Split Pins or Split Rings

[Peter Cockerton]

Following a lively sail in 35 mph gusts and plenty of beating back to the launch area i was shocked and horrifed to find the split ring missing from the pin attaching the port side bottle screw to the chain plate. The pin was partially out of the bottle screw and holding by one side only. I used the split rings as they were supplied with the bottle screw which is certified for the stress rating of the bottle screw. I have no idea how the ring could have come out but had the pin not held it could have been expensive and potentially physically painfull. This is nothing to do with Swallow Boats as i fitted them myself.

Has anyone else had experience of dissapearing split rings, i will change them now for split pins but as i mentioned before they came with the bottle screw which are not Chinese imports but reputable British manafactored. I'm very happy with the bottle screws arrangements, they have not unwound on their own or bent during mast lowering/raising and i will keep them.


Peter

[Jeremy]

My preference is to use the keyring type rather than split pins, as they don't snag on ropes etc so readily.  I've never had one come undone.  They are commonly used to lock pins on microlights, so are CAA approved as pin locking devices.

I suspect that you either had a partially undone ring, or maybe a faulty one that broke and came off, as they have to be intrinsically more secure than a split pin, I'd have thought.

[Julian Swindell]

I know you say you want to keep the bottle screws, but I would recommend that you change to lanyards. They are much less hassle, you can see if there is anything wrong with them and they are unbreakable and unbendable. You can replace them if necesssary with almost any rope that comes to hand. A Swallowboat doesn't need the power or precision of a bottle screw. I had just one on my forestay and I long ago changed it for a lanyard as the screw kept working loose. I tighten the lanyard every now and then without need of any tools.

[Brian Robertson]

It may simply be down to my poor technique but I am having real difficulty tensioning the shrouds on my BC20 adequately using lanyards.  I am seriously considering moving to rigging screws.  Had these on my previous Drascombe and they never gave me any bother.

[Tony]

Hi, Peter, et al.

I, too, mistrust split rings after the one shown in the photo managed to catch in my buoyancy aid when tacking, bent itself half open and gouged my neck. I thought I'd been stung by a particularly well-armed wasp! 
The ring  looks fine in the picture and I don’t often set the lug sail so low that I have to duck under it (I was reefed in an F6 at the time) so I wasn't anticipating any problem at all.
Just goes to show that Sod's Law of 'whatever CAN go wrong WILL go wrong' is a force to be reckoned with still.
I have since simplified the mainsheet arrangement to a swivel block and string. (Slower to rig and unrig, perhaps, but you know where you are wiv a bit o’ string, innit.)

Er.....
Anyone know how to get blood off a linen shirt collar?
 

[Anthony Huggett]

On bigger boats I've used split pins on the standing rigging, then covered them with amalgamating tape. Weird stuff, you just need a piece an inch or two long, and it stretches out amazingly. It forms a more or less solid mass which doesn't look too tatty and isn't sharp. I dare say it could also be used around rings to stop them catching in people.