Mechanical Fittings

Here's a picture showing the three different common brands of mechanical fittings. Mechanical fittings are superior to swage fittings in all aspects except for initial cost. Lifespan, reliability, cost of installation, and versatility all check in mechanical fitting's favor. We sell and service all of these fittings but default to the Hi-Mod when possible because of the strong points outlined below.

Norseman (top left) - hardest to install, cone not reusable. I believe the shroud terminal pictured is only available in a Norseman. Second easiest to remove because the body on the wire has the female threads

Sta-lok (top right) - easier to install because of the forming cap, a second smaller internal piece pictured on the far right. Very common. I think this had more or less replaced the Norseman fitting as the go to for most people, primarily because it's the one you're likely to find at the local West Marine. I believe the Norseman and the Sta-lok are competitively priced with each other. Like the Norseman the cone has to be replaced. It's probably the most difficult to remove and replace because the forming cap inevitably gets glued in to place with old sealant and you really need to get it all apart and clean when you are putting it on a new wire. The Norseman and Sta-lok both bend the ends of the wire over the cone so it's impossible to take them off and reinstall them back on the same wire without shortening the cable some.

Hi-Mod (bottom) - Easiest to install because of the crown ring and a depth stop that's machined in to the bottom of the threaded portion. It's also the strongest of the three fittings. The ends of the individual wires aren't bent so you can remove them and replace them from the same cable with no need to modify anything. The internal cone is reusable. All in all I think it's the best fitting. On the downside it's the most expensive. Another detail I put in the negative category is that the manufacturer recommends against filling the fitting with sealant. They argue that they do that because it limits how inspect-able they are and that it's not necessary but there is some debate between riggers about that. We follow the manufacturers spec here for liability reasons but I think a valid argument could be made on each side of the debate.

Suncor (not pictured) - The suncor fitting does not use an internal cone to distribute the load between the internal and outer strands, using a toothed collet arrangement instead to just grip the wires on the outside. They are a little fussy to install but still much easier than the Norseman and Sta-lok fittings. They are also very inexpensive, being a far east import. I have some misgivings about the internal components. They are advertised as 100% stainless but they aren't. They have at least one internal bronze piece and I have no idea what alloy the collet is. It does not appear to be stainless. To my knowledge they haven't published holding power and they haven't done well in private destructive tests. For sealant they advise adding a little silicone to the outside of the fitting after it's installed which is terrible advice as the bond between silicone and polished stainless is nearly non-existant so all the silicone there will do is insure any water that's found its way in will stay there. I won't deal in these fittings and I generally advise against them and will continue to do so until I hear some better reports.