Hook or thimble for synthetic line on a Wrangler Unlimited?

[KG4NEL]

After too many solo trips, I've decided I'm finally getting a winch for my '12 JKUR. Looking at a Warn XD9000i, and replacing the steel cable with 3/8" syn. My only question is - would you prefer a safety thimble setup, or a traditional (probably Excel) hook? Is having your hand pulled into the fairlead *that* worrisome - there must be a spate of people texting while winching these days :elkgrin: Cost seems to be about the same between the two options.

Thanks!

 

[tarditi]

In the past, I have always rigged my winch line to a tree strap or anchor system with clevis anyway... to me, replacing the hook with a thimble makes it easier to set up and it doesn't need to have any tension to keep the hook in place.

 

[LR Max]

Thimble. Its what I run and its fine.

Go talk to Steve at southeastoverland.com about synthetic. He has all kinda options and good pricing.

 

[KG4NEL]

Thimble. Its what I run and its fine.

Go talk to Steve at southeastoverland.com about synthetic. He has all kinda options and good pricing.

I had no idea that place existed, and I bought my Jeep in Seneca from the previous owner

 

[Airmapper]

I like a thimble. With the shackle once it's hooked up it's not coming undone on it's own no matter what.

People with hooks are tempted to wrap it around and hook it back onto the line, that's not a good thing to do....

Be sure and get the kind with the sort of teardrop shaped hole. It allows for putting either the pin or bow end of a shackle in there. This is useful if you double the line through a snatch block and back to your own bumper, you only need one shackle to make the connection.

 

[Warn Industries]

For what it's worth, the red WARN hook strap is specifically for grabbing onto vs grabbing onto the hook. It keeps your hand just that much farther from the winch's fairlead.

Another option is to look at our Epic Hook. They are forged, powdercoated and e-coated, have a durable safety clasp, and different look. It also may just have a bottle opener built into it. Just sayin'.

- Andy

 

[Comanche Scott]

Depends on the use (imo)

I think for self extraction or extracting others with extraction points, a thimble is pretty cool.

For those who do a lot of general purpose work (clearing property, moving logs off a trail, moving dead vehicles, etc) or work with chains, a hook is hard to beat because it is so fast to use.
I use hooks on both my winches (one with synthetic, the other with wire rope), because the majority of what I'm doing is not extractions.
I also like to keep a bit of rope out loose from the fairlead, like in this picture below, so that it doesn't bind up the clutch. But again, this is more a personal choice for speed.

So for someone who will use their winch once in a blue moon, if they or someone else gets stuck, my thought is the thimble is a pretty cool tool. Slowing down and paying attention to safety by being forced to use bow rings, is a good thing.
For those who work their winches consistently, a hook is going to make life easier.

But that is just my personal opinion.

 

[Webfoot]

People with hooks are tempted to wrap it around and hook it back onto the line, that's not a good thing to do....

Pardon my ignorance (I don't have a winch) but why is that not a good thing to do? A tensionless hitch works great in other applications; why not here?

 

[Airmapper]

Pardon my ignorance (I don't have a winch) but why is that not a good thing to do? A tensionless hitch works great in other applications; why not here?

I had to look that up and a tensionless hitch might be a good way to do it. I've never seen any references to it for vehicle winches, now I'm curious why. One thing I do see is you would want a thick and durable line protector over the synthetic line. I'd guess the risk of line abrasion is the reason it is not more common.

I was referring to the more common habit of inexperienced winchers that go up to a tree, sling the rope behind it and hook back in. Not multiple wraps. This damages the line and/ or the tree it's attached to. When the line tightens it digs in and it will cut the line up on the bark and under tension it becomes much easier for something to dig in and cut it, making a snapped line much more likely. Granted synthetic is not as hard on trees as the steel cable counterpart. You will still have digging and sliding which the synthetic line cannot tolerate as well.

Abrasion resistance is one of the few drawbacks of synthetic line, but if you rig it properly it's not a problem.

Overall my answer is it's best to rig your line so that no part of it is in contact with anything other than proper connections like via a thimble or through a smooth snatch block. If the line is going to break, it will be more likely to do so anywhere it is kinked or rubbing something.

 

[red EOD veteran]

Pardon my ignorance (I don't have a winch) but why is that not a good thing to do? A tensionless hitch works great in other applications; why not here?

The other problem with wrapping the cable around an object and hooking it back onto itself is you create what's called a 'choker'. Rigging that way reduces the strength of the line by about 40%, making a 10,000 lb rated line only able to pull 6,000 lb before it will break. With a steel cable rigging a choker causes permanent damage to the cable and creates a weak spot.

 

[Comanche Scott]

Sap on a rope

If you think about it, a tension-less hitch is similar in concept to how the winch cable is kept on the drum. It's the wraps of cable that keep it secure.

I've used a tension-less hitch to pull logs off the trail with the synthetic winch line (was in a hurry ). Made quick work on the trail, but sure created a lot of clean up work to get all the sap, grit and bark out of the rope back home.

Once the rope starts getting sap on it, it's just nasty to work with. Think I'd rather deal with mud, than sap. Don't really care so much with a tree strap (or chain when moving downed logs). The tree strap can be tossed in a wash bag to clean it, and sap comes off pretty nice with WD40 on a chain.

 

[RedF]

Personally I think those winch thimbles are a gimmick. They are insanely overpriced for what they accomplish.

 

[SilicaRich]

Personally I think those winch thimbles are a gimmick. They are insanely overpriced for what they accomplish.

That's my thought, seem to be more of a novelty item to most too. Never had an issue using my hook

 

[Airmapper]

Personally I think those winch thimbles are a gimmick. They are insanely overpriced for what they accomplish.

I don't think the thimble itself is a gimmick, it's a good design and serves a purpose. But you have to keep in mind they are intended for synthetic line use and for vehicle recovery, so they are not meant to be quick to use.

But I totally agree on them being overpriced. I gave maybe $120 for mine, which is under half what the "popular" (*cough* Factor 55 *cough*) ones go for.

If you look at what it takes to make one, in terms of a chunk of aluminum and CNC machining, $120 is reasonable. $300+, yeah your getting ripped off.

I quote machined parts in my job, tooling specific to our in house machines so it's all specialized. $300 for that part is a price you would get if you designed it yourself and wanted to have a custom one off built for you.

$120 I can buy as being a reasonable price given the shop is tooled up with fixtures for making them in mass. Price goes down in quantity, with the thimble I bought they passed along that cost reduction into the retail price.

 

[KG4NEL]

Now I'm just totally stumped on what Warn to get. :coffeedrink:

90% made up my mind on an XD9000i, but then I see this TJ yesterday with a 9.5xp that gives me a moment of pause...