# Nylon sail slides / slugs



## Atkinsericjr808 (Oct 4, 2009)

I was wondering if anyone who has them on their mainsail can tell me how they're holding up especially off shore use, etc... I kind of cringe thinking about using them....the mast(30-35') tall, alum. and uses the internal flat slides what other material can i use? thanks for all the help


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## MARC2012 (Mar 17, 2008)

Mine seem to do just fine.Been in some pretty stiff winds.I singlehand so if the weather is bad drop the main but mizzen slides have held up.marc


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## lshick (Apr 24, 2009)

We started with bronze slides, but they were always sticking in the slot. 

We converted to Nylon slides, and found that (a) they broke more often than we liked, and (b) occasionally came out of the mast slot. Both phenomena were because the bail on the slide was narrower than it should have been for our mast slot. Because there was less "meat" than there could have been, the slides broke, and because the bail didn't fill the slot, the rectangular slug could move sideways enough that, occasionally, it could escape the slot. But I did get really good at sewing the webbing to replace a slide!

We then switched to some black-Nylon slides that are a better fit, even though nominally the same size. So far we haven't broken one, nor has one escaped. 

Moral: make sure they fit.


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## SEMIJim (Jun 9, 2007)

The PO of our boat (40' mast, btw) raced her extensively, raced her hard and, to hear it told, never lost with her. Both the cruising and the racing mains have nylon slides.

Jim


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## SimonV (Jul 6, 2006)

I have to replace all mine as they are at least three years old. I am not sure if mine are plastic or nylon, but they did get brittle and I ended up canabalizing the slugs on the foot for use on the luff.


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## paulk (Jun 2, 2000)

Nylon slugs or slides seem to work and hold up well for years when they fit the mast extrusion properly. The issue doesn't come up in the voyaging books I've read. Metal tracks & slides - THEY have problems, but not nylon. Nylon is also fairly UV resistant: spinnakers are typically nylon, and they generally hold up for a long time.


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## paulk (Jun 2, 2000)

*Planned obsolescence*



SimonV said:


> I have to replace all mine as they are at least three years old. I am not sure if mine are plastic or nylon, but they did get brittle and I ended up canabalizing the slugs on the foot for use on the luff.


Having to replace slides after only three seasons makes me think yours may not be nylon. Even in tropical latitudes, nylon should last longer than that.


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## PBzeer (Nov 11, 2002)

If you want to upgrade, check out this: Tides Marine - Manufacturer of the SureSeal Shaft Seal. I had it installed with my new mainsail and it works excellently. I can stand at the mast and raise the sail without a winch, it goes up that easy.


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## SimonV (Jul 6, 2006)

paulk said:


> Having to replace slides after only three seasons makes me think yours may not be nylon. Even in tropical latitudes, nylon should last longer than that.


Just checked the West Marine Catalog thay are plastic and some lasted only 2 years. I will track town some nylon ones.


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## tdw (Oct 2, 2006)

SimonV said:


> Just checked the West Marine Catalog thay are plastic and some lasted only 2 years. I will track town some nylon ones.


Simon,
Whitworths sell nylon slides and/or slugs. Our new main (early this year) of course had all new slugs and to my surprise a few weeks back I noticed two of them have already given out. Yes we had been for a wild sail went it happened. I patched them up using some old slugs we had on board that are not quite the right size. I bought some new ones yesterday and will be fitting them this week or next. Our old slugs which had been in use for god knows how long were nylon and still performing faultlessly when the old sail breathed its last.
Cheers
Andrew

Whitworths Marine: Sail slug 12mm PNP17T


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## hellosailor (Apr 11, 2006)

Plastic isn't all the same, even nylon isn't all the same. Black nylon will stand up to UV damage much better than white--the same reason there are black zip-ties for outdoor use, and white ones for indoor use.

If they fit properly, and they're made of good material, they should last very nicely. But nylon also is attacked by petrochemicals, so if you're using the wrong lubricant on them--like WD40--you could accidentally be destroying your own slides, too.

FWIW, McLube (krytox in white wax) does wonders in a sail track, after it has been cleaned out with a rag. Costs a lot more than WD40, because it is a very different product.


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## tdw (Oct 2, 2006)

hellosailor said:


> Plastic isn't all the same, even nylon isn't all the same. Black nylon will stand up to UV damage much better than white--the same reason there are black zip-ties for outdoor use, and white ones for indoor use.
> 
> If they fit properly, and they're made of good material, they should last very nicely. But nylon also is attacked by petrochemicals, so if you're using the wrong lubricant on them--like WD40--you could accidentally be destroying your own slides, too.
> 
> FWIW, McLube (krytox in white wax) does wonders in a sail track, after it has been cleaned out with a rag. Costs a lot more than WD40, because it is a very different product.


Interesting...I'd hadn't thought about the colour. I wonder then why white is the most common colour for sail slugs ? As for McLube...heartily agree and it is a lot less messy than WD40. It's all I ever use.

John (PB/Aria)..thanks for that link. Very interesting alternative to sail slugs and to more typical batt car arrangements. I'm not sure if the product is available in Australia but I'm goign to to some investigating.


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## Atkinsericjr808 (Oct 4, 2009)

Aloha and thanks for all the input. On my boat before this one, I used to have a 50' wooden mast with solid bronze T-track with stainless slides and can't remember ever having had any problems. Anyway, thanks again for your input this will make it easier to have more trust in them. Mahalo


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## GraemeInCanada (Jun 17, 2008)

I just replaced two plastic slugs (I'm not sure how I would tell the difference to nylon) today. I find they do well, very rarely fail and are easy enough to change out if they do. I remember on another thread a while back on this exact same subject that one poster said he was happy that they would fail first rather than his sail getting ripped of some sorts in high winds. 

Made sense to me.

Either way, they do well, I don't see any reason to not use them. As another poster said, make sure to get the right size or they will seize in the track as you hoisting the sail.. that sucks... I've done that, fits well at the bottom but the middle of the track is slightly narrower for some reason. Essentially I shaved down the slugs to fit better with a knife. Another good reason to get plastic I guess. You can get heavier slugs and then just grind down a bit to fit the track if you need to.


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## St Anna (Mar 15, 2003)

I use black teflon impreg slugs - expensive but go up and down freely. So far, so good - about a year and 1500nm


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## tdw (Oct 2, 2006)

St Anna said:


> I use black teflon impreg slugs - expensive but go up and down freely. So far, so good - about a year and 1500nm


Were did you buy them StAnna ?


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## St Anna (Mar 15, 2003)

evolution sail(makers) - re stiched the main, made a new 100% genny and a storm jib.


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## lydanynom (May 26, 2010)

hellosailor said:


> Plastic isn't all the same, even nylon isn't all the same. Black nylon will stand up to UV damage much better than white--the same reason there are black zip-ties for outdoor use, and white ones for indoor use.





tdw said:


> Interesting...I'd hadn't thought about the colour. I wonder then why white is the most common colour for sail slugs ?


I don't know about sail slugs, but I do know about cable ties. It used to be that nylon was UV stabilized by introducing small amounts of carbon black into the mix, which made the resulting product black and that was that. These days, they have evidentily worked out either another way to stabilize the nylon or another way to impregnate it with color, because UV stabilized cable ties are availiable in all the colors of the rainbow, and white. ;-)

Thomas & Betts Ty-Rap® UV-Stabilized Colored Cable Ties

This is probably not even remotely applicable to the topic at hand, but who doesn't love zip-tie trivia?


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