Advise: winch damper blanket should still be used for safe recovery practice.

By design synthetic rope doesn’t store nearly as much potential energy, so if the rope should snap it won’t be nearly as dangerous. Synthetic also doesn’t suffer from filings and burrs the same way steel cable does, meaning it’s a lot safer to handle.

It’s also important to keep in mind that synthetic rope won’t last as long as a steel cable, and it will need to be replaced a lot more frequently. It degrades under UV exposure and can lose up to half its strength in six months of sunlight exposure.

Recommends replacing its synthetic ropes every 12 months.

The biggest advantage to synthetic rope is that if you break it out on the trail you can simply tie it back together in a knot. Yes you will lose about 40 per cent brake of the rope at the knot, but have you ever tried tying cable in a knot? A broken steel cable on the trail generally means no more winch.