Lew,

Your plan is good if you don't tune the rig much. I can spin out a ring
and change the tension in a stay with my rigging knife.

If you have a boat rigged with rings, you don't need the tape because
there is no thing to snag.

You are largely accurate that a standard cotter pin will stay in with
very little spread of the legs, but that way they can also be knocked
out without much notice. If you do that, tape in not an option.

As to why Slampoud has an in determinite mix, I have no guess. I have a
mix, rings where it take the rig apart and pins (wraped aircraft style)
where I don't.

Matt Colie

Lew Hodgett wrote:
slampoud wrote:

This is more of an encyclopedic rigging question, but perhaps someone
here could enlighten me:
is there a reason to choose a cotter pin over a cotter ring in any
application, or vice versa?

The kinds of applications I'm thinking are for locking turnbuckles and
clevis pins.


snip

I'm convinced the most misunderstood device on the planet it the lowly
cotter pin.

Cotter pins should only be about 1/4" longer than the dia of the rod,
bolt, etc, the go thru and should then only be spread at the tips about
10 degrees.

Sailing in the Great lakes region meant a 6 month season which meant a
common garden variety duct tape could survive that long.

Year around sailing areas probably need sailing tape.

Would make a little pad from duct tape, place it against the cotter pin
points, then wrap more duct tape around say a turnbuckle body to hold it
secure.

At layup time, simply cut the tape away.

I found rings to be a total waste of time.

YMMV

Lew