Loop Shackles/Connectors aka The Nacrabiner

[goanywhere]

Am I missing something or is there a potential flaw with this system? If the load is constantly applied I can see that it will be secure, but if the load is intermittent or if there is any free play without a load (such as an unoccupied hammock in windy conditions), could the loop work over the knot and come loose? Particularly if used with webbing or some kinds of stiffer cord such as polyester spectra.

I was thinking some kind of slider to lock the loop would be an added safety to the setup?

[lonetracker]

that should lock just fine.the main problem i had using a sliding knot lock was inadvertently pulling the knot off the loop.i started tying them so the knot was between as well as around the two strands .

[karenthomas]

It is interesting talking thank you.

[e_2]

I may have missed this somewhere in the thread, but here is a link to a Youtube video on how to make one of these complete with bury and step by step on tying the diamond knot:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jH66tGsWv_Y

In the video above, larger diameter Amsteel is used, so it's pretty easy to see what's going on.

Another great link where 7/64" Amsteel is used:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2bwKJIhSLEs

If I had another hand, I'd give this three thumbs up.

I left my tails long (about 4" or so) and tied them together in an overhand knot, eventually, once I'm satisfied they won't be sucked into the knot any further I'll trim them down.

[cougarmeat]

I've been looking at this variation - the "Better Soft Shackle" method found here: http://l-36.com/soft_shackle_9.php

And finishing with a single line I can back splice as found here: https://www.hammockforums.net/forum/...ad.php?t=18996

I tried the diamond knot and can do it. But life's too short and I'm left with two messy tails. even if I leave enough to back spice them both, it still isn't as tidy as I'd like. So burying one of the two tail in the other and tying what looks like a "blood knot" or alternate stopper and back spicing that would work of me.

Can anyone see an weakness in that system? I've made the "better soft shackle" both with diamond knot (version 1.0) and the alternate stopper above (version 1.2), they both seem to work. I'll load them up tonight.

[cougarmeat]

I need a little help on that http://l-36.com/soft_shackle_9.php instruction.

Even zoomed, my poor little eyes can't tell if side A is passed through side B twice, once at the fold in the middle and again at the crossover - or if the sides alternate such that side A is passed through side B at the top, then side B is passed through side A at the crossover - like a Brummell lock except there is a greater distance between the two pass throughs?

[Wanderlost]

That's essentially what it is: a locked Brummel with slack left between the two cross-throughs. I like making them this way solely because you accidentally be me, pull the loop through the core, and then spend the next 30 mins figuring how to feed it back out.

[cougarmeat]

I see my mistake was not passing one line directly at the mid point between the two - which would make it the shorter line he mentions. Then, the distance down from the tip to the crossover (second pass-through) determines how wide the eye will open. His online calculator gives 1.75 inches for 7/64ths. That enough - just enough - for the diamond knot.

I found if you get the pass-throughs "wrong" by going through the same line twice then bury, that you can open the eye wider by milking, but you still have that first pass-through "lock" of some sort.

In another thread, maybe this one, I read that when holding people, the diamond is really preferred over the blood knot for a stopper (I used both last night and they worked fine). So now on the back side of the diamond knot I shorten one strand and feed it into the other, leaving one tail. I back splice that tail; it's pretty tidy.

I can see with this "Better shackle" that the long bury is just to make a single line for tidiness. There is no "milking" to adjust anything as the eye opens by making slack with the wide spaced Brummel.

[brooklynkayak]

Re: Blood knot,
Earlier in this very long thread, if I remember correctly, tests were done by Schneiderlein using various stopper knots.
These tests proved that the stopper knot was always the point of failure and that the diamond knot was by far stronger than any of the common stopper knots.

I suspect the the softer bends and the fact that there are more of them in the knot spreads the force over more rope.
The sharper bends in most knots are the weak point with modern rope materials and the reason we avoid most knots in our suspensions.

It is a pain to tie, but treat it like a challenging puzzle and you can have fun with it.

[brooklynkayak]

Some very good info and lot's of ideas that some may find interesting:
http://l-36.com/soft_shackles.php