehicle, and outside to guide it in nicely

 

I bought steel because synthetic will weaken in the desert sun and heat. Synthetic also will get ruined the first time it rubs a rock. If you use a dampener, or better yet 2 dampeners, the steel cable will not hurt you if something fails.

A common mistake that I see is people using a single pull point when attaching the cable. Why not use a 16 foot strap connected to 2 points on the vehicle? That is much safer. Even if 1 point fails, the second attaching point will prevent any whiplash of the cable. Common sense will prevent 99% of winching failures and accidents.

A steel cable can cut someone in half. It has happened near here. But it happened at a concrete forming company. The post tension cables are tightened to 80,000 psi tension. That is a far cry from your 8,000 or even 16,000 lb recovery winch.

Steel for me is best. I always use 2 points when attaching a winch. 2 blankets on the cable give me the added protection "just in case".

 

Well if anyone is looking, I have a brand new steel winch cable in my garage. Came with my Warn 9.5i never used. Make me an offer....

 

wow, good vids, and thanks for the advice all

 

If you are dragging the cable over rocks, up waterfalls, dersert floor, etc, cable is much more durable. For simply pulling vehicles out of a mud hole, synthetic is fine.

Flash