Yet another soft shackle variation
 

I never seem to standardize on soft shackles... it seems my preferred method has become historic next time I check on it :-)

This is another stopper knot and I like that the tail is buried throughout and beyond the knot. What do you guys think?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K0eZz36PRYI

thanks,
Nick.

Variations
 

Hi,
Looks like a good one, though the claimed break percentage seems high; does anyone know what the number is based on? Samson, and others, list minimum, average, and maximum break strengths in different places.
My suspicion, based on testing of similar configurations, is that it is more likely to be close to 200%, which is not shabby.
Fair leads,
Brion Toss

Indeed; it seems the 230% comes from the tests done with the button knot version that you worked on with Evans Starzinger and Allan from L36.com. I don't think this new version has been tested, but I'll ask him on his Youtube channel.

I like how people come up with new variations :)

The guys at Balance Community did some testing on the various soft shackle types, including this one (big overhand). Their tests showed an average strength slightly (a couple of percent) higher than the button knot method.

http://www.balancecommunity.com/slac...ackle-methods/

My issue with the "big overhand" technique is that the knot is ugly. The button knot when finished is a work of art. I'm willing to lose [theoretically] 2% of the strength on my shackle to have something that looks pretty.

Data
 

Hi,
At that level, the difference in strength is not significant, especially as, until further improvements are made, the breaks we are getting are in the eye, not adjacent to the button (see photo's of thre broken samples). Note also that these tests were from several years ago, the sample size was small, and that the benchmark actual rope strength does not appear to have been determined.
Fair leads,
Brion Toss