Soft shackles. Anyone using them?

[MB]

New to nuffy me these lightweight soft shackle rippers John mate and do like the idea of that extra abrasion protection wrap dinga stuff over them pictured.
Not sure what its called but seems to come also on the Aussie ‘Whittams’ rope prepackaged lines we’ve been buying somewhat locally in Victoriastan. @rusty_nail mate are you still keen to help us kindly build a thread/poll/weekend for learning these new skills homemade?
We can chat with Whittams for decent bulk spools hopefully at the right price as we’re looking to again buy some pallets of work poly rolls etc...



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[MudRunnerTD]

New to nuffy me these lightweight soft shackle rippers John mate and do like the idea of that extra abrasion protection wrap dinga stuff over them pictured.
Not sure what its called but seems to come also on the Aussie ‘Whittams’ rope prepackaged lines we’ve been buying somewhat locally in Victoriastan. @rusty_nail mate are you still keen to help us kindly build a thread/poll/weekend for learning these new skills homemade?
We can chat with Whittams for decent bulk spools hopefully at the right price as we’re looking to again buy some pallets of work poly rolls etc...



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Ohhhh! Whitham rope is the bomb mate. Let me know..... keen on a spare rope and maybe for something for the himount I have in the shed for the GU.

Great way to make a winch extension rope too.

[MudRunnerTD]

The sheath is 50/50 in my opinion. In very dirty conditions you can't see how much mud is under there. We used my home made 12mm soft shackles yesterday. Worked amazing. Was great to be able to see the rope without a sheath.

[Winnie]

New to nuffy me these lightweight soft shackle rippers John mate and do like the idea of that extra abrasion protection wrap dinga stuff over them pictured.
Not sure what its called but seems to come also on the Aussie ‘Whittams’ rope prepackaged lines we’ve been buying somewhat locally in Victoriastan. @rusty_nail mate are you still keen to help us kindly build a thread/poll/weekend for learning these new skills homemade?
We can chat with Whittams for decent bulk spools hopefully at the right price as we’re looking to again buy some pallets of work poly rolls etc...



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Nice one MB! I was chatting to Darren this weekend and we were saying that at about 2.5m of 10mm rope per soft shackle, 30m would get you at least 3 shackles and a 20m extension strap which would be awesome! Heaps better than the usual extension straps I reckon.

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[MB]

Sounds exciting Blokes, where to from here, marquee is bought and ready for some mountain craft lessons, just need some teachers whom know how to school?


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[10G]

I went and removed all my steel shackles, then jumped under the front and fed a soft shackle thru a recovery point. Not sure the softie would like being yanked on thru the recovery point as it has right angle edges on the hole. Same with the recovery point I use in my towbar.

I've thrown 1 steel shackle back in.

[Brissieboy]

Not sure the softie would like being yanked on thru the recovery point as it has right angle edges on the hole. Same with the recovery point I use in my towbar.

I agree totally. I an very wary about using them, even with a sheath, anywhere where there are metal corners that are not well rounded and smooth - that cannot be good for them, and must mean we should at least de-rate them in such circumstances. Just seems to be asking for trouble.

[the evil twin]

FWIW...
Soft shackles are 4 times the material (IE the single rope is doubled and doubled again) and by far the weakest point is the knot which I allocate as 50% of B.S. so, based on my experience with them on vessels over many years I rate my homemade Softies as follows;

For winching, rigging, redirects, towing etc IE non-kinetic applications 2 x B.S. ...That means 20 tons for 10mm, 15 tons for 8mm and 8 tons for 6mm (I don't use 30 ton 12mm for winching as there is no point)

For snatching IE kinetic applications 1 x B.S. ... that means 15 tons for 12mm, 10 tons for 10mm and 6 tons for 8mm (I don't use 6mm for kinetics)

Given most 4by Winches are 4 to 5 tons max line pull IE 8,000Lb to 12,000Lb and snatchies usually 8,000 Lb (less than or around 4 ton for 4X ) the winch stalls out or the snatchie lets go.

I tend to use 8mm (occasionaly 10mm) for snatching and 6 or 8mm for winching/towing/dragging.

Sooo... I carry 2x10mm, 2x8mm and 4x6mm (2 short and 2 long) in my "touring recovery kit"
I have a couple of lengths of random sheath (3 or 4 inches long) that I slide over the softie for use on recovery points with sharp edges if I can be bothered.

Bottom line is in most applications the softie is operating at under 1/4 to maybe 10% B.S. of the line it is made from...or 4 times to 10 times safety factor if you like... plus Dyneema is bloody tough so any metal edge has to be pretty damn sharp to cut it and even a few coats of paint or a slightest chamfer and the softie doesn't even notice it.

[10G]

FWIW...
Soft shackles are 4 times the material (IE the single rope is doubled and doubled again) and by far the weakest point is the knot which I allocate as 50% of B.S. so, based on my experience with them on vessels over many years I rate my homemade Softies as follows;

For winching, rigging, redirects, towing etc IE non-kinetic applications 2 x B.S. ...That means 20 tons for 10mm, 15 tons for 8mm and 8 tons for 6mm (I don't use 30 ton 12mm for winching as there is no point)

For snatching IE kinetic applications 1 x B.S. ... that means 15 tons for 12mm, 10 tons for 10mm and 6 tons for 8mm (I don't use 6mm for kinetics)

Given most 4by Winches are 4 to 5 tons max line pull IE 8,000Lb to 12,000Lb and snatchies usually 8,000 Lb (less than or around 4 ton for 4X ) the winch stalls out or the snatchie lets go.

I tend to use 8mm (occasionaly 10mm) for snatching and 6 or 8mm for winching/towing/dragging.

Sooo... I carry 2x10mm, 2x8mm and 4x6mm (2 short and 2 long) in my "touring recovery kit"
I have a couple of lengths of random sheath (3 or 4 inches long) that I slide over the softie for use on recovery points with sharp edges if I can be bothered.

Bottom line is in most applications the softie is operating at under 1/4 to maybe 10% B.S. of the line it is made from...or 4 times to 10 times safety factor if you like... plus Dyneema is bloody tough so any metal edge has to be pretty damn sharp to cut it and even a few coats of paint or a slightest chamfer and the softie doesn't even notice it.

So ET, I have 2 questions for you.

1 - I'm guessing BS doesn't stand for the BS I'm thinking it does?
2 - And I know this will be only your opinion and blah blah, but do you / would you use soft shackles with your recovery points? (I respect your opinion by the way).

[the evil twin]

So ET, I have 2 questions for you.

1 - I'm guessing BS doesn't stand for the BS I'm thinking it does?
2 - And I know this will be only your opinion and blah blah, but do you / would you use soft shackles with your recovery points? (I respect your opinion by the way).

B.S. = Breaking Strain... BS = 90% of the Internet

Only places I use rated steel shackles are Snatch Blocks sometimes and I like Bow Shackles in Billet Hitches 'cause I like the way the rigging sits in the Bow but these days I will usually attach a Strap or whatever to the Bow with a Soft Shackle or ditto on a Vehicle that has the Shackles already on the Recovery Point.

FWIW I have the Pin tight in the Bow Shackle on my hitch so would need a spanner to undo it as all Shackle Manufacturers state a rated shackle is only rated if the Pin is nipped up not finger tight and/or backed off... it also means the shackle is still there after a day in the scrub and the pin hasn't rotated out.

Another thing to remember for a win on Trivia Night is a Bow Shackle W.L.L. rating is specified along the axis and reduces if the load comes from an angle (70% W.L.L. for 45 deg and 50% of W.L.L. for 90 degrees) like some recovery points that need the shackle pin thru the point.