Soft Shackle

[bribassguy]

Any one running soft (rope) shackles? I see them a lot more on sailing rigs now but not so much on the trails.

[Beowulf]

It is an interesting concept. Since the end of Viking's tree saver is a loop of synthetic rope I don't see why they could not work in certain situations for trail recovery.

There are obvious limitations, but it sure would be easy to stuff 10 of these in a recovery kit. I'm sure if Viking made these, I'd pick up a couple just to play with.

[opie]

Ive been making them for awhile. I had one certified so I could get some hard numbers on the derate of the line due to the knot. I can make them from just about any size, but the most popular is 3/8 and 7/16 with the latter carrying a 8200 WLL based on a 4:1.

The down side to them is they need a nice radius at the attachment points. Around the eyes of a tree saver is fine, but you can not hook one directly to a weld on recovery point, the ones designed for a D shackle, without severely degrading the strength or running the risk of it breaking prematurely.

[Beowulf]

You have not dissuaded me from thinking these could be handy. Especially considering their negligible volume regarding space in a recovery kit. You should post up some pics and pricing on your site for these.

[opie]

You have not dissuaded me from thinking these could be handy. Especially considering their negligible volume regarding space in a recovery kit. You should post up some pics and pricing on your site for these.

No doubt they are handy. They are light, strong, can be formed around odd shaped objects and in the event something breaks, wont come back at you etc. But its the downside I believe is very important to convey. Rope degradation is a very important factor and sharp radius bends, or sharp edges are the death of rope. Especially when you start loading one up.

I purposefully dont have the pricing up so there has to be some contact with me so that I can convey what these can and can not be used for. I would hate to sell something to someone only to have them use it incorrectly and get hurt. And they can be made in any length...

I do have a video on youtube showing the operation...

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3C8ZWRpUNPU"]YouTube - Amsteel Blue Rope Shackle operation[/ame]

[Beowulf]

Your video makes me want them even more. Do you offer different colors of rope and sleeves?

[bribassguy]

I have never been convinced of the "Safety Thimble" train of thought... I would rather LESS metal flying at me when a line breaks.

My thought would be to run these between a winch line with tube thimble and tree saver in single pull recoveries or a connection between line and extension. I would think abything with a smooth radius of about 3/4" or more would be fine. I would still use anchor shackles to connect to hard point on the truck.

Can you link me (or PM) me info to your site? Most of the sailing ones I've seen 11/32" with WLL 5700 @ 5:1 and are proof tested to 2x WLL

[Beowulf]

I have been able to play with some of these and can honestly say they are great. You can carry many of these with zero concerns of space or weight. They cannot replace rigid steel shackles, but are indeed a great complement.

[LR Max]

There have been some "concerns" on strength. A previous test with 8mm rope (whatever that comes out to in English) broke at 26,000lbf. To some, that is plenty. To some, that isn't enough.

I think they are handy. Last year I had a situation where I had to use a hook to get an Infinity QX4 off some ice since the stock recovery point couldn't take a normal D-ring. Something like this would've allowed me to use my nice baller tow strap and not wonder if the hook on the end of the wal-mart special was going to let lose and bonk my noodle.

[Beowulf]

LR Max,

Isn't 26000lb stronger than normal 3/8" rope's break strength? As long as the soft shackle is stronger than my rope, I'm not going to worry.