Snubber

[thinwater]

Originally Posted by toddedger

Wondering if anyone knows of any table or guide to snubber dai./ displacement?

Opinions vary, but...
https://www.practical-sailor.com/iss...e_11951-1.html

[Breaking Waves]

Originally Posted by Sangraal

If I read the info correctly they are rated at 22 Kilonewtons which in round numbers is 5,000 pounds.

The way fxykty configured it, it is doubled, so about 10k lbs rated. Note I pull tested several of these (in this thread) and they are very consistent slightly above rating.

......

[OS2Dude]

Originally Posted by toddedger

Wondering if anyone knows of any table or guide to snubbed dai./ displacement?

From the Mantus website:

Boat Size 30 – 40 feet 40 – 50 feet 50 – 70 feet

3 Strand Nylon 5/8″ 3/4″ 1″

Bridle length overall 23 feet 26 feet 30 feet

Individual Leg length 20 feet 22 feet 26 feet

Thimble 316LSS 5/8″ Hvy Duty 3/4″ Hvy Duty 1″ Hvy Duty

[TonyDove]

I must have been lucky … I used a plain old chain-hook snubber for years and it never fell off the chain.

However, I'd be very careful with my fingers trying to use a chain-hook with a gate/latch.

Typically, attaching and detaching the hook to/from the chain is done in a less that easy access environment. Reaching through the pulpit … under the bow roller. Often a one-handed operation if there's any kind of a chop running … the other hand is for hanging on with … 'one hand for the boat and one hand for you'. So one-handed operation of the gate/latch while feeding the hook onto/off the chain makes my fingers nervous.

The snubber is for absorbing snatch-loads in a chop … which is exactly what you don't want to happen if your fingers are busy fiddling with a gate/latch.

Putting the chain-hook onto the chain with a gate/latch is probably easier than getting it off again.

Possible reason mine never fell off is that I always relaxed the chain off the windlass … so a good loop of chain, a meter or so, hung slack between the hook and the bow roller. All the weight of the ground tackle was handled by the snubber and it didn't 'go slack'. This also made taking it off again easier … just reel in the chain until it takes the weight and the snubber goes slack … and the snubber generally fell off before jamming on the bow-roller.

Whatever you chose … please take care of your fingers … you aren't an octopus … they won't grow back.

Happy sailing

[Suijin]

I think for the last two years I've been using a soft shackle to attach my snubber line directly to the chain. I won't ever go back to a hitch or hook. Size your soft shackle so it will fit through one of the chain links. While it may look small, a soft shackle made with 3 or 5mm will easily be stronger than the snubber line itself. Don't forget the shackle strength is greater than that of the single line itself.

Soft shackles are easy to put on and take off, they won't come off the chain, and they will run through an anchor roller very easily. FYI, I had one soft shackle last over a year, anchoring 365 days without any significant wear. I finally replaced it just because I thought I should even though it looked basically fine.

My snubber line has a plastic thimble spliced in it and as a result the loop experiences effectively no wear and should last the life of the snubber itself, which is really limited by cycles.

Also, 15' is way too short for a snubber IMHO unless you don't ever expect to see any significant fetch or wind. My two snubber lines, the "every day" and the "storm" are both 35' long. The storm should probably longer. In addition the greater shock absorption, it gives you a bit more leeway if you find yourself needing to let out more scope. You don't need to pull in the rode to detach the snubber because it's not long enough to for you to simply let out more scope. An important consideration when you're in 3' chop and 30 knots of wind, or more.

Lastly I think making soft shackles is a skill that everyone should acquire. Once you make up a few of them and have them lying around you'll be discovering all kinds of uses for them that you never anticipated.

[Simi 60]

Originally Posted by Suijin

While it may look small, a soft shackle made with 3 or 5mm will easily be stronger than the snubber line itself.

On smaller boats maybe
I'd be wanting 8mm to 10mm for ours.

My snubber line has a plastic thimble spliced in it

I hope its a bit more than just plastic

Also, 15' is way too short for a snubber IMHO unless you don't ever expect to see any significant fetch or wind. My two snubber lines, the "every day" and the "storm" are both 35' long. The storm should probably longer. In addition the greater shock absorption, it gives you a bit more leeway if you find yourself needing to let out more scope. You don't need to pull in the rode to detach the snubber because it's not long enough to for you to simply let out more scope. An important consideration when you're in 3' chop and 30 knots of wind, or more..

15ft / 5metres is as much as we have ever used anchoring 365 days a year.
We have seen several 50+ and an 80+ knot blow at anchor without issue on a high windage 70 tonne vessel.

[argonauta1]

Get a stainless steel chain hook to fit 3/8 chain, a good 15 feet of NYLON line about 3/4 inch and tie it to a forward cleat. This provides lots of stretch and takes all the strain off the gypsy if you have one.

[barryglewis]

Originally Posted by fxykty

Dyneema does not like bends. The fishermen’s knot weakens it just like any other knot, 50-70% weaker. If it’s way stronger than it needs to be then the weakening may not be the problem. But what about slipperiness?

Why not lead your snubber along the deck? Seems to me that as long as you can get a fair lead without chafing points and it’s long enough to provide the necessary stretch, that you solve one of the big problems of snubbers/bridles that go beyond the bow: having to bring chain in before removing the snubber and letting more chain out. If your stern cleats are too far (is too long a problem?) then what about your midship cleats?

It's what we do on Risky Business, about 10m of 10mm 3 strand nylon spliced to a chain hook, attached to chain forward of windlass led back to a primary winch in cockpit, via jib fairlead. Has worked from Barrier Reef to this year in Mediterranean. We carry a heavier nylon but haven't felt the nxeed to use it yet.
Risky is 9.5 ton loaded, 13.5m, an aluminium Adams13.