Attaching anchor chain to bridle?

[Cheechako]

I've never had a normal forged chain hook come off except when the water is like glass or I didnt leave enough slack behind it.

[Privilege]

Again, anchoring a cat is different to a mono. A bridle has to be longer on a cat as a short bridle will pull the attachment points towards each other rather than forward. Also, not only can a hook fall off when the bridle sits on the bottom, but keeping tension on the hook when releasing the chain also presents problems as the bridles go off to each side.

My solution has been to attach a 6' length of dyneema from the shackle which joins the two bridle arms together then down to a wichard hook which has a securing pin. The heavy dyneema is easy to splice and it is streamlined so it allows the hook to come over the bow roller onto the deck before the bridles and shackle gets stuck at the roller. It's a simple task to unclip it and then clip it onto something nearby to continue retrieving the chain.

In full disclosure, I haven't used it in heavy conditions so am happy to hear of any potential downside to this setup.

[LongRange]

Originally Posted by jbinbi

Anyone have any experience with this from Kong products

Chain Gripper | KONG USA

It has a pin, so you can't lose this and it won't slip with the pin in it. I purchased a manta shackle with their ingenious method of slipping it on, but the thing is huge. This looks very small and seems easy to use...

I have one, and I would probably use it as a last resort in heavier weather. (My experience is still in the <30kn range, and I would like to keep it that way for as long as possible!)

The Kong chain gripper is fiddly to put on and remove, because of the screw pin. Without seizing, it has to be tightened quite a bit to feel safe, but of course that also makes it difficult to undo afterwards, to the point where it may add risk in high winds. It all has to happen out in front, past the bow roller.

My other concern - probably completely unfounded - is that the pin might be undone by repetitive load cycling at anchor.

[LongRange]

To compensate for lack of real skill and experience, I (over)bought many of these devices and tried them in various combinations. Because of the bow configuration of my boat, it is necessary to reach about a foot in front of the bow roller to attach and detach anything on the chain, and it requires contortion to get there past the pulpit, the genoa furler, and the short sprit.

I thus learned to favour chain hooks which are easy to put on and remove. I had settled on that Osculati "bucket" as the best compromise for me, but a change from 10mm ISO to 10mm DIN chain forced me to abandon the "bucket" - it became very difficult to remove due to the 2mm shorter DIN links.

Right now I am using a simple chain hook which is (still) easy to remove afterwards by simply shaking it off the chain when it (the hook) is not under load. I also learned that by leading the snubber through a ~1.5m length of stong plastic hose I could protect it against damage from the @#$%^& chain locker scupper (sharp as a knife!), and also project the chain hook about a metre farther off the bow when putting it on.

[stevenit]

Originally Posted by jbinbi

Anyone have any experience with this from Kong products

Chain Gripper | KONG USA

It has a pin, so you can't lose this and it won't slip with the pin in it. I purchased a manta shackle with their ingenious method of slipping it on, but the thing is huge. This looks very small and seems easy to use...

Bought, never used for this purpose, not good if you have to leave quickly

[rabbi]

Originally Posted by Privilege

Again, anchoring a cat is different to a mono. A bridle has to be longer on a cat as a short bridle will pull the attachment points towards each other rather than forward. Also, not only can a hook fall off when the bridle sits on the bottom, but keeping tension on the hook when releasing the chain also presents problems as the bridles go off to each side.

My solution has been to attach a 6' length of dyneema from the shackle which joins the two bridle arms together then down to a wichard hook which has a securing pin. The heavy dyneema is easy to splice and it is streamlined so it allows the hook to come over the bow roller onto the deck before the bridles and shackle gets stuck at the roller. It's a simple task to unclip it and then clip it onto something nearby to continue retrieving the chain.

In full disclosure, I haven't used it in heavy conditions so am happy to hear of any potential downside to this setup.

We also had that Wichard chain shackle with the securing pin for some time because it looked so smart and easy on paper.
That pin bent more than a few times, often so bad my wife could not remove it anymore, not even with a plier. So I needed to get there and do it, while she took the helm (which she doesn't like).

We now have a Wichard Snap shackle. Easy to set and remove.
For those rare conditions which may overload the shackle we add a massive dyneema soft shackle, but so far the snap shackle holds up well (in gusts up to 50kn).

[jbinbi]

Originally Posted by rabbi

We also had that Wichard chain shackle with the securing pin for some time because it looked so smart and easy on paper.
That pin bent more than a few times, often so bad my wife could not remove it anymore, not even with a plier. So I needed to get there and do it, while she took the helm (which she doesn't like).

We now have a Wichard Snap shackle. Easy to set and remove.
For those rare conditions which may overload the shackle we add a massive dyneema soft shackle, but so far the snap shackle holds up well (in gusts up to 50kn).

What size wichard snap shackle? And do you put it thru the chain itself? I was thinking of something like this, but didn't know what size would fit through my 3/8" chain, and if it that size would be strong enough. So I was thinking of just putting a loop of dyneema through a chain link, and attaching the shackle to that.

[rabbi]

Originally Posted by jbinbi

What size wichard snap shackle? And do you put it thru the chain itself? I was thinking of something like this, but didn't know what size would fit through my 3/8" chain, and if it that size would be strong enough. So I was thinking of just putting a loop of dyneema through a chain link, and attaching the shackle to that.

I can't give you the size we use, not on the boat right now. Just as big as fits through 10mm chain.
I remember the WLL wasn't as high as I liked so we add a soft shackle if we are expecting winds >35kn.


I don't like the soft shackle / dyneema loop for daily anchoring routine, the snap shackle is much easier & faster on and off.
Also soft shackles wear fast on our galvanized chain, as the little galvanized imperfections hook into the shackle and eat it thread by thread. I guess soft shackles are much better on SS chain.

[SVNeko]

Originally Posted by rabbi

Also soft shackles wear fast on our galvanized chain, as the little galvanized imperfections hook into the shackle and eat it thread by thread. I guess soft shackles are much better on SS chain.

Not true. After 3 years of nearly continuous anchoring, our soft shackle connecting bridle to galv chain shows almost zero chafe. In fact, there is more minor fuzzing from sliding over ground than chafe against the chain.

[rabbi]

Originally Posted by SVNeko

Not true. After 3 years of nearly continuous anchoring, our soft shackle connecting bridle to galv chain shows almost zero chafe. In fact, there is more minor fuzzing from sliding over ground than chafe against the chain.

certainly true for our chain / dyneema. I tried it and after a few weeks the shackle no longer looked good.

EDIT: Maybe I should have added that this was a brand new chain. Maybe chain gets smoother over time? no clue

[SVNeko]

Originally Posted by rabbi

certainly true for our chain / dyneema. I tried it and after a few weeks the shackle no longer looked good.

EDIT: Maybe I should have added that this was a brand new chain. Maybe chain gets smoother over time? no clue

Sorry, continued to use during chain replacement as well. Perhaps you had a bad length of line. It is pretty chafe resistant stuff. Plus it doesn't seem to saw and does not lie on the same location on the shackle each time - you can put any piece you want against the chain.

[mark_morwood]

Originally Posted by rabbi

certainly true for our chain / dyneema. I tried it and after a few weeks the shackle no longer looked good.

EDIT: Maybe I should have added that this was a brand new chain. Maybe chain gets smoother over time? no clue

Strange. I know many people, including ourselves, who use soft shackles for attaching bridle to chain and have not seen this.

Here's a recent thread from another forum here that goes into soft shackles for this purpose in some detail, with some good pics of soft shackles after several years use:

http://www.cruisersforum.com/forums/...nt-180513.html

[rabbi]

strange. Mine became fuzzy after relatively short period of daily use, with individual threads being ripped out of the strands.

Maybe really a bad length of Dyneema? I remember I ordered Dyneema made by Liros, but these days of Chinese everything you never know what you get.

[Privilege]

Originally Posted by jbinbi

What size wichard snap shackle? And do you put it thru the chain itself? I was thinking of something like this, but didn't know what size would fit through my 3/8" chain, and if it that size would be strong enough. So I was thinking of just putting a loop of dyneema through a chain link, and attaching the shackle to that.

The wichard hook doesn't go through the chain, it goes around the chain the same as hooks with no pin. The pin should not take any weight, it merely stops the hook from falling off.

[DavePR]

We've been using the Wichard chain hook for some years. It is well constructed and works reliably; the spring-loaded pin keeps the hook from falling off; the pin is equipped with a ring that is too small and hard to grip when on a bouncing bow...best to attach a large SS ring to the small one. I'll try to post, soon, a photo of our Wichard hook attached to a double-line snubber.

Wichard chain hook comes in three sizes:
[URL="http://marine.wichard.com/index.php?action=chercher&nouvelle_recherche=oui&c ontexte=moteur&langue=UK&charte=accastillage&theme =ME&valeur_cherchee=chain&image.x=0&image.y=0"]

Two sizes are sold at Defender
Wichard Chain Grip Hook