Cam, Clam, Jam, and clutch.

Eric Johnson (ej@tx3.com)
Tue, 9 Mar 1999 10:59:34 -0800


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West Wight Potter Website at URL
http://www.lesbois.com/wwpotter/
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> > > When I get my new P-19 in a few weeks should I be shoppinig for cam
> > > cleats or rope clutches to run the lines aft? What is the difference
> > > between the two?
>
> This could be confusing, as what is commonly referred to as a
> rope clutch here in
> this region is also called a jam-cleat.

Actually, my understanding is that a jam-cleat is a third animal altogether.
Its basically a standard horned cleat, but one horn forms a "V" with the
base, so you can jam the line in there for taking the bulk of the load off
before tieing off the rest of the line. I use them with my halyards, and am
reasonably happy with them. They're not particularly fast, but they work
well.

So we got:
Cam cleats (I use these on my sheets)
Jam cleats (described above)
clutches (I don't own any)
and lets not forget Clam-cleats. Very fast, efficient in the space they use,
and strong if sized properly for the line. I use these on my reefing lines
and my boom downhaul (that saves me lots of setup time).