Conference unifix::sailing

    Well I could say it is something one puts over one's eyes to keep
    them from getting injured, but I won't.
    
    A pad eye is a metal loop welded to a metal plate.  It is bolted
    through things like decks of boats.  It is used as an attachment point
    for lots of things, one being the end of a tether, the other end
    of which is attached to a harness that someone wears around his/her
    chest.
    
                              ----
    		             /    \
                            |      | <- eye
            plate - >  _____+______+______
                   ------||           ||------------                
                 ^       ||           ||
               deck      ||           ||
                 v    ---------------------  <- backing plate
                        |  |         |  |
                         --           --
                         
    Gee, i'm not sure a picture is worth a thousand words, but this
    is sorta what a padeye looks like.
    

    George:
    
    A padeye, I believe, is basically a an eye made of wood or other
    material which may be mounted to a block of wood or other material by means of
    a metal or wire strap, through which a line runs without the
    benefit of a pulley.  In the early days of sailing, I think the
    term was used to identify the wooden blocks through which the rope
    shrouds were attached near the deck.  For example, on many square
    riggers you might see today, you will note that the masts are stayed
    with rope, which is eye-spliced to a hole in the top portion of
    an oblong "padeye".  The lower portion of the padeye may have one
    or more holes through which rope(s) are run and attached to a
    chainplate at the deck or externally to the rail.  These lower ropes
    are tightened or loosened to adjust the staying of the mast just
    as we use turnbuckles today.  You may also note that these padeyes
    are enclosed in a forged metal or woven wire strap, which prevents
    the wood from splitting when dry or while under stress.  The wood
    really provided nothing more than a large, smooth radius to keep
    the rope from chafing or to keep the fibers from being broken down
    by too severe a bend.  These "padeyes" were not mounted to a pad
    (which was then mounted to something else), but served as a padded
    radius, if you will. 
    
    In later usage, the same principal applies to: fittings that are
    used to slightly redirect lines that don't really require rolling
    blocks (you will see these on some decks for roller-furling lines,
    etc.), and, fittings mounted on deck or elsewhere through which
    a shackle can be attached to hold blocks, tensioners, etc.
    
    Originally, the wood was used due to weight and cost considerations
    (forged steel was heavy and more expensive), while today stainless
    eyestraps can provide the same function if properly radiused.
    
    Hope this isn't too confusing.
                          

    Note to be overly picky but -
    
    I think .2 describes deadeyes rather than padeyes (don't know the
    etymology). .1 correctly describes padeyes - an 'eye' welded to
    a plate which can be bolted through a deck, etc. This is an update
    to the eyebolt, a bolt with a loop (eye) for it's head.
    
    An eye serving to direct a line rove through becomes a fairlead
    if it has some kind of bushing to reduce chafe. An eye can serve
    this function as well, but without a bushing is more likely to cause
    chafe.
    
    Ross Faneuf
    

    Mea Culpa, Mea Culpa, .3 is correct in regard to "deadeye", which
    served to dead end rope shrouds to method for adjustment.  Must
    have lost my head !
    
    However, a purist would probably still say that a padeye must be
    bushed (today with phenolic, nylon or comparable material), which
    would differentiate it from a fairlead or eyestrap (unbushed). 
    A padeye can be used as a fairlead, but a fairlead is not neces-
    sarily a padeye.  An eyestrap, in pure terms, would never be a pad-
    eye, since there is no pad or plate involved.
    
    If you were to look in several marine catalogues, you would probably
    find that the terms are nowadays used fairly interchangeably for
    the same piece of hardware.
    
    Unfortunately, my only reliable source for derivation and actual
    historic usage, who sailed square riggers into the early twentieth
    century, has been deceased for several years now and is very diffi-
    cult to contact.  He would have known.
    

    do you pronounce it "pad eye" or "paid eye"?

    Pronounce it pad eye, as in a pad of paper, or pad around, or what
    a nice pad you live in.