Nylon Centers: Why and When
Hello ladies and gents! its been a minute since I have done a blog update! I was going to do this as a youtube video but decided a blog would be better because I kept recording it and then realizing “oh I wanted to say this too” and “oh I forgot to mention xyz!” So here we are in a blog instead so I can actually gather my thoughts and give you guys a full description of what I’m talking about with out confusing people….. Hopefully.
So with that lets jump into the middle of this! NYLON CENTERS, why have em and whats the best way to do em? Well, let me just start by saying, theres more then one way to skin a cat, theres more then one way to do a nylon center, theres also the option for woven centers over nylon. Now I’m going to chat about how I do mine and why I do em the way that I do.
To start out, my mohair is wrapped in-between my nylon. I then have it sewn. So front and back have nylon.
I then take what ever color I’m going to use and completely wrap over the nylon so it is covered, thus having only mohair touching the horse.
So the reason I fully wrap the mohair and sew it down is because I have seen on multiple occasions where the nylon was simply set on top of the cinch cord then wrapped to secure it down and the Dee rings pull out. Whether it be the stitching that hold the dees or the nylon itself, neither were sewn to the actual cinch thus having no way to anchor it. Now why is this a big deal? Well it can cause you cinch to become uneven in many different aspects, from symmetrically of you design to pulling unevenly on your horse should you rope something, go up a steep hill, down a steep hill, or any activity that you are engaging some sort of gravity or pull.
(This is a horse hair cinch not a mohair cinch but same rules apply)
(here is a good example of poor quality nylon…. is that an oxymoron?)
Most of the time the reason I would choose a nylon center over a weaved center would be as follows:
I was building a roper cinch
I make ropers occasionally for people that don’t rope. But I always use nylon on ropers because when spreading strands out that wide you want extra support across that cinch to not only help distribute pressure but also to keep it as flat as possible. I’ve seen were someone didn’t use quality nylon and seen them bunch up, and I’ve seen where centers have been weaved and bunched as well. I use a heavy duty quality nylon to ensure that it is not only sturdy enough to stay flat and not bunch but to also be sure that it will last a long time and not dry rot out.
I was building a cutter cinch
Cutter cinches are double layered, and in my mind with a sewn nylon center are going to be more stable then I can make them with weaving 2 strands of 8 ply (the body cord) together with my 2 ply (the decorative cord)
If I was to build a straight cinch for someone who primarily uses a tie down, training aids, or if they as for it.
So there you have it folks! My biased opinions on why and when I decide to put a nylon center in on a cinch. Some of it is logical and sometimes, I just feel like putting one in. Most times it is personal preference of the customer.
Have a Great day you heathens!
