" but a fair bit of redesign is needed. The bag system worked well but would have been better with Velcro patches to store the ends of the tow line on the outside of the bag. Another improvement would have been to attach the bag to the towee end of the line so as not to keep losing the bag overboard! We concluded that tow ropes need to be simple and opined that any style of rudder system was likely to cause a problem with tangles." A freind 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? So far the system I like best is a bag on a towbelt used with a PFD designed to accomodate tow belts (L'Ocean, Lotus). I made my own belt with parts from a dive shop (belt and stainless steel quick release buckle for weight belts). I use a throw bag which clips to the same stainless steel ring that anchors the tow line to the tow belt (behind my back). I clip the salt water carabiner to this SS ring as well. This way I can either keep the bag with me, or let it loose for re-stuffing the line, untangling, or whatever. I use a 1/4 inch diameter braided poly line that floats and handles well, but it unties itself like houdini, so I seize the ends of the line after knotting it with re-woven figure eight knots. When stuffing the line into the bag it helps to use the daisy chain "knot" to keep the bagged line tangle free. I suppose I could carry two seperate bags (long line and short line) with slip rings and use one or the other with my current tow belt. Nick Lyle *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
Salamander makes exactly this type of throwbag combination for use in whitewater. >A freind 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? *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
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 *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
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