Fjord Chafe-Pro chafe protection

On my little boat, I don’t usually worry much about chafe. But during a minor blow during which I put my 6-kg Rocna anchor to the test, I was a bit surprised to see that my anchor line had chafed a bit more than I would expect for a simple overnight stay, at the bow roller. The anchor held fine, but it became obvious that I would need some sort of chafe protection for the rode, or else I would have to switch to all chain.

So I was pleased to learn recently about Fjord’s Chafe-Pro product line, which seems to enjoy a good reputation, judging from the fact that it’s used by the US Navy, Coast Guard, Army, Military Sealift Command, NOAA, and MARAD!

Chafe-Pro is designed to be a simple, cost-effective means for preventing chafe abrasion to synthetic lines such as nylon, Kevlar, Spectra, HMW-PE, and other polyethylene and polyester lines. Commercial Grade Chafe-Pro is made from a rugged, highly abrasion-resistant nylon, and it is intended for use on yachts, tug boats, and ships; they also offer Yacht Grade models that are suitable for use on small craft.

FJORD developed Chafe-Pro to be installed or removed anywhere along a line in a matter of seconds, requiring no lashings or lacings to secure it to lines. All models are downward compatible relative to line sizes, giving boaters a lot of flexibility; buy what you need for your largest line, and use it on whatever line happens to need protection.

So hold on: How does this all work? I poked around on the website to find the instructions:

1. If possible, lay the Chafe-Pro unit and line on a flat surface.
2. Start at the edge and place line on the Velcro “hooks” in the desired protected area. Once hooked, begin rolling the line and Chafe-Pro together until the unit is snugly rolled up.
3. Lock the Chafe-Pro unit by interlocking the Velcro edge units.
4. To move the position on the line, simply remove the Chafe-Pro, adjust to the desired location and secure.

So it stays put on the line because the Velcro “hooks” grab the fibers of the rope being protected. That’s pretty clever!

I don’t have any direct experience with Chafe-Pro, so I’m interested in feedback from other boaters: What do you use for chafe protection?