[camtunkpa]

222 has used 1/8" steel cable, 3/32" steel cable, 1/8" spectra cable, #25 chain and timing belts for extension devices. Out of everything we used I would say that I liked the chain and timing belt the best. You can't get much simpler. We used steel cable for years and that worked out well for us but many of us got tired of the frays on the steel cable making us bleed. So we eventually moved onto Spectra cable. I will utter the woes of the spectra cable creep. It gets very annoying. #25 chain is bullet proof for most FIRST lifts and can be as simple as a sprocket on a motor and a sprocket on a fixed member and an attachment block to the piece you want to extend. Timing belts can be used the same way the chain can, they are lighter and if tensioned correctly almost as strong. We used the timing belts for extension in our arm this year and we were impressed with how smooth the motion was. As far as chains and timing belts go your can find tons of sources. The timing belt and pulleys we used were supplied in the kit this year and they held up great! As far as a source for cables or other types of rope, here's a source I found that's got a little bit of everything.http://www.us-rope-cable.com/?gclid=...FQWAHgodgjYNWw

Hope this helps