The Dutch Shackle Prusik
For me, rigging is one of the more fun parts of hammock camping. Fairly early on I started using zing-it, making prusiks and learning to splice in order to solve various rigging problems. Even though I enjoyed tying knots, I soon realized that I really wanted/needed, at least some, hardware to make quick, convenient and strong connections. I migrated through toggles, soft shackles, various S-Biners, Dutch Biners all with good results. My goal was to simplify, streamline, reduce weight and generally make them easier for my fat little digits to use.
As you can imagine I’ve probably tried most of the Dutchware products and join many others in singing the praises of Dutch’s many well thought out and clever designs. Then one day it occurred to me to combine the simple prusik with one of Dutch’s equally simple yet elegant early designs, the Dutch Hook. Granted, the Dutch Hook doesn’t have the sex appeal of the Stingerz or the Tarp Flyz, but it works so well I think we often tend to take it for granted.
The Dutch Shackle Prusik starts with a 12” long piece of zing-it spliced into a simple loop with a short tail, shaped like a letter Q. Onto the tail of the Q, splice a second loop with a Dutch Hook and there you have it. The Dutch Hook Prusik weighs a mere .85g and I find it very easy to use, even with cold/wet hands. Some of the uses I have found:
1. Ridgeline attachments for tarps.
2. Adjustment for both 1 and 2 piece tarp ridgelines.
3. Adjustable utility lines for tie outs, side pulls, water bag & pack hangers.
Making the Dutch Shackle Prusik
Here is the splicing layout of the Dutch Shackle Prusik: 1 ¼” 2 ¼” 5” 10 ¾”
Start by forming the lager loop with a locked Brummell
Then trap the hook in the smaller loop and form the second locked Brummell and finish your burries
TIP: Allow the 2 ¼” splice point to fall where it will to allow a nice small loop around the Dutch Hook. Then pull the last bury to exit at the same point as the first bury exit, trim the excess and milk the end back inside. This will leave a smooth finish on the shackle portion.
I hope you find it useful.
David
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