Why switch from Steel Cable to Synthetic Winchlines? Safety, Strength, & Ease of Handling

Safety: Both steel and synthetic winchlines give a very small amount of stretch, the equivalent of less than 1% at breaking pressure. This tiny amount of stretch stores kinetic energy that is released when the line breaks. Since steel winchline is much heavier than synthetic winchline, the force of that stored energy is devastatingly powerful, particularly dangerous with people near. The synthetic line is so light and therefore stores less kinetic energy, which when released, the winchline virtually falls to the ground with a fraction of the force of steel. For this reason, 4x4 offroad racing sanctioning bodies do not allow steel cables because of their inherent danger. Synthetic winchlines are now mandatory.

Training: While synthetic winchlines are much safer, recovery operations are still dangerous and we encourage all winch owners with steel or synthetic winchlines to attend safety and training classes from certified trainers such as: Bill Burke, Tom Severin, Bruce Elfstrom, Garrett Porterfield and Overland Training. See I4WDTA for more information.

Ease of Handling: Steel winch cables have a tendency to kink, rust, and have very sharp strands once nicked. They also tend to straighten by the nature of the material making them harder to spool back on the winch properly. Our synthetic winchlines have none of these problems. However, synthetic lines are more susceptible to sharp edges (bumpers in particular) and heat, but they are much stronger, safer and easier to work with.

Strength: Dyneema® synthetic winchline fiber is up to 15 times stronger than quality steel and 40% stronger than Aramid fibers on weight for weight basis. This means the replacement synthetic winchline is typically 35-45% stronger than steel cable! Steel cables are typically sized to match the strength of a winch. For example a 9,500 lb capacity winch will have roughly a 9,500-10,000 lb capacity steel cable. The replacement synthetic line would be 5/16" (7.9mm) or 3/8" (9.5mm). Our Viking Winchlines are rated at 12,300 lb (6 metric ton) for the 5/16" and 17,600 lb (8 metric ton) for 3/8", making them approximately 23% and 46% stronger on the conservative side.

A note about "rated" strength of recovery equipment for vehicles. There is no governing criteria to measure the strength of products used in vehicle recovery. Some products like hooks and shackles come from Overhead Lifting industry that has strict rules about strength measurements and safety factors. This is where WLL comes from. WLL is Working Load Limit. Typically a run of the mill Shackle for example will have a WLL of 4.75 US Ton with a 4:1 safety factor or approximately a 38,000 Lb. breaking strength. When it comes to the breaking strength of rope it becomes even more confusing. There are several methods by which rope is measured, and comparing these data is like comparing apples and oranges. In the past we have taken the widely accepted average breaking strength. However, Viking Offroad has taken a lead by leveling the field with a straight forward measurement: MBS or Minimum Breaking Strength. Now all measurements of strength of our products will live by these rules. Rated shackles will be posted in our literature with their MBS, rather than WLL, and all our ropes including winchlines will carry the same MBS rating. This will appear that our winchlines are not as strong as the advertised strenght of others. But in reality, you will not know the truth about other winchlines/ropes until true MBS is revealed. In addition, our winchlines are break tested with eyes, whereas some ropes are lab tested without eyes. It would do no good giving out a number that is lab tested without eyes. It's not the real world, beacause you need eyes on your rope to connect it to a Tree Saver or another vehicle. Bottom line is AmSteel Blue is made from the strongest fiber available: Dyneema SK-75, and with a viking winchline you can be assured of the best quality US and European made goods. No imitations accepted.

Buyer Beware: There are variations of very strong synthetic ropes that we have seen on the market. These can include Amsteel rather than AmSteel-Blue (both can be blue and virtually indistinguishable) and Dyneema SK-60 available as well. Viking Offroad will never substitute synthetic ropes of lesser strength or quality. We always use genuine AmSteel-Blue™ (Viking Trail Line) for our winchlines.

Viking Winchlines© are Genuine AmSteel-Blue™ with Samthane™, a special coating to help resist abrasion. The raw material in AmSteel-Blue™ is made from Genuine Dyneema® SK-75 HMPE fiber, "which is the worlds strongest fiber™" made by DSM in the Netherlands.

Viking Trail Lines are used in many areas: Recreational four wheeling, racing, ATV's, and towing industry. They are also used by the top trainers in the world including several military groups such as Navy Seals, Army Rangers and the Marines. Additional government agencies use our winchlines including Fire and Police Departments, US Forest Service, and California Coast Lifeguards. (Note: not all US gov't agencies use synthetic recovery gear, typically only parts of these agencies do. If you work for a gov't agency and do not currently use synthetic winchlines, discuss this option with a supervisor or purchasing agent).