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  1. #1
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    Soft shackle / fast shackle

    I picked up a few of these recently. I really like soft shackles over carabiners and especially these ones that don’t have a bury to milk. So fast and easy.

    Anyone else using these? It’s so easy it feels like cheating! . What are your experiences!

    0CF95539-C88B-4ECD-A4DF-A00902A5537A.jpg

  2. #2
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    It feels so much like cheating I haven’t used mine. I tied them myself and intellectually I know they will hold way more than the weight I place them under. It’s weird... but I’ll get over it! Lol

    I just got some lightweight looped straps and plan to try them with the soft shackles I made. Super light and so easy to set up.
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  3. #3
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    it's not clear from the picture what kind of shackle it is (mainly, how is the button knot captured). there seem to be quite a few "shortcuts" out there when it comes to softshackles, just because somebody sells it doesn't mean it is wise, so beware. but in particular for this one, a clearer picture would help i think.

    soft shackles are great indeed, if dones properly, i don't think of them as carabiner replacements though, imo they are quite different (with some overlap in possible use, but at least as much differences as overlaps). as much as i like softshackles, i wouldn't close down the carabiner factory just yet

  4. #4
    Senior Member cmoulder's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by nanok View Post
    it's not clear from the picture what kind of shackle it is (mainly, how is the button knot captured). there seem to be quite a few "shortcuts" out there when it comes to softshackles, just because somebody sells it doesn't mean it is wise, so beware. but in particular for this one, a clearer picture would help i think.

    soft shackles are great indeed, if dones properly, i don't think of them as carabiner replacements though, imo they are quite different (with some overlap in possible use, but at least as much differences as overlaps). as much as i like softshackles, i wouldn't close down the carabiner factory just yet
    I agree that it doesn't look like the 'standard' soft shackle. However, I've tried the standard (bury) version and found it very hard to release after being hung on all night, especially when wet or frozen. I'll take the Evo Loop every time... super easy to engage and release, remains attached to webbing loop so it can't be misplaced.

    Five Basic Principles of Going Lighter (not me... the great Cam Honan of OZ)
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  5. #5
    Senior Member m00ch's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by cmoulder View Post
    I agree that it doesn't look like the 'standard' soft shackle. However, I've tried the standard (bury) version and found it very hard to release after being hung on all night, especially when wet or frozen. I'll take the Evo Loop every time... super easy to engage and release, remains attached to webbing loop so it can't be misplaced.

    Exactly what Moulder said.


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  6. #6
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    Soft shackles with a bury are more secure while under zero tension. But are a fight to get out sometimes... Looking at that shackle or an evo loop, it looks like it would fall out or not hold the weight. They do hold and are reliable tho. Been using them on my suspension for near two years and on my tarp ridgeline for a year now. Not a single mishap.

  7. #7
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    cmoulder: thanks, your picture is much clearer. i think i've seen that method of connection before, i personally don't like it as i find it a bit too error prone (i mean too much so for supporting critical weights, can be fine for non critical stuff), i realize people use them with some success, and as i haven't had a chance to do extensive load testing on that method myself, i will not argue one way or the other, and i'll just call it my preference (but i wish we'd have clearer standards of testing and load bearing, in the hammock world).

    as to the shackles which realy on a burry for capturing (and milking that burry), i am amazed they still exist (i agree they are terrible, and there are so much better designs around already).

    to be clear, i also like using softshackles on tree huggers, but what bothers me most about some of these "loose methods" of connection is that, in the picture above, for instance, all you need is a "standard" softshackle (so with a spliced capture loop, no burry), you hitch it to the treestrap with a becket (double if needed), or even bend it with the sheet bend (so even no sewing on the treestrap needed!), and then you have a shackle which stays there, is easily removable if need to repurpose it, and you have a bullet proof capture loop too, which is tested and proven in sailing applications, in other words "yes please!". again, i use all sorts of creative methods of doing things, and come up with new ones all the time, it's fun, but when it comes to holding body weight or critical loads, i become a bit stubborn: i want solutions which are properly tested for safety (behaviour in cyclic loading etc), and load capacity tested in the intended configuration, which is numerical, not "i tried it and it didn't fail me" (and yes, i know for many hammock suspension solutions we don't have such ratings, because we don't have any standard for testing still, but that's a different rant; in the case of softshackles our sailor friends have done extensive testing for us already, so i prefer to stick with what they found, until i can reliably test my "innovations" and put numbers on them, for any critical loads. for non-critical, different story of course)

  8. #8
    Senior Member cmoulder's Avatar
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    All I can say is that like Chapinb I have been hanging off them for a couple of years and have lived to tell the tale.

    I suppose there is some very unlikely combination of events whereby it might work its way loose while unloaded, but even with the slightest load the constricting loop takes a set and when loaded it simply isn't going to fail. If there's any doubt, a quick glance can confirm that it is set properly.

    If you think the Evo looks sketchy, you really wouldn't like my Lapp hitch to CL. Before I knew what it was I referred to it as "Death Hitch" because it just looks so crazy simple that it couldn't possibly work. I've hung off it many (many!) nights now with not a micron of slippage.
    Five Basic Principles of Going Lighter (not me... the great Cam Honan of OZ)
    “If everybody is thinking alike, then somebody isn't thinking.” ~ Gen. George S Patton

  9. #9
    Senior Member m00ch's Avatar
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    Heck, I don’t even make the constrictor loop anymore as cmoulder pointed out, I just put the loop over the knot. Many, many nights on both the hammock end and tree strap end without a failure.

    Not saying it couldn’t happen but I can say it hasn’t happened.


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  10. #10
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    I use evo loops on my UHMWPE straps rather than hardware, no issues.
    119156743_2677934062521755_2518199509452816366_o.jpg

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