Making a Soft Shackle - Questions about Rope

[and4ew]

Although I am physical distancing from my boat, I still want to improve my sailing skills so I'm going to learn to make soft shackles. I found some youtube videos (of course) but when watching them I realized I don't know much about rope. The video said to use Dyneema. I know there are different types, and some have an outer sheath. What I don't understand is:

- Does all Dyneema have a sheath?
- If not, what would I use for a soft shackle? Sheathed or unsheathed?

Specifically about the shackle itself:

- What stops the diamond knot from popping through the loop?
- How do I size a shackle? If I'm using the soft shackles to connect a snubber to an anchor chain, I'll be limited by the size of the anchor i.e. how small the opening in the chain link is. would I use multiple shackles to match the breaking strength of the snubber line?

[ohthetrees]

There are all kinds of dyneema, but most people, when they simply say “dyneema rope” mean an single braid unsheathed 12 strand such as Samson amsteel blue. Which ironically comes in multiple colors. I like the gray.

I would start with 1/4” aka 6mm. Most tutorials assume that size, easy size to make and it is conveniently sized in use too. 90% of my shackles are made from this size.

Tension on the noose keeps the button from popping through. With tension, they will never pop off. Properly made, it is exceedingly rare for them to pop open even when not under tension. I use them all over the boat, including on my jib clew and main head, both of which flog when not under tension, and I’ve never had one pop off.

The biggest soft shackle I can fit through a chain link actually exceeds the working load of my chain. Take a piece of the rope you are thinking of using, if you can get a looped end through a link, you will be able to get a soft shackle made of that same rope.

For my storm snubber I actually use the next size up soft shackle which is difficult to get through a link. On that one, I have a very thin piece of line looped through the noose which helps me pull it through a link. It is fine for my storm snubber which only sees occasional use. My every day snubber soft shackle can be worked through a chain link in a few seconds.

I’ve made many different style soft shackles out there, and I have arrived at a strong favorite. It was invented by our own seaworthy lass, and is called the BB soft shackle. It has several advantages over the run-of-the-mill soft shackle you might find in a YouTube tutorial, and can be easily used one-handed.

https://www.cruisersforum.com/forums...le-155714.html

[StuM]

Originally Posted by ohthetrees

...
I’ve made many different style soft shackles out there, and I have arrived at a strong favorite. It was invented by our own seaworthy lass, and is called the BB soft shackle. It has several advantages over the run-of-the-mill soft shackle you might find in a YouTube tutorial, and can be easily used one-handed.
https://www.cruisersforum.com/forums...le-155714.html

OhTheTrees, has provided an excellent answer. I'd just like to add:

"Dyneema" is a trade name for a specific brand of Ultra-high-molecular-weight polyethylene (UHMWP) fibre. AKA UHMW or HMPE. The name is now frequently used generically for any 12 strand, single braid UHMWP rope.
For soft shackles, any such rope should sufice. (depending on manufacture, breaking loads will vary to a certain extent, if you want maximum strength it may be a good idea to stick with the well known brands such as Amsteel). Personally all mine comes from these guys : https://www.irbpty.com/ (a browse through that site will greatly expand your knowledge about various rope types.)

More importantly: +1 on the BB and SWL's excellent instructions.