Soft shackles , Dyneema connections.

[Alex gee]

Being in the rigging industry I found a new approach to connections the soft shackle. Started mainly for the boating industry and made from smaller dyneema cord.

Got me thinking about using thicker SK75 Dyneema to build stronger shackles.
After a few attempts I sorted out the right length.
There are so many positives to the use of Dyneema which have been confirmed with winch ropes.
I built then from 10mm SK75 Dyneema with a breaking strain of 10700kg.
I test lifted 1300kg to set the knot and will do done further test later.

I am thinking of making more if there's any interest. They not suited for snatch recoveries but a great for everything else.
Light , soft and they float.

Here is the trick to the shackle/connection. The loop expands to go over the knot and as the choke tightens it closes the eye.

With a 3t shackle for reference , these are nice and big.

 

[HJ75 Rob]

Firstly they look good and usefull, well done.
What sort of use are they suitable for ? After testing your breaking load would be great to know.
Eneyway keep us in the loop , I am sure there will be many uses once a rating can be worked out.

Cheers
Rob

 

[Swaggie]

Firstly they look good and usefull, well done.
What sort of use are they suitable for ? After testing your breaking load would be great to know.
Eneyway keep us in the loop , I am sure there will be many uses once a rating can be worked out.

Cheers
Rob

Yeah I thought the same thing Rob, certainly some thought gone into it, not sure of the uses either,Like why not put the shackle straight to the rated recovery point? ?????? Hopefully some explanation and pictures in use will sort that out...

 

[HJ75 Rob]

Yeh, the more I think about them I like them.
If they prove strong enough they may be an alternative to the bow shackle.
We will just have to wait until they are tested. The knot may be the stumbling block.

Cheers
Rob

 

[Alex gee]

The knot is the weak point very true.

There is several in depth testings and explanations getting around most if them stating the shackles is a minimum worth 120% of the rope rating. The rope used has a breaking strain of 10700kg in a single pull form.the shackle is actually 4 times that as it's a loop but also double thickness.
If we just take the 10700kg and apply the Australian standard for synthetic sling which is 7:1 they could no doubt be rated to 1.5t. Bear in mind WLL is for overhead lifting hence the high safety factors. Pulling or restraining ratings and much lower around 3:1 ( will check the Australian standard).

There is a big reveiw and testing clips below and gives some healthy results. The 9mm shackle tested broke at over 11t.

http://www.landroverworld.org/forums/showthread.php?t=22517

 

[JC807]

entertaining thread that you linked!

 

[Swaggie]

entertaining thread that you linked!

To say the least... Lmao

If they can get these right I would ditch my shackles in a heartbeat..

 

[HJ75 Rob]

I agree, by ditching the shackles there is one less missile to deal with if it all goes pair shaped.
I will need to be sure that this new rope gadget is safe and fully tested then rated. We will just have to wait until its all done.

Cheers
Rob

 

[phs]

As we found out last week, there is definitely a place for soft shackles in recovery especially with the current line of closed system pickup points ( factor 55 )

Lucky someone had a few but the alternative is 2x vow shackles bow to bow not ideal

So who has some feedback on good value soft shackles ?

 

[Jaye]

@Alex gee was ahead of his time. Dont remember seeing other soft shackles back then.

 

[phs]

Definitely and they look really good, a few I have seen have fairly stiff the soft ones are easier to use