The situation so far, a needful discussion, and important stuff on NOAA here and here…
Some might say I’m simple minded and that might account for what I look for in blocks… simplicity.
Hard to get any simpler. right? Well, actually…
Low friction rings are the ultimate in simplicity and can often replace some of the blocks on most boats. They’re inexpensive, (compared to blocks) and bombproof. Offhand, a lot of boats could replace some of their blocks with them. The downside is, they’ve become popular with the go-fast folks so their prices keep going up*.
But back to blocks. I’ll tell you what I look for in a block. For starters, I want a block that I can take apart and put back together. Which translates into no rivets or welds. Secondly, the sheave needs to be either metal or Delrin. Cheap plastic sheaves that fail is the most common issue or failure point in a block. Lastly, I’m not a huge fan of ball bearings in blocks. The exception being those from Garhauer. That said, I still prefer a bronze or stainless bushings given my druthers.
The fact is, you can build your own rope-stopped block in the traditional way, or go tradical and build with composites and Dyneema. Either way you’ll have bombproof blocks for pennies on the dollar.
And, dear reader, done right, they won’t break.
*If anyone has a source of cheap low friction rings I’d love to hear about it.
I have been using low friction rings all over the boat and they are great, but like you imply, they seem pretty expensive for what they are. My boat came with tufnol blocks all over it and even though the bearings have more friction, I have grown to like them. They aren’t terribly expensive and seem pretty tough, so I ordered some from Toplicht a few years ago that had larger diameter sheaves and that made a big difference in hauling effort required but I also rarely use any winches on my boat.