I was wondering if I could use 3/16" Amsteel (grey) for my spin halyard/retreval line or is it too hard on your hands?
Matt
Yes and also I think it would be dificult to cleat without slipping or wear on the line itself. Where is Trey when you need your line quesitons answered. lol
Do not use an uncovered 12-strand line for a spin halyard. While it is fine to strip/taper a halyard, cleating on the line will wear it excessively and cause it to fail. Also, you are going to find that 3/16" uncovered line to be very very harsh on your hands, and when it is under load, it can and probably will cut you. Finally, it will be very slick, and you will have a hard time gripping it unless you wrap it around your hand (=bad). I would cover the part you will be handling. If you want to talk about having that done, send me a private message (pm).
on the Tornado we use 5mm FSE Wega (like Samson warpspeed) with the cover stripped for the top part of the halyard. you just cant hold the casing by itself.
On the Super Taipan we use a rope that is very much like the Maffioli swiftcord, its pretty awesome and very easy to set up (no need to strip the casing etc)
if you want a simple setup that is good on your hands and has no stretch then use the maffioli, if you want funky then strip the casing off a rope like warpspeed etc.
3/16" is probably the minimum size you want to use for a spin halyard. 1/4" is probably closer to what you need. You will never hear the end of it from your crew if you use Amsteel for the Halyard - it would be impossible to grip.