How to choose the right rope for your boat? Typically, you can expect that the manufacturer has already done that for you. As an average boater, you don’t have to worry about that too much. However, you may need to replace them yourself. After all, ropes and lines are susceptible to wear and tear, even the best ones.

That is why I picked 5 best boat ropes and lines and made a buyer’s guide for your convenience.






Top 5 Best Spinning Reel Picks in 2019

1Rainier Dock Lines — Best Docking Line

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Docking without a rope is quite hard. That is why you need the best boat line to be able to moor your boat without any problem at all.

This rope is made out of nylon. We are now that nylon is robust synthetic fiber. It is water resistant, although it does absorb some water, and that makes it a little bit heavier.

This dock line has excellent shock absorption, and that’s why it is so good for mooring your boat.

Pros

  • Excellent for mooring the boat

Cons

  • Not the best fit for a halyard


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2Rainier Anchor Rope — Ideal for Smaller Anchors

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If Rainier can handle making dock lines, they can definitely handle making anchor rope. This is where you need the strength of nylon the most. Many other materials are suitable for making anchor ropes, however, when it comes to the rode, nylon is really one of the best materials that you can get.

Pros

  • High stretchability. Exactly what you need for small anchors.
  • Durable
  • Snap-hook and timble included

Cons

  • You have to be careful when choosing your anchor


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3Amarine Anchor Line ⁠ — Best for Massive Anchors

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How heavy is your anchor? If it’s not heavier than 1,000lbs, you can safely use this rope. It is precisely that strong, and it also has a textile strength that is 5 times bigger. It’s a heavy-duty rope that will surely come in handy sometime in the future, sooner or later.

Pros

  • A heavy duty rope
  • Double braided. Reduced wear and tear

Cons

  • Risk of oversizing


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4Extreme Max 3006.2514 — Best for Medium Anchors

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While this is not the most durable rope you can find, you probably don’t need the most robust rope. And this rope is not the strongest. However, it is powerful. What’s more important, it’s cheap, cheaper than those ropes that can handle more than 1,000 lbs.

Pros

  • Included timble
  • Durable
  • Robust

Cons

  • No snap-hook


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5SGT KNOTS Anchor Rope — Best Bang for the Buck

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Resistance is one thing, however, if you’re up to handling more than raw strength. It can handle UV radiation, salt water, oil, gas, and other things like that. It is probably a good idea to purchase this rope and not some other rope that is strong but can’t handle those factors.

Pros

  • Enhanced protection
  • Acceptable durability

Cons

  • High stretch. Usually, that would be a pro, but the product is described as a low stretch rope


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Buyer’s Guide

Material 

Every boater and angler knows how vital the rigging the boat is. To guarantee your safety during your journey and stability after mooring, you need to choose ropes made from a particular material, depending on the purpose. 

Sisal

Sisal agave fiber is grown in hot and humid climates. It is very durable for a natural fiber, but it stiffens and hardens under the influence of moisture. That makes it suboptimal for marine application.

Manila 

Manila is a bot more exotic than sisal. It is produced from banana leaves, and it is resistant to seawater, flexible, and reliable. Manila ropes are suitable for mooring or anchoring cables. It is probably the best natural fiber for a marine line.

Hemp

A line made of hemp fiber will be resistant to weather conditions and abrasion. That’s good. The bad thing is it’s going to absorb moisture and swell, stiffening as it grows damp. Hemp ropes have a considerable density, and they are not really flexible. Still, they are suitable for halyards.

Cotton

We all know they make clothes out of this type of fiber. But ropes are often made from cotton as well. Cotton is good for soft ropes that will not stiffen when wet. But they are still not really great when it comes to marine application. Their maintenance is problematic, and cotton is susceptible to rot, especially if stored in damp, sealed rooms.

Coconut 

Coconut fiber is excellent for making ropes. They will be flexible and wear-proof. Coconut fiber ropes are also lighter than water, but they are very susceptible to rotting. 

Nylon 

Also known as polyamide, nylon was invented in 1935 in the United States. Its features were impressive enough that it was reserved for military used for five years until it was employed in the production of civilian clothing in 1940. Nylon fibers are known for their high strength and wear resistance. However, nylon is sensitive to UV radiation and acidic solutions.

On the other hand, nylon can be treated to make it less susceptible to harmful factors. When it comes to ropes, the most essential features of nylon are its high flexibility, which makes them unsuitable for making halyards. Like all synthetic fibers, nylon does not rot.

Polyester

Polyester is often employed in the production of waterproof clothes. However, it is also a suitable material for marine ropes. Polyester is durable and, unlike untreated nylon, UV-resistant. However, it can’t resist hydroxides and alkalis. So if you use polyester ropes, you better check out what’s your detergent is made of, because it just might contain sodium hydrate. Polyester and sodium hydrate don’t get along, at all. Polyester ropes are not stretchy and, therefore, often used as halyards.

Polypropylene

If you don’t like how nylon and polyester can’t handle aggressive substances, you might like polypropylene ropes. It has an extremely high resistance to chemicals, and it’s also wear-resistant, lightweight, and doesn’t absorb moisture. Polypropylene also is elastic, and that makes it suitable for making mooring lines and anchor lines.

Polyethylene

Polyethylene ropes are something I would never recommend to anyone at all. Yes, it’s cheap, UV-resistant, and it’s also resistant to chemicals. But its disadvantages are too much. Polyethylene shrinks when heated, it is weak against wear, and it’s very slippery. Not many boaters use them, and those who do, regret it sooner or later.

High-modulus Polyethylene

Not to be confused with regular PE. Despite the name and origin, the ropes made of these two materials are nothing alike. High-modulus polyethylene ropes are known for their enormous strength and minimal stretchability. Despite the relatively high price, they are perfect for boats and marine application in general, especially halyards.

Aramid 

Even if you are not familiar with the word, you might have heard the other name⁠—Kevlar. Aramid fiber is about 5.5 times lighter than steel, but its tensile strength is just as high, and it does not conduct electricity. It’s inflammable, unlike many synthetic and natural fibers, and it’s not elastic by any margin. Kevlar ropes make a suitable replacement for steel ropes. However, I don’t think that you need steel ropes for your boat, and therefore, you don’t need kevlar ropes. They are hard to maintain, and that makes them less convenient, anyway.

Vectran

Vectran is an artificial fiber made from a liquid crystal polymer invented by Celanese Corporation. It is a durable, chemically inert material that maintains durability at higher temperatures. It gradually loses its strength only above 220°C (428°F) and melts only at 330°C (626°F). That’s more than a boater needs. It’s safe to assume that if the temperature onboard is that high, you have more significant problems on hand than a melting rope.

Vectran is exceptionally susceptible to UV-radiation. If Vectran fibers in your rope are not coated with polyurethane, you should not expect resistance to ultraviolet radiation. Due to its high density, Vectran is sinkable in water.

Zylon

Basically, a nylon 2.0 of sorts, except there is nothing in common, except a similarly sounding name and basic features. Zylon fibers have more than twice the performance⁠—tensile strength and tensile modulus⁠—than kevlar fiber. Zylon is also nigh-inflammable compared to other polymer fibers. It only burns when the amount of oxygen is above 68 percent, and that kind of situation is not likely to occur naturally. Zylon is great for rigid and semi-rigid ropes.

Dimensions

The material is not everything. Even if you use the best kind of fiber, it’s not infinitely strong and durable. If you don’t use enough of it, it can break.

Although such terms as length and diameter are self-explanatory, the knowledge of how these parameters affect the ropes and navigation can be beneficial.

Oversizing

Undersizing is straightforward. You can see how it can go ugly even without my input. However, oversizing is also a problem. For small vessel, you should pay attention to the weight that you load on the deck.

 

The durability of synthetic ropes means that a 4mm rope is sufficient for rigid rigging on small boats up to 5 people of the crew. But don’t take it for granted. Your user manual is your best friend, and not just when it comes to boats. What I’m trying to say, it is worth checking the documentation for a section dedicated to this issue before you proceed.

Oversizing usually means adding unnecessary weight to the boat, but sometimes, you should consider reinforcing the ropes. For example, some older boats are made for 3mm ropes. However, you can choose a 4mm synthetic rope for safety and convenience of use. Such a small difference can be meaningful only during a regatta or something like that. If you’re just boating and fishing, you may not even notice the difference.

Braided Ropes

The braid is another concept worth getting familiar with before buying the rope. The braid protects the core of the rope against mechanical damage, erosion, and sun exposure. So even if you have an untreated nylon rope, as long as it braided in some other material, you don’t have to worry about UV-radiation damaging it. Besides, the braid increases traction, and the grip improvement makes working with the rope easier.

Braids are usually made of polyester fibers and polypropylene silk. That makes working with rope easier, and that’s is why braided ropes are critical wherever you’ll need to pull it by hand. On the other hand, braiding is not very important for permanent rigging.

Stretchability

When you buy a rope, you will surely find some sort of indication of how elastic or stretchable it is. Different manufacturers use different terms to denote the same thing. Sometimes, it will be something as basic as “elasticity factor” or “stretchability,” sometimes, something more sophisticated. 

Regardless of the name, the degree to which the rope can stretch can be expressed as a  percentage.

A 20% stretchability means that the rope will stretch by 20% of its length. The longer the rope and the stronger the load, the more the rope will stretch. The diameter also influences the maximal degree of stretchability.

Don’t Buy, Maintain

The lifetime of a rope depends on several factors. You need to choose the right rope, and you have to maintain it well. For example, if you need to tag the rope by hand, you need to get a braided rope. You also need a braided rope if you need to run it through some sort of a cleat. Otherwise, the constant rubbing will wear the rope. Cleats generally have an adverse effect on the performance of ropes. Without adequate protection, they guarantee accelerated destruction of the rope.

Maintaining a rope properly is also one of those situations where the thickness of the rope is very Important. An oversized rope will result in extra friction generated on the cleats and blocks. On the other hand, if the rope is too thin, then that little friction it is subjected to will affect it immensely.

While some synthetic materials used in the production of ropes are not UV resistant, they can still be UV stabilized after production. If your rope is not UV stabilized, you may need to do it yourself to protect it from the sun.

Not all popular rope fibers are salt resistant. Even if you think that your rope is resistant to seawater, taking some extra care of it won’t hurt. Thankfully, it’s not too difficult. All you have to do, it’s to rinse the ropes with fresh water thoroughly after each trip.

And, if you sail your boat on freshwater, you don’t even have to do that, unless the situation really calls for it. After each rinsing, however, you need to check the ropes to make sure they are not tangled. As a matter of fact, you should do it after and retreat, and not just after you rinse the ropes and your boat. 

Proper maintenance is a guarantee that your rope will serve you for a long time. A warranty is a good thing. However, no warranty will prevent you from destroying the rope. A warranty is useless if you do not take care of the rope, if it’s not clean, properly stored, and properly transported.