Attaching anchor chain to bridle?

[tuskie]

Is there a perfect solution?

I've tried many imperfect methods. A chain hook that falls off when the bridle goes slack. Waking us up to a clattering chain in the midde of the night. An expensive "Mantus shackle", whose plastic retainer soon breaks and it too regularly parts company with the chain. A dyneema soft shackle, that is a PITA to undo whilst leaning over the crossbeam fairlead in the dark. Whoops, the bloody thing has fallen overboard again. Back to the chainhook. Use shockcord or rope to keep it attached to the chain. Also a royal pain to undo when it comes up muddy in the dark.

There must be an easy, secure and convenient technology to attach chain to bridle. Help please.

[kcj]

Perfect? I think not- but this works for me ...

Short answer--icicle hitch. Thanks to all those on this forum where I got the idea

Long answer--
We have a cat . Two legs of bridle have thimbles on each end, one end is shackled to each end of crossbeam. The pendant is joined to the other ends by a loose anchor bend. All of this is basically 'permanent ' Having set the anchor using a secondary snubber, I attach the pendant to the anchor chain with the icicle hitch, throw the bridle overboard and let out enough chain for the bridle to take the loads.

We have used this for two seasons in sfla and Bahamas. Some blows to 40k, changing tides, bridle dragging (slack) on bottom and it has never failed. I can make the pendant as long as I want, replace the chafed parts eaSily (haven't had to yet), one less rattle point, nothing to lose and there is nothing to bang on the boat upon retrieval.

I can now tie it in 15 seconds or so. Undoing it takes a tad longer, but mostly because I am usually hanging over the crossbeam and rinsing sand out of the pendant.

Downside is it took me a while to have the image of the knot 'burned' in my memory, so initially tieing the knot took longer. Also it takes a while to train new crew how to do this. Ymmv

Cheers John

[Sandero]

Never had my hook fall or fail. I do not use the hardware designated as a chain hook. Instead I use a "reefing hook" which is about 1/4" ss and a deep U which is inserted into the chain loop.

A snubber in most cases does not have to be as strong as the chain. I used some very stout 1" braid on braid nylon with a heavy mooring compensator. When the chain sees a lot of strain it goes taught and then the compensator will stretch. The snubber is led over the bow roller and tied off to a cleat.

Weakest link? I suppose the reef hook.

I have a mono and I don't use a bridal.

[UNCIVILIZED]

Luggage tag a screw pin shackle onto the end of your bridle, & luggage tag a Spectra Loop through your anchor chain at the desired point. Then secure the shackle on your bridle to the luggage tagged Loop.

You can even use a large stainless carabiner in place of the shackle in order to avoid needing to screw anything. Or use a carabiner where screwing the gate in order to lock it is optional. Up to you, & there are some monsterously oversized carabiners, so no screwing is needed in order to get them up to your required WLL. Just don't drop'em overboard, they ain't cheap.

[epiic]

Perfect solution? YES!

Mantus Chain Hook - Mantus Anchors

There is absolutely zero chance of this falling off...

[motion30]

My mantus chain hook has never fall even off ,even without the plastic gate

[Mariano]

Yoy can use a small, cheap and common Alu 7075 carabiner (there are automatic and manual locking) that holds up to 7900 pounds, ask any rock climbing fan about them: fast, easy to use and reliable, or go with the bigger industrial ones. Don't know how much your boat will pull in a blow, but think a mid sized one can take the job without problems. Ask professional fishermen, they'll now better as they use them a lot to hook up traps and cages

[newhaul]

Here is my 5 dollar answer
https://www.cruisersforum.com/forums...lbums4805.html
Never had it fall off . And a lot cheaper than a mantus

[Suijin]

In my experience it's not what hook you use but how big of a loop of slack chain you let out behind it. It's that weight that keeps it on.

[Mariano]

Take a look at this, should work

https://www.amazon.com/Kong-Heavy-Du.../dp/B001OPHGYS

Aluminum holds up to 8.992 pounds and steel up to 13.488

[goat]

Since I already have my dock line looped over a bollard post, I just tie the bitter end to the chain with a rolling hitch then let out more chain. I do it more to keep the chain from rubbing on my bobstay, but it works well as a snubber. My boat's so small everything has to have at least two uses, and I'm so stupid I have to keep things simple.

"I'm not a smart goat" to paraphrase Forrest Gump.

[Cottontop]

Originally Posted by tuskie

An expensive "Mantus shackle", whose plastic retainer soon breaks and it too regularly parts company with the chain.

There was a thread recently about the problem with the Mantus shackle plastic bit, and IIRC, Mantus responded that it was investigating other materials. Don't know whether Mantus has introduced an improvement yet.

[Mike OReilly]

Rolling hitch. Simple and secure. I went through various hooks and attachments. Always had the problem of either falling off too easily, or being hard to attach/detach. A rolling hitch almost never lets me down (only when I’m lazy and don’t do it right ).

[lancelot9898]

I too have used a rolling hitch in the past, but now while it's a little more trouble I do the following:

The bridle is made up using a 40 ft line and in the middle of that line I have an alpine butterfly loop permanently installed. Call this line # 1.

Line number 2 is also permanently tied. It is formed in a loop(about 5 feet in diameter) using a triple fisherman's bend.

I drop and set the anchor and then wrap line # 2 around the chain using a klemheist knot. I next take a large shackle and attach line #1 to #2. Next all I need to do is to let out more anchor line so that the bridle is taking the load.

[Ozifrog]

This is quick to get off and on so I don't loose weigh whilst pulling the anchor up. The bow can blown off without constant and moderate strain on the chain. So I don't want to stop for more than 2 or 3 seconds whilst pulling the anchor up. So timing is everything.