Cable Question

I've looked at stainless cable at the local hardware store, home store, and a couple of marine outlets. They all carry some designation like 7x7, 1x7, or 7x19. What do these cable designations mean?

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The ox is slow but the earth is patient

Has to do with how the individual strands are wound. A 7x7 is 7 bundles of 7 strands/bundle. But the industry isn't always 100% consistent.

Brian C

Which one is strands and which is bundles. Is it better to have more strands or bundles?

I'm guessing that 7x7 is a lot more flexible than 1x7. 7x19 is probably more flexible than 7x7 but is it as strong? Is it stretchier?

I think the standing rigging from Hobie is 5/32 7x19. The trap wires are (I'm guessing) 3/32 but I have no idea the strand/bundle count.

I'm not looking to replace those. I'm looking to rig some safety/convenience things, probably with 3/32.

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The ox is slow but the earth is patient

Hobie trap wires and standing rig is 1X19 with exception of a few bits here and there (pigtail) The more flexie the less strong and visa versa. On sailboats 1X19 and 7X19 are the most common.

1X19 wire


The 7X?? are grouped like this:


Then there's Dyform, but we won't get into that:


I would advise getting some professional help from a local rigger with your diamond wire project.

Here's a quote from Dan Delave regarding the tension on his Tiger mast, it would be similar to prebend your 18 mast. Like I said in the other post, I'm not sure the fittings are designed to take that force.

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Go to mcmaster.com and type in "wire rope" in the find products seach box. The "About Wire Rope" section gives a very through discussion of the differences between the various types of wire rope.

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Jeremy has the pics to help you figure it out. But I'll add the verbage.

The first number is the number of bundles. The 2nd number is the number of wires per bundle.

Given the same diameter, the cable with the most strands is usually the most flexible. 1x19 is typically used for standing rigging, though you can get away with the 7x7 for small boats. Big, big boats use what could be called "1x1", or in reality - rod rigging. The 7x19, the middle pic in Jeremy's post, is typical of trap wires, halyards and such.

The Dyform has gain some popularity as it's almost as strong as rod rigging, but much easier to ship. It's for the big boys.

Brian C