Strength vs. Abrasion Resistance
Strength does not equal Abrasion Resistance
Chafe-Pro® is constructed using one of the most effective anti-chafe materials available today – Nylon. Most manufacturers of commercial marine chafing gear use nylon as the material of choice. Other materials, such as high molecular weight – polyethylene (HMW-PE), Kevlar, leather are not as effective as nylon in combating chafe abrasion. One of the primary uses for HMW-PE, and Kevlar is in the manufacture of marine ropes. All of which have great tensile strength, but as you already know, rope made from HMW-PE or Kevlar do not do well against abrasion. This is why rope manufacturers often coat parts of the line, such as the eye, with an anti-abrasion material or the user applies chafing gear where needed.
So why does the competition use such materials in the manufacturing of their chafing gear? The answer is very simple. It is often a by-product of other items they manufacture; as such, they make chafing gear rather than waste their excess material. These manufacturers try to sell the concept that strength of the material equals abrasion resistance. It sounds good, but it does not work that way!
At FJORD, we specialize in the manufacturing of chafing gear – nothing else. Our patented hook and loop closure and non-slip system, used on all Chafe-Pro® units, have been copied by a few of our competitors for use in their own chafing gear. However, if you want to be sure that you are getting the best, and the ORIGINAL, in marine chafing gear look for the Chafe-Pro® label on all of our units. If our label is not on the unit, chances are you purchased a “knock-off.”
Effective marine chafing gear needs to have the following essential characteristics:
• First it must be abrasion resistant
• Second it must be flexible
• Third it must have tensile strength
1) Abrasion resistance is obvious. It must resist marine abrasion, such as that from piers, chocks, poor fairleads, etc.
2) It needs to be flexible so that it can conform as closely as possible to a line’s dynamic deployed configuration (DDC). The DDC is particularly important for a line that undergoes a tight bending radius. Chafing gear that is semi-rigid (i.e., due to the use of polymer coatings, etc.) tends to develop cracks in the coating. This results in abrasion and delaminating of the coating material. This is why the manufacturers who use such materials sew their eye units to a shape that will conform to the shape of the intended eye. This would be ok if eyes maintained their shapes under load – but they don’t! Because nylon is so flexible, it readily conforms to a line’s DDC. This is why Chafe-Pro® eye units are not manufactured to fit a particular eye’s shape, as all Chafe-Pro® units will easily conform to any line’s DDC under both static and dynamic load conditions.
3) Tensile strength, which has nothing to do with abrasion resistance, is an important characteristic in the manufacturing of marine-chafing gear. However, you are not going to use chafing gear to tie your vessel to a pier or to tow a barge or a ship – that’s what the line is for! Marine chafing gear must be strong enough to respond to the stretching that a line undergoes during surging. Preferably you want the chafing gear to stretch if the line stretches and to recoil if the line recoils. Those of you who have worked with nylon know that it has excellent stretching characteristics. Our entire line of Chafe-Pro® units is made from nylon material. Whereas, some of the competition uses other material such as HMW-PE, and Kevlar. Have you tried to stretch a piece of polyethylene or Kevlar lately?
