I don't suggest modifying an existing block system. "Upgraded" an 8:1 system to a 9:1, but the existing block hardware was not beefy enough to handle the loads, found out the hard way 3 days into Tybee.
This statement suggests that an increase in purchase means necessarily an increase in max load applied. Is that really true? Don't we want to actually lower the pull to acheive similar results? Therefore more pulleys should mean lower load and not higher, except at the connections in both ends, where the total load is applied.
That's assuming that the goal is to distribute the load rather than apply more total tension. Maybe I'm wrong there.. Still, we are talking about a 10 to 15% increase in purchase, which comes with a decrease in overall efficiency because of the higher friction, therefore, the total tension is increeased in less than that. Would that be enough of an increment to break the blocks? If not rearranging blocks too differently (like the single block suggested in the first post) I think it shoudn't
