Length Matters

[Black_Fly]

How long a painter line do you use? To you leave it coiled or detach? Just wondering.

Mine are 25'. I generally leave it coiled with a bungee thing. They come in handy in camp at that length.

 

[recped]

My painter lines (ideally) are a minimum of 3ft/1m longer than the boat length, I do a lot of lining, ropes which are too long are dangerous so I would not go longer than 6ft/2m + boat length. If I need a longer rope I have my 60'/20m throw bag.

I coil/bungee to the decks most of the time

 

[memaquay]

I usually go with 25 feet, and I do a lot of lining. I find the extra length quite helpful, and usually leave it bungeed on the deck.

 

[alsg]

Perfect timing for this thread as I just bought a 70 foot length of line that I intend to cut into painters for my canoe.

 

[Guest]

My painter lines (ideally) are a minimum of 3ft/1m longer than the boat length, I do a lot of lining, ropes which are too long are dangerous so I would not go longer than 6ft/2m + boat length. If I need a longer rope I have my 60'/20m throw bag.

I coil/bungee to the decks most of the time

I usually go the boat length plus a couple feet. I rarely have reason to line anything. 25 feet of rope would be overkill on lakes and bays, and a sizable coil with 5/16 line. I always bring a throwbag and some extra line.

I have started removing my painters from boats stored outside and keeping the lengths of high quality floating painter line in big ziplocks labeled with the length.

Perfect timing for this thread as I just bought a 70 foot length of line that I intend to cut into painters for my canoe.

Cut in half 35 feet sounds excessive. If you bought high strength non-stretch line and use rope for your vehicle tie downs some pieces might be used there.

 

[memaquay]

If you are lining or tracking on rivers, the extra length often comes in handy. I wouldn't go to 35 feet, but 25 has served me well. I uses cheap 1/4 inch yellow poly rope, it has never let me down.

 

[EddyTurn]

I don't use painter for lining - there's a separate sick floating rope for that purpose that I attach under the boat when required. Painter's attached to a carry handle and maid of 3mm rope, around 20' long. It's used strictly for tying up and towing when wading.

 

[alsg]

My canoe is 16’ so I’m thinking around 20’

 

[PaddlingPitt]

I have a question for you, Black Fly, as I don’t know where the heart of the Shawnee Nation is. Based on very brief google searches, can I conclude that you live in, or near, the Ohio River Valley?

 

[recped]

I uses cheap 1/4 inch yellow poly rope, it has never let me down.

To each his (or her) own, personally I would not let that crappy nylon rope ANYWHERE near my hands for anything.

Proper 9mm or 10mm polyester (double braided outer with a poly core) floating line is the only thing I would use.

 

[hidden_lo]

I use a 25 line as well, simple because it was never cut and I keep it cooled then rolled on the carry handles. I haven't needed to line very often and I usually just use it to tie the boat to shore so it doesn't blow away. The length has come in handy where trees or rocks were a distance from the water and when being used as a shelter rope in camp

 

[Guest]

Proper 9mm or 10mm polyester (double braided outer with a poly core) floating line is the only thing I would use.

Sounds good to me diameter wise. I like something hand-kindly for when I’m towing the boat across shallows or up some ledge.

I use mostly 5/16” (8mm), but settle for ¼” (6.3mm) line on the decked boats or for lighter duty expectations, both floating line from Bluewater Ropes.

 

[dougd]

I use to use 12' but very quickly found that was too short unless I wanted to be waist deep lining a boat. I now go 20' which for the NE rivers I run is adequate. As well I always carry a 50' throw bag after an incident where a long rope would have been a good thing as well as a knife, which I now always carry.

 

[Odyssey]

I like 25-30 feet of liner, it has worked well for me. I have a floating kernmantle type for this. I replaced it 2 years ago so I don't remember the length I measured exactly. As much as I love lining and walking the canoe it's not something we do often. I coil and rubber band the first 15' of rope, carabiner it to the grab handle, then coil the remaining 15' to use as painter. If I need the full liner lengths I just unclip/uncoil the entire length. Biners go in my pocket. It's easy to tie and untie a loop in the middle of the length of rope. This year I plan to splurge on 2 drawstring mesh ditty bags to stow that 1st 15' of rope into at each stem. I'm a bit of a neat freak, and hate all that rope hanging around or stuffed under my grab handles.
Rope really ought to have it's very own thread. (Ha)

 

[Canotrouge]

On my tripping boats I have them in the bow, butterfly coiled held on the deck with bungie, they are one and a half length of the canoe roughly.... At the stern if traveling in places where there is chances of a swim I put a small throw bag under bungie, in moving water if you end up in the drink 60 feet of rope gives you a good chance to reach shore before that boat stat tugging at you!!
I don't use the painters for other things than painters, If I need winning or tracking , I use proper lining ropes mounted on a bridle with the line centred on the bottom of the hull.
As for around camp for tarps etc, I use dedicated ropes that have prusiks permanently attached to it, make tarp set up a breeze!!

 

[Black_Fly]

I have a question for you, Black Fly, as I don’t know where the heart of the Shawnee Nation is. Based on very brief google searches, can I conclude that you live in, or near, the Ohio River Valley?

Close, but the Shawnee's main village, Chillocothe was near the headwaters of the Little Miami river, near current day Xenia, Ohio. As I drive through the area, I often try to imagine the corn fields, lodges, and grand lodge, surrounded by hills of chestnut, hickory and elms, all gone now, like the Shawnee.

25' is overkill for most applications, although I needed every foot last year to tie down my canoe in a thunderstorm on a rocky beach in WCPP. It also helps when lining rapids. I still carry lots of cordage for camp, but the long painters come in handy for the occasional sun shower install, or for a clothes line. I may go back to shorter, dedicated lines this year that I can tie onto if I need a longer lining rope. Thank god for the double sheet bend knot.

 

[Guest]

I may go back to shorter, dedicated lines this year that I can tie onto if I need a longer lining rope. Thank god for the double sheet bend knot.

I do not line often enough to know, but having a knot between the painter and the lining rope seems like it might cause/catch problems.

 

[Odyssey]

I do not line often enough to know, but having a knot between the painter and the lining rope seems like it might cause/catch problems.

Yeah, I like clean lines too. It's challenging enough to avoid rocky snags as it is. One of the reasons I gave up on the cheap yellow poly and it's stiff memory, although cheap and it floats but tangles like crazy. I liked using a climbing 9mm static rope but that doesn't float. Not a smart choice on my part. That rope became my tarp rope, but it too is replaced with waterproof lighter cordage. I'm learning as I go along and am becoming a rope collector. Ha.
I used to just keep painters on and store separate liners in my floatation chambers (sealed hatches). I decided I didn't want to stuff all that rope in there, but I may go back to this.

 

[Black_Fly]

Hadn't considered the snag thing. Thanks for that tidbit. Maybe I'll stick with the longer painter.

 

[Quinn]

I bought some fancy floating rescue rope from NRS, about 25', and used it for a long time. Recently I've just used hardware store derby rope. It's probably not the strongest (although I think it's 5/8" so it's pretty substantial), but it floats, and has a nice soft feel. It is certainly much nicer to work with. 25'ish has always seemed right for me.

My best discovery was using different color lines bow and stern. If your working both ropes it's nice to be able to quickly determine which is which if you start to get in trouble and need to let one go.

I carry a long piece of stronger rope that is used as a ridgeline around camp, but would be the tool of choice if we ever needed to do a serious boat recovery.

Quinn