Page 412 - Brion Toss - The Complete Rigger’s Apprentice

Finished shackle

Button Knot. In the form at lower right, with the ends cut off flush, you
will have a decorative soft shackle; just pass the loop end around the
objects you want to shackle together, then slide the loop open, slip it
over the button, and slide the loop closed.
But if you want full strength, leave the ends long, and tuck them
10 rope diameters or so down into adjacent standing parts. (Finished
shackle, above.)
Cut the ends off at an angle, so that they just barely draw inside
when you smooth out the standing parts. Make a few stitches through
the rope where the ends enter, under the button, so that they can’t
crawl out when no load is on.
Congratulations, you have just completed an improved soft shackle,
one that is 50% or more stronger than the “conventional” soft shack-
les that you can commonly find in today’s chandleries. Test results on
absolute strength vary depending on the quality of fabrication, but it is
reasonable to say that you can expect in the neighborhood of twice the
rope’s strength from the finished shackle. So, for instance, the ⁄16-inch
3
rope shackle described here would have a breaking strength of 5 to 6
tons(!)
You can make soft shackles of any length. If for instance you want
to hang a block from a boom, you will want a longer shackle than if
you wanted to secure a block to a deck padeye or cleat. Soft shackles,
improved or otherwise, replace steel shackles for many, many appli-
cations, afloat or ashore. They can be made in a few minutes, using
scrap lengths of rope, they weigh almost nothing, and they can be eas- Finished Button Knot.
ily inspected and replaced. Wonderful.

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