wow…
i wouldn’t want to play cards with you.
if ever we’re in the same place coffee, it would be my pleasure…i’d be curious to see how that works out.
Why I use a biner
One hand hook and click operation, I think I would lose a tooth trying to tie a releasable knot on a bucking bow. Although there was a one-handed bowline we learned in the old days . . .
Sounds like a plan 
Paddle easy,
Coffee
tow line on grab loop
– Last Updated: May-28-08 3:39 PM EST –
one of the reasons TO NOT do that is because if that line pulls out of the bow, you've lost the boat...on the other hand, if you clip into the deckline then even if a recessed deck fitting fails/pull out, you still have the towed boat as there are many other rdf's still securing the deckline to the towed boat.
touche
Happened last week and worked as advertised.
SS cab with eye, rope looped over and glassed in using polyester twine and epoxy. UV protection provided by tape.
Float at the bag, for the same reasons you discussed.
Strong enough to rip out fittings 
but then why wouldn’t
you just clip on to the deckline on the bow, near the grabloop?–it would be easier to tow that way—and would save you from going though all the gymnastics of threading the towline in and out etc.
that is
exactly what rick is suggesting
webbing?
If you replace the rope with webbing it won’t have a knot to get caught. Just sew a small loop at the end of the webbing and slip the biner through it.
I use a quickdraw and remove
one carabiner. Then I thread the tow line through the loop the carabiner just came from. I tie it with a figure 8 knot. Using heat shrink helps if you are worried about the tag end getting caught up. And, make sure the carabiners are smooth gates.
And then the current grabs its greater
surface area of webbing, it catches sail and prevents you from taughtening (is that a word?) the line. No thanks. Saw it happen at Alcatraz.
Dogmaticus
could be
but I personally don’t want to be in any way entangled with a person being towed. My first responsability is to myself.
tighten till taut
Rick, don’t waste your breath
– Last Updated: May-29-08 8:40 AM EST –
You're arguing with someone who has obviously never had to tow anyone who's incapacitated and apparently never paddles in conditions difficult enough that tying knots in your tow rope is simply not an option. He's a perfect example of "The answer is always obvious when you don't know what you're talking about." If he had any sense, he'd butt out and leave this discussion to people with experience on the subject.
As to your original question, the smoothest, lowest profile connection would be to splice a loop in the end of the rope for the 'biner. Barring that, your method using hog rings with heat shrink is the next best approach. Tapering the end of the rope before applying the heat shrink tubing should reduce the likelihood of snags at that point. One caveat with heat shrink tubing is that its shrink temperature is dangerously close to the melting temp of many ropes.
Floats are a problem in that they all tend to snag to some degree. Using the smallest tapered float that provides sufficient buoyancy is the best solution, unless you feel comfortable not using a float (I don't). On my Northwater rig, I tapered the float ends to the point that they cannot snag on the rope (the blunt ends of the stock float were a problem) and I allow it to slide between two overhand knots spaced a foot or so apart. Positioning the float up the rope a couple of feet or more reduces the likelihood that it will need to pass through deck lines during assisted towing, but there's no perfect answer to situations where the stabilizing paddler needs to slide up the tow line to detach the tow from the victim's boat. You just have to try to make the rope/float/knot configuration as snag-free as possible.
Try doing that in rough water
It’s not easy and the stern of your boat ends up right at the assistant or incapacitated paddler, increasing the likelihood of someone getting injured as the boats pitch around. Additionally, slack rope in the water is a hazard and can get entangled in your paddle. I’ve seen these things happen, as has Rick.
I do the same thing…
…but just use a double fisherman’s knot with a very short tail, pulled very tight, to secure the rope to the quickdraw.
dude, calm down
Really, coffee - this is not a “my balls are bigger than yours” debate forum. This is a good question and all you have done is diluted the thread.
Uhhhhhh- no…
I simply stated that a knot would be easier in the situation. Stated why… And accepted an invitation. And unfortunately won’t be playing any high-stakes poker… 
Paddle easy,
Coffee
I’ve done it in rough water
– Last Updated: May-29-08 9:53 AM EST –
didn't seem to be a problem---and I'm not really sure what you are talking about concerning the lines being taut and the stern of the boats being close to the towed boat. My tow harness has a 40 foot line and when I use it there is about 35 feet between the two boats(the tow harness is around my waist and I attach it to the bow of the other boat.
if there was a problem with boats staying up right---client in trouble etc then I would probably go with a contact tow. I never heard of anybody attaching the towline at the center of the towed boat except in a contact tow where the two kayaks are side by side.---if it was, wouldn't the towed boat have a tendancy to either lee cock or weather cock and if the client wasn't steering his or her boat would tend to go cockeyed to the guides or towers boat--wouldn't it? So if your client(towee) doesn't or can't steer then what?
I do hear what you are saying about the two boats hitting each other in rough water but you would have that anyway if you went through the gymastics suggested above when you hook up the tow line and by the time it comes off wouldn't you hopefully be in calmer water? It seems to be a matter of chosing---neither choice may be good but I would rather attach at the bow---easier tow and with a binner not real hard to take off at the end of the tow.
I reread your post
and do see what you mean about back paddling and bumping into the boat being towed–that is a hazard but with care could be avoided, in most conditions anyway—In some it might be a real problem–5-6 footers, 30 -40 knot winds but I still think it would be easier and safer to do the bow tow. I can’t see how the center tow would be used if the client or towee isn’t able to steer—but then I suppose if they couldn’t steer then I would be using a contact tow.
in the words of Devo
whip it.
no float and whip the line to a small marine biner. use strong braided fishing line. smallest profile I can come up with.
what a bunch of crap to get to a simple answer.
steve