I’ve been wanting to get some d-rings for my canoe so I can tie down a couple of canoe packs and a cooler with 3/8 rope. Should I use 1 inch or 2 inch d-rings? I’ve also seen 1.5 inch recently.
A while ago deuce and FatElmo recommended 2 inch for this purpose, but now that I’m finally ready to order, they do seem big. Is that what people are commonly using?
look over
http://search.nrs.com/search?w=d-ring%20patches
patches have different D ring attachments: d ring into the patch, d ring strap into the patch. The strap attach is more $$ esp. if your having more than one.
Strapping the ring reduces pull out strain on the patch.
With NRS, call or email for a recommendation for your hull as to patch and glue.
Rope is a waste. You need to d ring patch the cooler and bags then strap d-ring to d-ring.
Coolers cannot be roped down. Please do not object to this by direct email.
I’d glue some Velcro for the cooler (Seattle Fabrics) on leveling shims flattening out the hull curve. You supply the shims.
Some points
Will you be tying several items down using the same D ring(s)?
If yes I would use 2"
If you are looking to tie down some heavy stuff, (cooler ?) the 2" is probably sturdier.
If you will be just using one rope per D-ring and it is not heavy stuff, I would use the 1"
Good luck
Jack L
Unless
you’re really watching your pennies I’d still suggest two inch. Too big is no problem, while too small… If you are watching your pennies I agree that two inch patches for a cooler and one inch patches for bags would probably be sufficient.
Regarding coolers; you didn’t ask, but I like to use two or three softies. They tuck into the bow and stern nicely rather than eating up a bunch of space in the center of the boat. If you do want to secure a hard cooler rope works fine despite nonsensical ravings to the contrary.
As for securing bags, I often like to run rope or cam straps in an X across the load from seat to yoke. Holds very well in the event of a flip (Don’t ask me how I know! :)) and is easy to undo and redo as necessary.
There are many ways to do it really. Figuring them out is part of the fun to me.
I’m confused. Are we talking patch
diameter, or ring diameter? I would not consider a 1" patch sufficient for anything, but a 1" ring on a 2 or more inch patch would hold more than one rope. Patches I have dealt with have been 2.5" or more. I would consider a 2" ring unnecessarily clunky.
Why are you posting under my post ?
I said what I would do
Jack L
1 or 2 inch ring diameter
is what I meant. The patches are much larger. The Harmony ones, for example, are 5 and 6 inches, respectively.
No reason in particular.
Did you take offense at something I said? Certainly none intended.
I’d go for the smaller 1"
You don’t need 2" rings to tie down gear. I’ve usually seen those for straps. They can be big and clunky.
Probably 1 inch
I have used 2 inch D rings for thigh straps which are 2 inches in diameter and require a large ring.
Strength-wise I think 1 inch rings are sufficient for just about all other uses but if you wanted to attach several carabiners to a single anchor, say to secure a water bottle, throw bag, dry bag(s), etc, you might require the larger surface provided by a 2" ring.
But I have more recently avoided metal D rings whenever possible. My experience is that even stainless D rings will eventually pit or rust, and from what I have seen D rings available today are not as good as they used to be.
The anchors that use only a loop of sewn-in webbing are plenty strong.
Webbing Anchors
Only problem with those is the webbing rots, weakens and breaks. Going through that now with my Vertige. It’s fixable of course, but just something to consider. No anchor is perfect; just part of the game.
Webbing anchors
Good idea - they hold the float bags in my WW boat, and they are plenty strong. If the webbing ever breaks you can use a razor blade to cut the the webbing from the patch, and then glue the new patch right over the old one.
Is the problem with rusting, pitting,
that the D-ring will then tend to wear through rope or webbing? Otherwise, it might take a long time for one to corrode enough to fail.
No
They don’t fail. They just look ugly.
I have never had an anchor with a webbing loop fail, nor have I had any of the tubular nylon webbing anchors I have glassed into boats fail, but I would imagine that quality and material varies among manufacturers.
But with few exceptions all of the steel D ring anchors I have used are secured to the vinyl patch with sewn-on webbing so I would expect them to be subject to the same type of failure. I have seen steel D rings fail because the stitches securing the webbing and D ring to the patch give way.
Makes sense…
I too have recently seen the 2 inch rings installed for thigh straps where they looked entirely appropriate, if clunky. That’s when I thought they might be a little big for tie-downs (I’ll probably have 7 of them).
My dog’s 1 inch ring allowed me to knot an anchor hitch, which passes the rope through the ring twice, and still be able to fit a carabiner. To increase attachment space for water bottle etc I could just click in a large carabiner and then attach more stuff to that.
I still prefer the metal rings to webbing loops for threading and especially tightening rope which I expect would run smoother and with less friction through the rings than through webbing loops.
Whitewater Designs makes some nice 1.5 inch d-rings but they don’t sell directly to consumers and none of their dealers (eg Cascade Outfitters) seem to carry that size.
Webbing
In my case what’s failed is the loop itself. There’s a strap running the length of the air bag and through the loop. Over time the loop has worn completely through. Not a huge deal as the bag cages are sufficient to retain the bags without the straps anyway.
Interesting
Was that a Northwater anchor, Luke?
I would like to avoid whatever brand it was in the future.
Could be. The anchors were already
on there when I got the boat but I seem to recall that Esquif used Northwater components at some point. I just looked at Northwater’s anchors on line and they look kind of similar, rectangular patch with red webbing, but they appear to have much beefier webbing than mine. Maybe they improved them.