Shop chafe protection and line snubbers at West Marine.

West Marine offers chafe protection and shock absorbing line snubbers to prolong the life of lines.

Protect dock and mooring lines against chafe.

We suggest you shield your dock lines against damage due to chafe, which can occur wherever lines rub against cleats, chocks and other rough surfaces. Chafing gear acts as a barrier between the line and the abrasive surface, reducing friction and protecting the line from damage without reducing the strength of the line. West Marine offers three types of chafing gear: Leather chafe gear, polyester tubing chafe guards and rubber chafe guards.

Leather Chafe Guards

Leather chafe guards are sewn around a piece of line. Ours come with thread and a needle, and will last a reasonable amount of time.

Polyester Tubing Chafe Guards

This chafe gear is made from a tough polyester material, and slips over the dock line. This requires that you have one end of the line to work with, which night not be the case with anchor lines. New versions use a hook and loop closure system to facilitate installation on secured lines.

Rubber Chafe Guards

These are extremely tough tubes that are slit so they can fit over the middle of a line. They include a lace that allows you to locate them in one place. Expensive, but practically indestructible.

Line snubbers protect against shock loads.

Due to the effect of wind, swell and wave action, dock and mooring lines sustain frequent shock loads that can stress lines and the hardware to which they are attached. To correct for this problem, mooring and dock line snubbers are used to add elasticity to lines and absorb shock loads; and thus prolong the life of the line.

Line Snubbers Offered by West Marine

West Marine offers several types of mooring and dock line snubbers. These include West Marine Dock Line Snubbers, which are made of rubber and installed midway along the length of dock lines. Another type of snubber are Davis Instruments Shockles® Line Snubbers™ which consist of stainless steel carabineers and hollow nylon webbing that is sewn over marine-grade elastomer. This type of line snubber also installs midway along the length of dock lines.

Further Reading:

• How to Choose Dock Lines
• Five of Our Best Dock Lines