In praise of soft shackle dog bones

[Graham W]

Dyneema shackles and loops have a wide variety of uses on boats like ours, keeping weight down and reducing the risks of being hit in the eye by hard metal.  On my gunter-rigged boat they are used to speed up reefing by providing small loops that are easier to hook into than metal cringles; they help incorporate low-friction rings into the rigging in place of solid blocks; are integral to the double topping lift; and attach various sails to their running rigging.

However, unless you have ninja-level knot-tying skills, the soft shackle's main weakness is the crown knot that secures the end of the shackle to the loop.  In my hands, they tend to capsize and become lop-sided.  They still work but are more difficult to do up and undo.  This is where dog bones, small pieces of milled aluminium or stainless steel, come in.  They take the place of the crown knot, are very easy to incorporate into a soft shackle and are much easier (and faster) to do up and undo.  I am currently experimenting with using one to speed up single line slab reefing for my mainsail leech - more of which anon.

Companies now sell to upscale yotties a variety of ready-made and expensive dog-boned soft shackles - see for example Nodus https://www.nodusfactory.com/en/ and Kohlhoff https://www.kohlhoff-online.de/brands/loop.  Like low-friction rings, dog bones have reduced significantly in price as more companies enter the market.  They are beginning to recognise that they are just as useful on small boats as on large yachts.  Allen for example have a comparatively low cost range https://www.allenbrothers.co.uk/range/accessories/dog-bones/ to complement the wide range of low friction rings now available.  The Chinese are also beginning to get in on the act.  And if you have a handy grinding wheel and enjoy handling sulphuric acid, it wouldn't be too difficult to make your own very cheap anodised dog bones from a length of aluminium rod off eBay.

So there is nothing to stop you from copying at low(ish) cost the designs of the high cost ready-made shackles and other paraphernalia offered by the market leaders.  A big advantage of making your own is that if you have the materials and splicing tools to hand, you can quickly magic up a clever block or shackle for a specific purpose while far from a convenient chandlery.