Re: [Paddlewise] Towing lines

Nick Lyle wrote:
>A friend has a great home-made waist belt tow system that solves the
problem of adjustable length while remaining simple and fool resistant.
He made a double-ended pouch that remains attatched to a removeable
belt.  One half of the pouch holds a short tow line, the other end holds
a long tow line.  The pouches are compact and fit along the length of
the belt so that it is easy to tell which carabiner goes to which tow
line (left side, right side).  All I need to do to make this system
perfect is to make a version which allows you  to jettison the tow line
without losing the belt (in my system a stainless ring holds the towline
to the belt, when released you let the ring slide off the belt, but you
keep the belt.  I think the convenience of two seperate lines would be
more valuable though, and at least one of the tow lines could be on a
slip-ring (the one that is anchored on the side away from the buckle),
but you probably would not want to weave this belt into your PFD, you
would need to be able to jetison the whole belt.  Any ideas out there?

If your line is connected to a slip-ring, then you shouldn't have to
jettison the whole belt.  You could attach both long and short lines via
slip D-rings and if something went wrong, it would all slide off the
belt.  You'd have to have the bag slide off too, so if something went
wrong with the "offside" rope, everything would slide out of its way.

There aren't many ways to weave a belt onto a PFD that isn't designed
for a tow/rescue belt.  Remember that sewing loops onto your PFD
technically violates USCG (and probably CanCG) approval--this doesn't
mean it's a bad or unsafe idea, just that it technically violates the
approval.

I have a NRS Rescue throw bag that is good, but I'm looking for
something better.  What you described with the releasable belt sounds
like a good idea.

Shawn
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