Winch hooks/end links that accept soft shackles?

[Hillbilly Heaven]

To each their own. This is what I see with the 'safety thimbles' on the market....



If your hawse/flairlead has a large enough throat, you can loop the noose of the soft shackle over a normal thimble and suck the stopper knot up.

Personally, I don't love the idea of sucking the end of the winch line tight ( especially on the trail). Just last year we had an incident where a friend was descending Z-turn in Moab and took a bad line. He ended up a breath away from going over forward from the top ledge. A key factor was being able to QUICKLY access the winch on front of vehicle behind him without needing the plug-in controller or anything 'extra' not included on the winch already. The person first on scene was able to hit the disconnect lever, pull out cable, hook the rear of the endangered vehicle, engage the drum, and have the driver reverse the vehicle to put tension on the vehicle in trouble. This happened in about 20-30 seconds total. This put me firmly back onto the camp of having a complete connection point....be it a hook or soft shackle....on the winch at all times.

Well if you don't like that look then maybe this one will suit you. No reason you couldn't put on a soft shackle before hitting the trail.

 

[Metcalf]

Well if you don't like that look then maybe this one will suit you. No reason you couldn't put on a soft shackle before hitting the trail.

Novel idea, but it will only work with a ton of space above the hawse which rules it out for me. It still doesn't solve the issue of having the winch under tension in storage where it can't be used till you power it out. You might get lucky and be able to pop the drum disconnect, but I'm not sure I want to take that chance.

The one time when you don't remember to stick a soft shackle on the front will be the time that gets you....

My easy low buck solution is to just loop the soft shackle through the thimble and keep it on the front full time. Run it over to a hook or whatever attachment point you like. Ideally something closed that doesn't have to be under a lot of tension all the time. Or just use a hook.

 

[Warn Industries]

Our Sidewinder can be used with soft shackles.





Comes in black, gunmetal, or polished. Forged 6061 T6 billet aluminum construction with forged steel pin. Optional black or red polyurethane isoloator for around the pin, too.

- Andy

 

[1leglance]

Our Sidewinder can be used with soft shackles.

View attachment 539928

View attachment 539929

Comes in black, gunmetal, or polished. Forged 6061 T6 billet aluminum construction with forged steel pin. Optional black or red polyurethane isoloator for around the pin, too.

- Andy

That is really nice looking, a new take on the D-ring, well done

 

[altaboy]

The radius on that still looks pretty minimal for soft shackle use. The rough rule of thumb is 2-3x rope diameter for a static bend radius for full strength with 12 strand Dyneema type products.

Hi Metcalf, I just bought my first set of soft shackles. do you have a reference source as to the "2-3x" rule?

 

[Metcalf]

Hi Metcalf, I just bought my first set of soft shackles. do you have a reference source as to the "2-3x" rule?

Hello,

Rope User's Manual - Samson Rope

Maximizing safety and service life begins with selecting the right rope, managing its proper functionality through optimal handling practices and retiring it from service at the appropriate time.

samsonrope.com

Page 38.

I'll see if I can find others, but overall, that is a good standard number to remember for maximum performance and life with synthetic rigging.