Winch Rope

Synthetic Winch Line

A winch is a device that can be used to pull, move or secure heavy objects.  They are found in a lot of different varieties.  You can find electric, hydraulic, pneumatic or even internal combustion driven winches.  However, heavy duty winches usually have one thing in common, the winch cable.  Traditional winch line is made of wire, but nowadays more people are opting for a synthetic winch line instead.

The wire cable is wrapping strands of thin small gauge wires in to bundles.  They are twisted together kind of in a helix fashion.  The principle behind the wire cable is that the sum of the parts is greater than their individual strength.  However, this conventionally steel cable has many drawbacks when compared to a synthetic winch line.

First of all, a steel cable can be very deadly.  When winching, the line is put under an extreme amount of tension.  This tension can often exceed even what the winch’s pull rate is listed as.  The major danger is that when a steel cable snaps, it has the potential for recoiling, quite rapidly.  There has been many recorded incidents where this recoiling of the cable can strike a spectator and cause serious injury or worse, death.

However, with a synthetic winch line, if it breaks, you don’t have the same potential for danger that you do with the steel cable.  Instead of springing back and potentially taking out an occupant or spectator, it will usually just drop to the ground if it fails. 

Many manufacturers claim that their synthetic winch line is significantly stronger than that of wire cables as well.  However, bear in mind, as with any marketing ploy comparisons will always be played to the advantage of the item you’re considering buying.  So while the synthetic winch line might seem stronger, make sure you are comparing apples to apples.  The size and application of the lines needs to be the same for a fair comparison.

One of the most touted benefits of a synthetic winch line is the weight difference.  A synthetic winch line can weigh as much as 60 pounds less than its steel cable counterpart.  When it comes to competition off-road vehicles, or lightweight ATV’s, every pound that you can shed from the vehicle can make a big difference in the performance of the vehicle.

The synthetic line also avoids kinking when compared to a steel cable.  As you may likely know, kinks in a steel cable can cause catastrophic failures if not properly fixed.

However, there are a few drawbacks of the synthetic winch line.  The first being that you shouldn’t expose the synthetic line to a lot of sun and weather conditions.  It is a synthetic material, and like most materials it can become weather damaged, potentially compromising the strength of the material.

Another major drawback is that the synthetic winch line often is unable to handle being pulled across abrasive material as well as a steel cable.  A steel cable will easily just glide across a knarly rock.  However, a synthetic rope may become damaged and fail because of the same rocks.