A quick and cheap and VERY IMPORTANT tip gleaned from Bruce the Rigger:
Always, always, always cover the cotter pins and rings on your pins with
rigging tape. This protects the the sails from chafe but more importantly --
it prevents a flapping line from pulling them out. Bruce told me he has too
often seen extensive damage caused when a pin fell out -- which he thinks was
likely caused by a loose jib sheet or something else pulling out a ring.
Judy Blumhorst, DC
WWP-19 #266 "Red Wing"
SF Bay, CA