a slightly evolved soft shackle...

Yet another health care crisis, about those By-Catch figures, and in the "Wishcycling" department...

An improved soft shackle.

Listening to Elijah Wolf

So it goes...

A best buy in rigging gear...

An article that I found a lot more interesting than I expected, somewhat troubling, and in the "I have a very bad feeling about this" department...

I was perusing Duckworks the other day and noticed they had a set of splicing fids for $3.25 and it got me thinking. Plastic fids make sense as they're smooth so won't snag on rope fibers and they do the job. Of course, fids are such a simple tool that you can make your own or adapt something that's laying around like a ball point pen or knitting needles. I can't actually recall how many splices I've done with ad hoc fids but I'm sure it's an impressive number.

While I take a certain amount of pride in being Mr Cheapseats, I will confess to owning some nice fids of the more than cheap variety. I have a set of Selma fids, a D-Splicer, a couple of open back fisherman's fids, as well a plethora of knitting needles, forceps, and other fiddish-shaped bits of plastic or metal that seem to have found their way into my rigging bag.

Still, to be completely honest, I'm pretty sure that the cheap plastic fid kit would do 99% of the splicing I do regularly. For those who only do a few splices a year they'd be more than up to the job. Better yet they even come with splicing directions.

I'll also add, that since it's that time of year, they'd make a great stocking stuffer.

Nuff said.

Listening to a pivotal Beach Boys album

So it goes...

One step for tourists and a giant leap for folks who make money off them...

A pretty important distinction, a needful read, and something that really should piss you off...

I just finished watching the Bezos Blue Origin launch and, overall, it made me feel good that there is now a chance that space will actually open up. Not so much because of some spirit of adventure but simply because there are profits to be made and rich people will want to cash in.

I'm actually OK with that. Seriously, opening new frontiers is a way better way of getting richer than stealing wages from your employees. 

Today's project is putting in new lifelines so it's mainly splicing which is a great way to spend a beautiful day.

Listening to some Marvin Gaye coverage

So it goes...

A good case for DIY...

G&T on a pet peeve of mine, a timely cartoon, and a very good point...

Glancing at a recent "All At Sea" magazine I noticed that the Budget Marine ad was listing soft shackles as starting at $64.65.

That seems like a whole lot of money to me.

Going to the Budget Marine website it seems that the $64.65 price is for a pair which still translates to $32.33 a pop.

Which is still a lot of money to me.

Especially when an equivalent soft shackle is just Ten bucks worth of Dyneema and ten minutes of spare time to make it happen.

Do the math.

Listening to a Frank Zappa song

So it goes...

a couple of very good and needful books...

Some needful reading on the Marshall Islands, a possible new species of whale, and a mea culpa of note from the Orlando Sentinel...

 Here's a book that would make a great Holidaze gift.

so would this one...

Listening to Alejandro Escovedo

So it goes...

A needful skill...

Some needful reading on the greed vs public safety subject, Jim C. Hines (a fantasy writer I admire) grapples with the whole "riot" thing, and the questions we should all be asking...

Some time ago on a forum that shall remain nameless a guy, complaining that he could not find anyone in the Caribbean to do some splicing he needed, complained that his only option was to send the various lines to be spliced to the US of A. Later on in the thread he said he was happy with the splices but that the cost of shipping ropes to and from the states made the process somewhat expensive.

I'll leave you to draw your own conclusions on the IQ of the guy who got the splicing done.

I will point out that splicing, not being anything like rocket science, is dead simple, and just about anyone can do it. The added advantage is you won't have to spend hundreds of dollars on shipping to get those $12 dollar splices.

Premium Ropes, in my opinion, does the best tutorial videos on splicing so here are a few to get you started.

Your basic three-strand eyesplice.



Since a lot of folks are using eight-strand for anchor rodes these days.



Your basic double braid eye splice.



Let's not forget the Brummel-splice for those folks using Dyneema and single-braid.



I'm pretty sure you're now covered on the eye splice front.

Listening to some songs from the Brill Building days.

Soit goes...

An interesting block...

An American tragedy, that pro pollution guy is at it again, and in the "Sowing chaos to exhaust our critical thinking" department...

Premium Ropes with some useful information on the new Ronstan Series 30 Orbit™ Lashing block.



Listening to Sierra Hull

So it goes...

How comparative shopping and knowing how to do things yourself is a goodly thing...

A reminder of note, Moldy Chum with something important about NEPA, and today in the "Just when you think the bar couldn't get any lower" department...

I was looking at Defender's pricing on rope the other day while throwing around some rigging ideas when I had a brief moment of clarity and found myself asking a couple of questions.

Why the hell does everyone seem to think that Defender is the best discount store around anymore?

Fact of the matter is, I seldom buy anything from Defender these days because there most always seems to be someone selling the same stuff for less. Sure their yearly sale seems to be good but for the last three years running most of the deep discounts were on the sort of Brand X stuff you bring in a sale as lost leaders.

How do they get away with charging twenty-four frelling dollars for an eyesplice in Amsteel?

Seriously, the Brummel eye splice is dead easy and the alternative simple tapered bury with lock stitching is even easier. Either splice will only set you back five to ten minutes of not very laborious labor so why'd anyone pay twenty-four bucks to have someone do it for you?

Just saying.

Listening to Chip Taylor & The New Ukrainians

So it goes...

another eyesplice from Ino rope...

A film on my need to see list, making sense where the USPS is concerned, and regarding idiotic logic...

The club makes all the difference and Ino Rope shows you how.



Listening to some C, S, & N coverage

So it goes...

Some splicing goodness...

Some bad news on the USPS front, a better way to be critical, and today's word is O-C-T-O-N-I-O-N...

Voile Magazine with some clarity in the technique department.

Check it out.

Listening to a surprisingly good playlist

So it goes...

on why knitting needles make sense...

A noteworthy program, some obvious common sense, and a bit of needful perspective...

The other day I was looking through my overflowing rigging bag and noticed I really needed a couple of fids in the bigger-than-I-normally-use department on the off chance that I might need to splice some bigger than normal dynex. Being prepared is, more often than not, a goodly thing.

Since I use Selma fids and D-splicers for most of my dyneema work I decided a bigger Selma or two should do the trick.

Like this one...

 
That said, while I do truly admire the Selma fids I'd forgotten that they were kind of silly expensive and a 1/2" fid would run me over $20 or so.

A $20+ dollar fid does not bring a smile to Mr Cheapseats.

I could get Sampson aluminum fids which are nearly as good in most ways and somewhat better in a couple but they cost between $10 to $15 which is a lot to be paying for what boils down to a single knitting needle.


As it happens I already have quite a few small knitting needles in my rigging kit already...

Which had me looking up the cost of aluminum knitting needles in the 1/2" and 5/8" zone only to find that a pair of 1/2" needles and a pair of 5/8" needles together would cost less than a single Sampson fid.

I'm pretty sure you can do the math.

Listening to a Scottish playlist

So it goes...

Since "loops" make all kinds of sense...

Timey-wimey, a solar canoe in the Amazon, and in the "Vulgar & mean" department...



Listening to Lakuta

So it goes...

Plan B...

A virulent cancer, G&T with a couple of astute observations, and a bit of common sense...

It's raining.

Generally speaking, I like rain but it is somewhat problematic if your to-do list for the day involves coating stuff with epoxy in the cockpit, building a new self-steering gear, and touching up the new paint job on the mast.

So, it's plan B... splicing Dyneema loops.



Listening to a bunch of Talking Heads covers

So it goes...

On learning new stuff...

Some needful reading on contraction, the crime of laughter, and in the "Not a joke anymore" department...

So, yesterday, I tried a new bit of splicing/ropework. The results were, being generous, fugly.

To be truthful, while I enjoy splicing, almost always my initial learning curve is of the rather steep variety and I long ago learned to never expect my first try to be usable or pretty. I mostly find that it takes a couple of tries to get it right and competence does not kick in till #3.

Which sorta/kinda brings me to the old boatbuilding adage...

"You build your first boat for your worst enemy, the second for a friend, and the third for yourself..."

Maybe I should gift yesterday's splice to  Herr tRump.

There's always a learning curve and, face it, if you're not making mistakes you're not learning anything. That being the case, with the number of mistakes I make I must be frelling brilliant.

Listening to Mass of the Fermenting Dregs

So it goes...

A needful skill...

This is all kinds of interesting, pig shit on the wind, and what passes for normal in the "profit-centered healthcare" clusterfuck...

Ino-Rope with a clear, well made, and instructive how to eyesplice video.



Listening to Rahim Alhaj

So it goes...

A handy trick...

In the "if his lips are moving it ain't true" department,a revealing interchange, and every morning my news seems to feature nazi assholes or reasonable facsimiles...

Simple and neat.



Listening to one of my favorite albums

So it goes...

a different sort of fid...

 In "that cold shiv coming in between their ribs" department, a frightening pattern of local extinction currently underway, and a very cool pack...

This makes all kinds of sense and I'm surprised no one has thought of it before.



Listening to Nick Waterhouse

So it goes...

a new fid in the bag...

Some needful viewing,  guilty of seven felonies but no one is doing jail time, and in the "company you keep speaks volumes" department...

For ages I've wanted to get one of these...

The problem is, being a cheap frugal kinda guy, the over $50 price tag, silly shipping charges, and the fact that I could do a DIY clone for a whole lot less kept me from buying one.

The DIY option is fairly easy and I would have just built my own if I had come across some stainless wire in the right sizes but in a year or so of  keeping an eye out no such wire has come across my purview. Not a lot of hobby shops in the Caribbean!

So, when I noticed that Duckworks had the splicing kit for around $43 and change, I decided to just buy the sucker.

The verdict?

Awesome. It really speeds up splicing in a big way and my first eyesplice in some old nasty 1/4" TENEX that had been exposed to the elements for a couple of years took less than two minutes which included tapering and stitching it up. I can't wait to try it out with new rope which will be a lot easier/faster. Color me a happy camper.

As it happens, I also noticed that Duckworks has the best price around on Selma fids (sort of the Rolls Royce of fids) so I took the opportunity to pick some up as well. The two sets combined will pretty much cover any splicng one has to do and has the advantage that both sets will fit into the D-Splicer tube (the Selma fids nest into each other) so that goes a long way to keeping all of the needful small fids together and organized.

Listening to Backdrop Cinderella (Good stuff...I really need to investigate Japanese Ska bands further)

So it goes...

A splice that just might come in useful...

Brown shirt nation, some very needful reading, and sad in a bigly way...



Listening to Upstream

So it goes...

Something to add to your skills set...

Some women I respect have an opinion, Scalzi nails it, and a trend in tourism we could do without...



Listening to Horses Heaven

So it goes...