Max winch line length indicator?

So we all know that max winch strength is achieved only on the last spool of the line. And steel line is supposed to keep at least 5 wraps on the spool, and synthetic at least 10 wraps. When you're in the field, deploying winch line, how do you know when you have reached that limit? I was thinking to paint a red line or red section on my cable so I could easily see it from 50ft away when spooling out line. Anyone have any other solutions to this yet ?

 

That’s the best one. Many manufacturers already have a marking of some sort on their lines.

 

My synthetic line has a red wrap around the line when it gets down to around 10 wraps.

 

You can find winchline sleeves at Amazon if yours doesn't have one..

I recently entirely rebuilt my winch and added this winch line keeper made by BubbaRope during the project, I think its a must have accessory..



When I say rebuilt, I mean rebuilt from a complete tear down and rewired with good quality 2gauge wire..

And since it was all apart, I added a Harbor Frieght Badlands Winch Wireless Controller into the mix..and it works bitchen!!!

 

I put a zip-tie through two wraps, can't pull the line any further than that. Same function as the fancy one posted above, but much cheaper and dont have to unroll the entire line.