check your equipment / Pro Ski Coach Water Ski Forum

2gofaster · #1 Thu, Jun 17, 2010 1:34 PM

Before you or someone gets hurt. We used one of my older ropes last night. My ski partner rounded 4 at 38off/36mph, got back on the handle and BAM!!! I thought he'd popped the handle and it had hit the back of the boat, it was so loud. But then I realized that every bit of the rope had landed in the observer seat. Turns out the rope broke 1 ft below the handle loop. When I got back to him, he was sucking wind big time. His hands and the handle came back into his rib cage, leaving a big bruise on one side.........and then he pounded the first wake leaving a big bruise on the other side! Luckily, that's all the damage.

The point being, you should really check ropes and handles and replace them at intervals. I'd been saying I needed to replace that rope for a month, as it was from our fall tournament in 2008. I just hadn't gotten around to ordering one, which turned out to be a big mistake.

h20dawg79 · #2 Thu, Jun 17, 2010 2:30 PM

What kinds of tell tell wear signs are there on that Rope?

Is it frayed a little near the break or else where?

Is it faded near the break or else where?

Thanx!

tjo · #3 Thu, Jun 17, 2010 2:58 PM

I had a rope break on me last season. Happened as I was crossing the wakes (under heavy load). It was not a fun feeling.

2gofaster · #4 Thu, Jun 17, 2010 3:00 PM

The interesting thing is that rope showed no signs of abrasions or fraying where it broke. I was going to replace it because it was almost 2 years old and the take off loops were starting to fray a bit from the pylon wear. It actually broke in the doubled up part of the rope near the handle end. . So they loop the end then run the rope back in itself for about 18 inches and it broke in the middle of that section. The internal section was a clean break. As if it was brittle. The rope is bright white so hard to detect any fading. I would have to assume heat and UV deterioration.

kstateskier · #5 Thu, Jun 17, 2010 6:13 PM

I just broke a 4 year old slalom handle a week ago on an up... Glad it happened there rather than during my set. It could have been bad! Lesson learned, use a handle/rope for a season or two and then retire it!

Skiboy · #6 Thu, Jun 17, 2010 6:47 PM

same thing happened a couple years ago, i know its overkill, but i replace my rope every year now. Better safe than sorry.

Killer · #7 Thu, Jun 17, 2010 6:56 PM

my brother broke his thumb after a handle busted.

I make sure I keep them out of the sun, and wound up nice. I only use my ropes/handles a few months and a few days per month all year so they last at least 2-3 years and are still in decent shape after that.

miski · #8 Thu, Jun 17, 2010 9:16 PM

Hope your buddy is ok - he needs to make sure his ribs all stay moving - they can get worse after a few days or even weeks. Once your ribs quit moving properly, they can start cranking the vertebra they are attached to around and it all gets worse fromt there.

aslalomboy · #9 Fri, Jun 18, 2010 5:12 AM

A few times I've had relatively new equipment (less than 6 months old) that appears to be in good shape break on me - Never a rope, but some handles and a ski. Luckily I've only had a sore hand from these failures. Gotta be proactive with equipment maintenance, and even then something may still break on you.