To be honest, I haven't used it yet. For me, it is better for four reasons (these reasons can be applied to most all synthetic rope, not just amsteel):
1 - it's 25 lbs lighter (100' amsteel is 4 lbs, 100' cable is 29 lbs).
2 - it's rated at a higher capacity, 20,400 lbs versus 14,400 lbs (please correct me if I'm wrong here -- going by my failing memory).
3 - it's safer -- it won't recoil if it breaks
4 - it's easier to handle -- it won't shred your hand with birrs or freeze in them in winter. It won't kink, or rust. It floats. It's easy to re-spool.
The rope is obviously more prone to rock abrasion, and you have to keep it clean -- but you should really be careful with cable too. The aluminum fairlead is also lower profile and 9 lbs lighter than the supplied MM roller fairlead.
When I had my H2, I had X-Line on the winch. It is similar to Amsteel but has a few other advantages such as handling high heat (it is more expensive, as is the master pull line). There's some pretty cool stuff available out there.
On a side note, MileMarker told me that they have not fully tested synthetic rope on their winches. Rope flattens out when there is weight on it and puts more pressure on the sides of the drum (more friction + more heat). I guess the Warn would be the same?
Ron B
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