DIY Jon Line - Comments?

[lowviz]

1/2" dia (Home Depot) TWISTED (not braided) nylon rope. You don't need the strength, but 1/2" behaves really well. Start with 6 feet of rope. Total length of mine is 4 feet clip to brass ring. 2 1/2" dia brass ring.

Let me know if you get jammed on the ring, I can weld one out of stainless...

 

[Tug]

1/2" dia (Home Depot) TWISTED (not braided) nylon rope. You don't need the strength, but 1/2" behaves really well. Start with 6 feet of rope. Total length of mine is 4 feet clip to brass ring. 2 1/2" dia brass ring.

Let me know if you get jammed on the ring, I can weld one out of stainless...

Thanks!

I grabbed an old stainless ring from an old 1" crotch strap so I'll see how that works.

I've been looking for something to shoot stuff up with so if it can do double duty as a job line than that's even better.

 

[lowviz]

PM me an address or PO box #. I'll send you a proper ring. You want a big ass coldwater bolt snap and it has to be able to fit through the ring. You will find out why when you start using it. (The anchor line will ride flat against the ring and you can adjust the tension to either ride with the anchor line or let it slip while you control buoyancy.)

The line that you see in the pic was wrapped around the driveshaft of the Delaware wreck with a bag and a beacon on its clip. It also shot a Danforth anchor on the Tolten. And mussels. So many uses....

 

[Tug]

Awesome, thanks!

 

[Jim Lapenta]

I use 1 inch nylon webbing with a big snap on the end. Loop on the other. It also has two loops along it's length to clip bottles, reels, etc. to when I'm using it as a drop line to hang stuff I don't want to climb in and out of the water with. I'm not crazy about the paracord because it seems that it could get tangled in other stuff easier than 1 inch webbing

 

[stuartv]

Stuart, I think you did a fine job, but don't you own a AP pocket reel? That seems like the tool for the job if you ever had the need. Less is more and all that.

Yes, I have an AP pocket reel. But, I don't think it satisfies my desire to deploy and attach to an anchor line with one hand. And it doesn't give me a way to safely clip myself to it.

I could attach a snap shackle to it, and pre-rig the line to the Jon line clip, and then it would do what I need. But, that would make for an expensive Jon line, and what I made here was cheap.

 

[stuartv]

I'm not crazy about the paracord because it seems that it could get tangled in other stuff easier than 1 inch webbing

I am a little concerned about how that will work out. But, I wanted it to be long enough to not get finned in the face by other divers who are ascending the anchor line. I think 15' of 1" webbing would be too bulky, and a shorter length would not get me far enough away from the line.

 

[red_barbarian]

The poster using the thumb spool has a good idea, change out the cave line for spectra spearfishing cord `1.7mm When I've been guiding groups on crowded lines in current (hard to quantify ripping current but lets just say to the point where you have to work a bit to keep your mask on) I'm able to get 3-4 customers hanging off my thumb spool line at comfortable intervals and just send each one back to the line one at a time as their turn comes up after the 6meter hang. The advantage of the thumb spool is it doubles as the line for your SMB if you have to drift and you have reduced your gear by an item. The more line you let out the less the surge on the upline will affect you so holding your hang gets a bit easier as well. I used to use a long dog leash before I changed, try em both and see what you like.

 

[Akimbo]

View attachment 399152
From Petsmart $9.95

I cut the swivel bolt snap off and put a open carabineer that busted the snap on it. <snip> As a plus, if I need to walk my dog.... Always got a leash!

I find that narrow Nylon webbing is easier to handle in the water than line that is under 1/2". I use 20' (deepest normal stop for me) of webbing on my DSMB for the same reason. It wraps easier without tangling nearly as much.

Come to think of it, I should probably modify it to use as a Jon Line too.