To insure validity the test process was repeated several times and compared with previous findings. These phase-one results showed us how a lifeline system spreads loads and what components are most prone to failure. The critical point of failure occurs in the pulpit and tubular stanchions, which in turn slackens the wire and permits it to deflect outboard. As this deflection is gradual rather than instantaneous and may still prevent a crewmember from going overboard, this mode of failure is less cataclysmic than if the wire actually parted. An outward load that translates into wire tension puts extreme loads on the bow and stern pulpits and, in some cases, leads to failure of their welds.
Tubular stanchions can withstand heavy compression loads but cope poorly with side loads.
This bending moment results in a crimp of the tube wall where the stanchion exits the base, allowing the vertical support to fail rather than bend like a palm tree in a hurricane. Surprisingly, the system began to fail at just over 1,000 pounds even though the wire could handle many times that load. In follow-up testing, bow and stern pulpits were replaced by a weldment that could handle several thousand pounds of tensile loading without any significant deflection. In these tests, the same wire and stanchions withstood almost three times the load imposed in the first round of testing. When failure did occur, the cause was a wire pulling out of a swage fitting.