Jacklines and Tethers

[captain465]

A very kind neighbor has just presented me with a set of jacklines, tethers and harnesses. I am curious of which end of the tether should the shackel be???? At the harness end comes to mind, in order to be able to release fron the jackline if thrown overboard and being dragged. Is this a correct assumption?
The jackllines and tethers are boyh manufactured by Survival Technologies Group of Appolo Beach, Florida. The tethers have a snap shackel on one end and a spring loaded caribinier with a threaded locking ring on the other end.

[GordMay]

A very kind & generous neighbour, indeed!

I don’t quite understand the exact nature of your query, but perhaps this may help:

Excerpted from the The USS Sailing Foundation Harness & Tether Study (1999):
At ➥ http://offshore.ussailing.org/Assets...ther+Study.pdf

:... We generally consider a tether with a quick release shackle at the inboard end to be an important feature; however, we tried to test as broad a spectrum of hardware as possible to see if there might be any lessons learned. We did come to this conclusion: quick release snap shackles are robust, as are the locking, gated snap hooks (the Wichard and Gibb hooks). Snap hooks without a gate, even the well-respected Wichard forged models, and most of the other non-locking hardware, have too high a failure rate to trust your life to them. Also, snap hooks have been known to pickup a lazy jib sheet while walking along the deck, and can come undone if twisted on a padeye in a not uncommon manner...”

➥ US SAILING - Safety At Sea - Safety Studies - 1999 Harness and Tether Study - Appendix I - Standard Harnesses

I believe that Survival Technologies may now be owned and manufactured by the Switlik Parachute Company, but I don’t see their Harness’ and Tethers listed:
➥ Switlik - Marine Catalog - Overview.

I always used a 5 Ft. construction safety belt lanyard, doubled (looped) round the Jackline, with both ends safety snap-shackled at the harness D-Ring.
As needed, the tether (lanyard) could be un-doubled and shackled directly to the Jackline for extra length.

[donradcliffe]

Yep, you want to be able to release yourself from the tether under load, which you can't do with the caribinier.

The other tip is that the stern termination of the jackline should be far enough forward so that if you fall overboard you are towed alongside the boat (where you have a chance at grabbing the lifeline/pulpit/rail) rather than behind it.