Safety tether padeyes

[David VanDenburgh]

I'm interested in mounting two padeyes in the cockpit as attachment points for safety tethers. I like the Wichard folding padeye because it's less likely to be a shin-scraping, line-grabbing nuisance.



Does anyone have experience with these padeyes or any others? Comments? Suggestions? Recommendations about size, number of attachment points?

Thanks,

David

[Al]

I've never used those, but I have used the Wichard water-tight U bolts for the same purpose. http://www.wichard.com/documents/stainlessSteel.pdf

[Ceasar Choppy]

I use them.

I mount them IN the cockpit on the walls. They are fine and out of the way. Make sure you use that rubber pad they come with-- it dampens vibration so the D ring doesn't chatter when the engine is on.

Try not to mount them near the stern. Nothing worse than going overboard with your tether and getting dragged through the water from the back of the boat.

One other thing... make sure you use the ones rated for 3000# SWL or higher. I believe that is about what is required to handle the force of your body being thrown around and what your harness should be rated for. As I recall, 3000# is the force generated by your body falling from 6 ft. high. I remember reading a study rating harnesses that used 3000#s as a benchmark. No use having a harness rated for 3000# and having the payeye being the weak link!

[David VanDenburgh]

Thanks for the replies. Good advice.

I found a good deal at Landfall Navigation and went ahead with the purchase. Landfall is selling the next step up from the padeye I was looking at on the Defender site - model 6505 vs 6504 - for the same price as the lesser model, 39.95. I ordered two. The working load is 6600 lbs and the breaking load is 10000 lbs. I could afford to gain a little weight at that rating.

Thanks again,

David