Both steel and synthetic. We all have had the shudeering thoughts of spooling out too far and losing the line off the drum. Here's one way to possibly prevent that from happening. The idea is simple, eye splice the synthetic around the drum. Include a custom ring terminal in the eye of the splice to start the spooling in for the first wraps. Ric and I tested the splice under a load to make sure the splice would not pull lose. This is the kind of thing that is so simple that with hindsight it seems silly that no one has done this before. Or maybe they have and I'm the last to know?

Here's the line spooled all the way out. If you look on the left side of the drum you can see my ring terminal in the eye splice to start the spool.


Here's a closer look at the ring


The angle that the line was pulling at


Ric and I set up with a snatch block anchored on that white concrete cylinder so he could use his winch to wind in while my winch was spooled all the way out. Only one wrap if you count the splice that way.


Here's the result. Not much of a load test but it was enough to drag all four tires locked up on the loose gravel. In theory it should hold the full weight of the vehicle and then some. Anybody want to volunteer their rig to test that out on a mountain side? We can let the rig roll back a few feet to create a shock load. I'll even do the splice free for you. lol