Soft Shackle pictoral. Picture heavy, dial up beware

[e_2]

A lot of variables in making Opie's soft shackle - how big was your eye, how accurate was your backsplice, how well did you dress the knot. I'm all over the map....

neat little calculator here to figure out what size you want to end up with:

http://l-36.com/soft_shackle_9.php

only goes down to 7/64" unless you modify the form code by hand

[mrcheviot]

Silvr it is strange, b/c in isolation each of the steps are simple and use the same measurements. I agree the knot may be most responsible, I seem to have varying levels of success in getting every bit of the diamond knot super tight. As you mentioned it does seem to depend on the piece of Amstel being used.

Are you using a buried loop for the unknotted end or sliding 8? In my experience the latter is more consistent in terms of length (as well as being easier to open) as length reduction from a bury isn't always consistent even when using 'same' cordage.

Anyway, that's a solid batch of them you got there. Now that you've got all of those, maybe try a pair as a replacement for fixed eye in a whoopie? One of the better "I wonder how this'll work" brain farts I've had..

[dragon360]

Glad to see this one back up. Easily one of my most favourite threads and a good reason to why I joined HF.

[Gqgeek81]

Haven't tried this yet so forgive me for asking a stupid question, but did you pull the amsteal taught before marking measurements?

[gmcttr]

...Now that you've got all of those, maybe try a pair as a replacement for fixed eye in a whoopie? One of the better "I wonder how this'll work" brain farts I've had..

Not sure if you mean to connect a whoopie with a soft shackle or to build one into the end instead of a fixed eye.

I did a "tied" line end biner several years ago for easily removable tie outs. That method worked well enough for tarp duty but would probably bind and be hard to remove if used for a hammock suspension.

[SilvrSurfr]

Silvr it is strange, b/c in isolation each of the steps are simple and use the same measurements. I agree the knot may be most responsible, I seem to have varying levels of success in getting every bit of the diamond knot super tight. As you mentioned it does seem to depend on the piece of Amstel being used.

Are you using a buried loop for the unknotted end or sliding 8? In my experience the latter is more consistent in terms of length (as well as being easier to open) as length reduction from a bury isn't always consistent even when using 'same' cordage.

Anyway, that's a solid batch of them you got there. Now that you've got all of those, maybe try a pair as a replacement for fixed eye in a whoopie? One of the better "I wonder how this'll work" brain farts I've had..

I'm not using the diamond knot - the pictoral in this thread calls for a double overhand knot (I think it's called). This pictoral calls for a buried loop (don't know what a sliding 8 is).

How the heck would a soft shackle replace the fixed eye on a whoopie? Having a hard time envisioning it.

[SilvrSurfr]

Haven't tried this yet so forgive me for asking a stupid question, but did you pull the amsteal taught before marking measurements?

Yep, I pull it tight but not so much as to distort it (not that Amsteel stretches much anyway). The end-of-spool stuff is definitely harder to measure because it's compressed in different ways along the length of the cord and won't lay flat.

[mrcheviot]

The left end is what I call the "Sliding 8", find it works much better than trying to bury the eye in construction and use:



(vs opie's version)




As for replacing the fixed eye in a whoopie, what you're really doing is making the fixed eye tight around the shackle, so it effectively replaces it and acts as an amsteel Dutch hook/clip:


The loop I'm holding onto was just an idea I had that something could be hung there, it's just the two tails of the stopper knot spliced together. Works okay in practice for light things, have since done away with them for a single tail. These would need to be made with a diamond or other safe load bearing knot to use for suspension (of course).

I've been using these (and calling them nacrawhoopies) for ~3 years now w/ zero issues or problems. Have them color coded for different length whoopies as I usually bring a 4' and 6' with me, and can mix and match suspension w/ various hammocks as needed.

I have some better close up pics, just not online at the moment. Hope this clears up my comments a bit.

- MrC / jeremyr

[mrcheviot]

Also forgot to mention, once the locked brummel is done for the "Sliding 8" you don't actually need to bury one tail into the other for the length of the shackle - instead you'll end up with two parallel lines running towards the stopper knot, which is fine or perhaps preferable for some applications. Again, simpler to construct and probably results in more consistent shackle lengths.

[e_2]

I'm not using the diamond knot - the pictoral in this thread calls for a double overhand knot (I think it's called). This pictoral calls for a buried loop (don't know what a sliding 8 is)...

The diamond knot is one of the few knots that will not slip when using amsteel/dyneema. Just to be clear, even the "stopper" knot shown on the first page of this thread will slip if given enough force.