Soft Halyard or Line Shackle

[allene]

I have come up with what might be a new way to connect a line such as Amsteel to something without having to use a separate soft shackle. It is very fast to use, much faster than a soft shackle and may even be faster that a regular snap shackle. It is based on a soft shackle but with the eye as part of the line and the diamond knot permanently connected to the target, such as the head of a sail. I have used it on my boat in several places and it really works well.



I am not completely sure if it is new and if it is, not sure what to call it. I have been calling it a soft halyard shackle but it has way more uses than just halyards. I would appreciate some feedback.

I completed some strength testing and find it very strong. I pulled it to destruction using a sample made from 1/8 Amsteel. It breaks just like a soft shackle -- at the diamond knot. Tests on a soft shackle show it has about 170% of line strength so I conclude that this shackle is 80-90% of line strength based on the fact that the knot in a soft shackle carries half the load. From previous tests, I felt I was near the line strength when the knot finally let go. It took a lot of force to break it. For example, I observed about 10% stretch on the 7/16 XLS anchor line from from the initial condition of being pulled as tight as a Barient 22 could pull to where the knot broke being pulled by a hydraulic jack.

I have written an article explaining it in detail. http://l-36.com/halyard_shackle.php

Allen

[Brion Toss]

Hi there,
I like this variation on the theme, and would suggest that the way is open, with this and with normal soft shackles, for an even stronger attachment, through the use of four-strand buttons or lanyard knots. That way the shackle would not be the limiting factor, and in your case you'd have deeper redundancy for the permanently-affixed piece.
My favorite sheet configuration remains a 1-piece pair, secured to the clew with a soft shackle, with the whole works coming off for sail or rope maintenance or stowage. With this, one is not limited to HM sheets.
Fair leads,
Brion Toss

[allene]

Originally Posted by Brion Toss

Hi there,
I like this variation on the theme, and would suggest that the way is open, with this and with normal soft shackles, for an even stronger attachment, through the use of four-strand buttons or lanyard knots. That way the shackle would not be the limiting factor, and in your case you'd have deeper redundancy for the permanently-affixed piece.
My favorite sheet configuration remains a 1-piece pair, secured to the clew with a soft shackle, with the whole works coming off for sail or rope maintenance or stowage. With this, one is not limited to HM sheets.
Fair leads,
Brion Toss

You can also make the button loop out of one size larger line and get the strength back and the four-strand button is an interesting idea. I would not use this soft line shackle for sheets as the knot sticks out where it would hang on the rigging. I am using eye splices in XLS and a soft shackle to the clew ring with the knot held in the clew ring as shown below:

I have an extensive writeup on soft shackles here (first of 7 pages)
http://l-36.com/soft_shackle_intro.php

But what do you think about a name? Soft line shackle, or soft halyard shackle, or some combination?

Finally, what is a 1-piece pair?

Allen