Reminder to replace your aging handles and ropes

[o2bnMaine]

I have never had a the rope attached to my handle snap before. That was a new one. So, here's a PSA to replace old equipment.

 

My back is very sore from the abrupt change of lots of tension (wake crossing @ 32-off) to hitting the wake on my side. Last week, I noticed the handle grip was down to bare metal for both hand positions. I had a tickler to get a new handle when visiting my favorite ski shop in Maine in a few weeks. I shouldn't have waited... I'll do what I do with impellers from now on... I'll get a spare and always have one brand new spare ready to go in the boat.

 

 

[DavidN]

Ouch!

[thager]

Holy Crap!

[Minelickskier]

Looks like you got your moneys worth though!

[skimtb]

Ouch. How old / how many sets?

[fu_man]

That looks like a dog toy.

[Minelickskier]

I have about 8 like that hanging on my ski wall in the garage

[Andre]

That handle was way behind toasted!

[Rednucleus]

That handle looks more worn than my car (85 Nissan 200SX)

[Killer]

Ya that handle was done about 300 sets ago (or more). I wouldn't have tried that to a tree to practice. You got Lucky

[Horton]

@o2bnMaine if you had shown up at my dock with that handle I would not have a allowed you to ski and would have berated you and given you a long lecture about safety.

[dbutcher]

There is a website that has a good price on slalom ropes and handles right now. It is not an advertiser on BOS so I won't identify it. Private message me if you want.

[Horton]

@dbutcher

 

[aupatking]

My 7 year old broke the handle on her skimmer today. I told her it was either pulling to hard from the ball to the wake or it was an old rotten wood handle. Could have been either.

[BraceMaker]

Just a suggestion a spare isn't a bad idea but it's going to be in better shape if you don't keep it in the boat.

[dave2ball]

That handle shown is absolutely toasted. The sun has dries out the rubber and

the rope fibers. If you handle starts to frey just pay the money and have it retied. It will break. The ER visit and possible loss f work and physical pain is

not worth the risk

[BlueSki]

Not to pile on, but if this encourages someone else to get a new handle, it seems that you are lucky it snapped where it did instead of inside the triangle. Imagine holding holding the handle square and having it ripped from your hands from only one side. Odds are that at least one of your thumbs would be hurt badly enough to impact the rest of your season. Glad you are just a bit sore. On a positive note, you are not alone, Corey Vaughan posted a rope snap crash recently.

[MISkier]

I regret that, as Chief Safety, I did not stop @RAWSki from skiing at a tournament last year. I did question the safety of his handle and he did break it in that very round. Thankfully, he was not injured, but it could have been prevented.

 

A fellow skier at my club a couple years ago noticed an issue with my handle and asked if I really planned to ski it. I was unaware of it and, upon inspection, retrieved my backup handle from the car. I had the bad handle restrung immediately.

[vtmecheng]

Ropes and handles cost way less than a doctor, ER, or even an X-ray for me. I just buy a new one every year and don't worry about it. Just me though.

[Rednucleus]

@Horton I expected that handle pic was worth at least 10 Pandas!

[PatM]

I think @Horton mentioned it before - if you are skiing a lot(5-7 days a week) - new handle and rope at least once a year. I ski 3-4 days a week and I switch handle and rope every 2 years (sometimes sooner). Your elbows alone will thank you.

[rayn]

I know it is time for a new handle when the rubber starts to get indentations in it from my hands and my hands start hurting at the callous(blister) points. For me that is once a year skiing 3-4 sets a week, 8 months a year. Handle and rope get replaced at the same time.

[o2bnMaine]

In 35 years of slalom skiing this is the only time I've broken a handle. I can't remember breaking a rope either. My friends have broken ropes while I've been in the boat. This time, I think what I failed to take into account is that most of my time on the water prior to 2017 was freeskiing at 22-off. I may go ski 10-12 miles each Friday, Saturday and Sunday for 6 months, but the forces I'd put on the rope don't compare to skiing in the course at 32-off. Still, poor judgement on my part. I knew it was getting old for a while. I was hoping it would last two more weeks... famous last words. Luckily, my back only got a little from the crash. I'm back to 100%. My punishment/penance is having to use a 12-inch handle for a few weeks.

 

@skimtb Probably 2~ years old, my wife and I ski 4-6 days a week all year 'round. Usually just 1 set per day. Rarely more, but it does happen.

 

@BraceMaker I just pulled out the "new" rope I bought when I replaced my last one, which was probably 1 1/2 years ago. It is in perfect shape. I keep the spares under the dash, off the ground so it never even gets wet.

 

@BlueSki I asked my wife too. Neither of us use our thumbs when gripping the rope. My overhand grip actually puts the thumb on the outside of the handle most of the time. My underhand grip doesn't rely on my thumb either. We both use a very relaxed grip where we just use our fingers. It is something I started doing for windsurfing and transferred it to waterskiing. Still, good advice for those who grip the handle to the palm. No matter how it breaks, it isn't fun.

[BlueSki]

@o2bnMaine, I have an old ski buddy that took a set behind another friend’s boat. He didn’t have his handle so he borrowed the straighline handle that was on the boat. This was years ago, and apparently some of those straightline handles had plastic plug that held the rope and went into handle bar, the rope was not threaded threw holes in the bar. Upon “hit it” the plug popped out of the bar, ripping the handle from his hands only from one side. The bar torqued in his hands, one side pulled to the boat and the other breaking free, rotating back to him. Even if the handle was in his fingertips, he had a 12” piece of metal being twisted out of his hands from one side. That sucked. So if anyone has an old straightline handle they love, it might be time to move on to something better.

[Chef23]

I have had a handle break in the past and replace them every other year right now because I don’t ski that much. That said if my handle looks worn or frayed at all (and that handle clearly was) I replace it immediately. I have had one handle break that didn’t show any sign of wear and it wasn’t fun. It is definitely worth the small investment to replace your rope and handle once a year.

[MISkier]

This is the handle from my previous post that my ski partner noticed. I thanked him several times. I bet it wouldn’t have lasted a full pass. Oddly enough, the rest of the rope looked fine - no weathering, no fraying.