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Kenomac · 31-12-2013, 09:11

I'd be concerned about chafing with the solf shackles, since they'll be rubbing constantly 24/7 against the chain.

**Cotemar** · 31-12-2013, 09:26

1) You can get a pretty good DIY pull test on your boat using your winch and rope clutch. It's nice to be able to make a few on your boat and give them a tug to test how good they are.

2) You can make a test bench like the one in this video.

MVI 7656 - YouTube

3) You could send your Soft Shackle to Allen Edwards who made the video to test them for you. He seems to always be looking for test pieces.

**estarzinger** · 31-12-2013, 09:30

^^ actually Allen started sending samples to New England Ropes because his test bench was not strong enough (for the bigger soft shackles) and he did not have a load cell.

**Cotemar** · 31-12-2013, 09:40

Quote:

Originally Posted by estarzinger

^^ actually Allen started sending samples to New England Ropes because his test bench was not strong enough (for the bigger soft shackles) and he did not have a load cell.

So are you doing Soft Shackle load testing?

**estarzinger** · 31-12-2013, 09:49

Yes, sure am. Next week I hope.

Overall, I don't expect to find anything different than Allen found (they are about the strength of the line) but am curious to test the several different ways they can be made to see if there is any difference.

I have ordered 3 different dyneema lines, should be here early next week. I do have a load of soft shackles on the boat, but I want to make fresh ones so they are all identical (new line, no chafe or UV damage, etc)

When I get bored with the load cell, I am thinking about building a chafe testing rig. They are easy to make and It's pretty easy to compare different lines . . . But it is hard to correlate the results to real world usage. So I have to decide if the results will actually be the useful or not.

By the way . . . Of the discussion about soft shackle chafe on snubbers. . . I saw zero last summer, and no "pinching" by the chain either. . . . But I was in mud and rock, not coral.

**Cotemar** · 31-12-2013, 09:57

Quote:

Originally Posted by estarzinger

Yes, sure am. Next week I hope.

Overall, I don't expect to find anything different than Allen found (they are about the strength of the line) but am curious to test the several different ways they can be made to see if there is any difference.

I have ordered 3 different dyneema lines, should be here early next week. I do have a load of soft shackles on the boat, but I want to make fresh ones so they are all identical (new line, no chafe or UV damage, etc)

When I get bored with the load cell, I am thinking about building a chafe testing rig. They are easy to make and It's pretty easy to compare different lines . . . But it is hard to correlate the results to real world usage. So I have to decide if the results will actually be the useful or not.

By the way . . . Of the discussion about soft shackle chafe on snubbers. . . I saw zero last summer, and no "pinching" by the chain either. . . . But I was in mud and rock, not coral.

Wow, that is great news. We need a few more cruisers like you to take the bull by the horns.

Just let me know how I can help.

glenn.225 · 31-12-2013, 10:05

Quote:

Originally Posted by mikereed100

Easily done. Great instructions here:
Better Soft Shackle

1+

Looks like a much better method.

Auspicious · 31-12-2013, 10:39

Any university with a decent mechanical engineering department will have load cells in the lab. A little schmoozing (we called it "recruitment" in my previous life) should get you access. If you're really good you'll get someone to pick up load testing soft shackles as a thesis topic. *grin*

**estarzinger** · 31-12-2013, 10:45

^^
Auspicious, what we really need are a few more people to run aground in the rodes river and we can do a "towing/ungrounding" thesis. I am now 1 for 3 in pulling success rate in there, so obviously need more scientific study

**nigel1** · 31-12-2013, 11:39

Another use for the soft shackle.
Made one recently for holding the clew of the main sail down on to the boom (loose footed main), previously had used a few turns of a velcro strap.
Made sure I measured everything twice before making the shackle, and just about got it right. Just enough slack to get the diamond knot through the eye, and the clew sits about an inch off the boom
Held up OK in 20 kts close hauled.

Auspicious · 31-12-2013, 12:11

Quote:

Originally Posted by estarzinger

Auspicious, what we really need are a few more people to run aground in the rodes river and we can do a "towing/ungrounding" thesis. I am now 1 for 3 in pulling success rate in there, so obviously need more scientific study

I love that story.

At the 2012 SSCA Annapolis Gam (400 people, 85 boats) Evans was one of the attendees. Friday afternoon, a fellow SSCA Board member managed to run aground off the point at Camp Letts. Since it was cocktail hour the entire anchorage was quickly aware. *grin*

Almost everyone in the anchorage jumped in their dinghies to "help." The exception was Evans. Evans weighed anchor and brought Hawk.

As it happens the entire event was more a community bonding event than a successful ungrounding. Still, Evans was the one that realized dinghies didn't have prayer. I wish I had stood off and video taped it instead of pushing ineffectually with my dinghy.

The grounded boat came off with the tide at 2am.

Stumble · 31-12-2013, 12:21

Ocean girl,

I can promise you within 15 miles of where you sit there is a commercial rigging company with the capability to break anything your want. Here in New Orleans it is the Crosby shackle distributor. They charge me about $10 per break, and love when I show up since it means they get to play with fun stuff instead of the large commercial shackles they deal with all day.

A lot of the marine industry needs there stuff re certified on a regular basis so the commercial shops pretty much have to have the equipment to test load things up to around 1,000,000lbs. It's really funny to see a piece of 2mm dyneema on a million pound machine, but they swear its acurate down to a pound regardless of size...

thinwater · 31-12-2013, 12:37

Quote:

Originally Posted by nigel1

Another use for the soft shackle.
Made one recently for holding the clew of the main sail down on to the boom (loose footed main), previously had used a few turns of a velcro strap.
Made sure I measured everything twice before making the shackle, and just about got it right. Just enough slack to get the diamond knot through the eye, and the clew sits about an inch off the boom
Held up OK in 20 kts close hauled.

In a related vein, there are more "soft shackle" types than the little Amsteel loops we love; I have a few Amsteel softshackles on my boat, but most of my soft shackles--more than a dozen--are are old-school stropes, tied from retired bits of polyester double braid. For many applications (sail ties, covers, securing stuff) they are strong enough, secure enough, even easier to use, and generally free. Much better than untying wet or frozen (this time of year) knots.

Sail Delmarva: Soft Shackles, Stropes, and Square Riggers

For example, my throwable life ring is secured with one of these; no Velcro to sun rot and I can pop it off with ski gloves on. I've used then on jib clews, in a bind; they don't shake off (in that application, a soft shackle is stronger and even more secure).

Sail Delmarva: My Favorite Sail Ties
(Later I "improved" the sail ties by making the closure closeable, like a soft shackle; it was a more cumbersome and I went back to fixed eyes.)

**estarzinger** · 31-12-2013, 13:21

so, soft shackle . . .

I just pulled one - 1/8" amsteel - spec sheet says 2500lbs average break strength (with splices).

I expected the soft shackle to break at about 2500lbs.

But I got 4220lbs!

One leg broke at the diamond. The other leg was still intact but probably would have broken quite quickly.

Pull - I need to get an larger diam oval shackle for this: