Twisted rope

[BruceEmery]

My rope curls like a pigtail after just one use. I do have a handle guard, and since I usually fall or let go during a set , the handle drags behind the boat at 55k. Does the handle guard make the rope twist more? And why does it seem to always twist the same way. Could it be the " Coreollis Effect" ? Just joking. But really, this is quite annoying, I try to staighten the rope before I ski, because I think all those twists could act like a bunjie cord.

[Wish]

Mine does the same. Drives me nuts. There is another thread on here about that. I dont even wind mine up when done. It just gets pulled in and dropped behind drivers seat in a wad. Never a knot, but always twisted.

[jayski]

put the handle on the pylon and putter down the lake, it'll unwind itself..

[skibug]

start with it untwisted and pay attention to it everytime you set back down in the water after a fall. Untwist each time. It may have 10 twists in it; but, if you keep up with it it will stay untwisted. You just have to get in a habbit of untwisting it while you sit in the water at each end of the lake.

[Than_Bogan]

Ooh I gotta try jayski's suggestion. That works great for fishing line so I can't believe I never tried for my rope.

[Chuck_Dickey]

I have a US Gear 50/50 rope and a US Gear handle with an ArmGuard on it. Never twists! I had a Masterline rope w/o an ArmGuard and it did it all the time.

 

Brenda at InTow had an ad once about no twisting.

[Ed_Johnson]

A lot of times after skiing, I will just stand on the back of the boat holding the handle, feed the line out, and fast idle back to the dock. Totally untwists the line for the next set.

 

Also, untwist it a couple turns while waiting in the water at the end helps a lot.

[GAJ0004]

I always coil up my ropes after I am done with them for the day. I put the boat end of the rope and drag it to untwist it. After that I coil it up making loops that are between 2 - 2 1/2 feet long, and I untwist it as I make each loop. When you get to the end, let the handle spin until it untwists completely. I always store mine in a rope keeper. I put the rope keeper through the boat end loop, and wrap the rope keeper around the middle of the handle. Do that after each time you ski, and you won't have a problem. Don't let anyone wrap your ropes on their arm, it will tangle up on you every time if you do.

[BruceEmery]

Thanks Chuck, I may give that a try. Would'nt ski without the handle guard, but sick of the twisted rope. Ive tried the rope without handle behind the boat trick.

[LeonL]

Some handles just seem to "propeller" when dragged after a fall. Some don't. Don't really know why.

[SkiJay]

I've noticed that as my handle gets more worn, it propellers more than when new. I've also noticed that my wear is more on the palm side of my handle than the finger side, probably due to my Clincher type gloves. Since this palm wear is always on the same side at each end of the handle, the asymmetric wear turns it into more of a propeller over time.

[BruceEmery]

Chuck, does the 50/50 rope have less stretch? Not sure my elbows, shoulders, or back could take it. I usually try to buy a new rope every year, as it will have some stretch when new.

[skihart]

Well I tried the drag the handle at idle trick last night and it didn't work. I watched the handle turn over but it seemed to turn in the wrong direction and twist the rope more?? Always turned to the passenger side of the boat.

[LeonL]

@skihart -- drag the rope w/o a handle, or drag the end that is usually on the pylon.

[Joeprunc]

Now that I read this I'm starting to think its worn out ropes. Last year I only started to notice my line twisting near the very end of the season. This season it seems to happen after each session. And now that I think about it that happened with my old ML a few years back. Looks like its time for a new rope.

[Razorskier1]

Happens to me with all ropes. My masterline did it, and so does the US gear line. I look at the rope when I get behind the boat and rotate the handle counter-clockwise until it is untwisted.

 

I always wind my ropes in with the handle in the boat. We take it off the pylon, toss it and let it drag, then wind it in with perfect loops and use a rope keeper. Still doesn't matter. The rope just gets twisted.

 

What I can definitively say is that it will be worse if you wind the rope in with the handle end in the water.

[6balls]

In order to wind your rope into the boat in a perfect loop you are putting twists in the line. Looks nice and tidy all bundled in the boat but when you go out to ski it will have twists. If it is not twisted while you ski, it won't wind neatly into the boat and you will twist it in order to do so. I don't have the solution.

[thager]

Die Purple Die? I would love to have a chance to hate it! Haven't been there since Perfect Pass.

[ropeworks]

Brenda here with In Tow. My ropes that I have seen after months or years of use have been twist free. I'm working with Bruce Emery (July 14 post) to see what I can do to alleviate his twisting problem with regard to the arm guard. I have started a blog on slalom mainlines to address slalom mainline issues. slalommainlines.blogspot.com

[bishop8950]

Pull in your rope like rock climbers do. Hard to explain in text, but coil once to your knuckles and once to your palm and repeat in loops as big as you can (your wingspan). It puts big loops in the rope rather than small ones and therefore less coils. I dont get much of a twist in my ropes and when I do I just unwind it on the dock once a week.

[McGruder]

I use Brenda's ropes (with an Arm Guard) and no longer have the twisted rope problems. All of my previous ropes would twist like mad. Don't know how she does it, but it is nice to bring the rope in with smooth loops. Thanks, Brenda.

[RB]

Been using Brenda's for a few years now, never have had a twisted rope.

 

Another helping touch is to never coil the rope until done for the day: or at all if possible.

 

When the skier is finished we reel in the rope and let it pile on the floor, leaving the handle on the seat. As the next skier goes, he grabs the handle, out the back, rope feeds out.

Never have had a tangle using this method. Not once.

[Wish]

I regret reading this post cause now the twisting is driving me nuts. Seems like after a fall when the boat comes back to pick me up is when I notice lots of twists. Tied the veried drag rope behind boat techniques with no success. Also let rope set on floor. Never coil. Now while waiting for rope to tightn I unwind it. Works.

[otisg]

The key to coiling braided lines and ropes is feel any twist with each coil (take a comfortable length with each coil) - take the left or right twist out just as the line hits your palm - make sure it lays flat - no kinks - keep a firm grip on it.

Then lay it flat, as RB says, on a seat or the engine cover works well (tends to get stepped on if left on the floor or worse) so that the rope coil un-spools from the top. After a while you'll develope a feel for it and the rope tends to get a memory.

 

Learned this from racing sailboats - where the line has to fun freely through a block or it can be a real C.F. and a lost race.

[McGruder]

@otisg you are right-on in your description on coiling, but some ropes I've used twisted all up no matter how careful I was. There is something about the latest ropes I've received from Brenda (In Tow) that is remarkable in how they don't develop the twists the way my previous ropes did. I don't know what it is, but I sure as heck like it. Brenda, can you tell us why this is? (Or maybe you don't want to reveal your secret.)