What changed your mind about hawse fairleads? Or is it just TRE hawse's that are ok? I agree that they make quality stuff from what I've seen out of my winch line and safety thimble.
My confusion is coming from a post I made about a year ago where you compared hawse fairleads to a static pulley, which seemed to make logical sense to me. Not trying to call you out, and it's perfectly understandable if you've since changed your mind. I just wanted to pick your brain about it.
A few things. Education and application mostly. I disagree with most hawse fairleads but if the radius is correct and the opening is the right size, they don't damage the rope much. Where my initial stance on the issue started was with all the BS about needing a plastic hawse and then the subsequent plastic rollers on roller fairleads. That is all pure bullshit and just more vendors succumbing to the ignorance of their customers. I've actually watched a set of Viking Plastic Rollers lock up and not turn when being used. At that point, why have a roller fairlead?
I was also battling misinformation. I've seen several vendors state that you "need" one of our aluminum hawse fairleads to protect your rope. I called a couple of them and asked a simple question. If you took the pulley in your snatch block and bolted it to one of the side plates so it couldn't turn would you still use it? The answer was always no, what fool would do that? I'd reply, "well, you're saying the same thing by telling folks your aluminum hawse fairlead is needed to protect the line and is better than a roller". crickets.......
I've seen a lot of hawse fairleads that are made without any thought given to the design in that the outside radius is small and hard on the rope. TRE's aren't that way.
I've seen a lot of fairleads with very large openings. TRE's aren't that way. The large opening is an issue because most owners don't know to check behind the fairlead and make sure the mount has a hole larger than the opening in the fairlead so the rope doesn't come into contact with the sharp edges.
The whole plastic fairlead thing was just ridiculous and I was astounded at the number of smart folks that actually promoted them. They failed in one critical aspect and that was strength. If you pull up to a waterfall and the anchor point is above you, you are essentially lifting the front of the rig off the ground. Plastic fairleads deflect and let the rope come into contact with the mount and get cut which is the opposite of what the fairlead is supposed to do.
Ricky asked me to assist in the design and I was pleased to offer my input, a lot of which has been incorporated into the products.
Another pet peeve is a smart company like Warn puts a big ass steel thimble and hook on their synthetic lines with aluminum fairleads. The thimble gets sucked into the opening and damages it and then you drag the plastic rope over the damage under load and damage the rope. Really Warn? Ya'll are smarter than that.