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A crusty old tender in Seattle told me my umbilical handling was a joke
He said I was letting the hose and comms cable twist like a phone cord, and that one bad kink could cost me air or comms at 150 feet. I used to just coil it fast and toss it in the bin. Now I do a proper figure-eight lay on deck, checking for twists every single time before I go in. It adds maybe two minutes to my prep, but I haven't had a single comms cutout since I started. How do you guys manage your umbilicals on a cramped barge deck?
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aaronsullivan2mo ago
That figure-eight thing sounds solid. What do you do when the deck is super slick or there's gear everywhere, like is there a backup method you fall back on?
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susan_adams2mo ago
My buddy just used a simple half hitch when his deck was a total skating rink last week.
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price.ben2mo ago
Ever see someone try a half hitch on a really thick rope? It can get sloppy fast. For a slick deck, I'd double up the half hitches or add a second one as a backup. That extra bite keeps it from sliding when things are wet or icy.
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amy_craig288d ago
Gotta call that out real quick actually. A half hitch on an icy slick deck is just asking for trouble, it can slip loose way too easy. That single loop doesn't have enough friction to hold when the rope gets wet or covered in frost. Your buddy probably got lucky it held, but it's not a reliable trick for those conditions. You're way better off with a couple of half hitches on top of each other, or a clove hitch if you want something that really bites. Slick surfaces mean you need more wraps, not less, to keep that knot from sliding.
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