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Swivel Shackle or Not?

8K views 16 replies 14 participants last post by  Reef33 
#1 ·
Just curious, I have always used a swivel shackle with my anchor. But read in L&A that they often don't, at least with a spade type anchor?

Some say its another point to fail. Some would say it helps the anchor set better and when the wind shifts?

Does it depend on the type anchor?

What say you and why?
 
#3 ·
Which L&A issue was the article in? I'd like to read their reasoning.
Nov/Dec 2010 Issue #126, with Jessica Watson on the Cover

Article: "Anchoring Made Easy" by Alex and Daria Blackwell.

Talking about the Quickset Ultra and the Rocna...

"Yes, we know that there is a suggestion to use it with a swivel, but we are not in favor of swivels as in our opinion, corroborated by colleagues' experiences, they add another opportunity for a potential weal link. On that note, we are also not supporters of a long slot as on the Manson Supreme. In a 180 degree wind shift this could conceivably cause the anchor to be pulled out of the bottom - just as if you were employing a trip line."
 
#4 ·
Never having used a swivel I am on the one hand tempted to try one out but on the other wonder what is their value ?

OTOH, I hear a lot of white noise in regard to swivels failing and the pins not being up to the job yet I see and/or hear of so very very few reported cases of actual failure that I do wonder if much of the muttering is nowt more than hoo ha.

In all my years of anchoring out (though not as many times as I might have liked) I've most certainly had anchors drag yet not once have I had a component fail, even with boats where the quality of the ground tackle was most certainly in question.
 
#7 ·
Never having used a swivel I am on the one hand tempted to try one out but on the other wonder what is their value ?

OTOH, I hear a lot of white noise in regard to swivels failing and the pins not being up to the job yet I see and/or hear of so very very few reported cases of actual failure that I do wonder if much of the muttering is nowt more than hoo ha.

In all my years of anchoring out (though not as many times as I might have liked) I've most certainly had anchors drag yet not once have I had a component fail, even with boats where the quality of the ground tackle was most certainly in question.
They have absolutely NO value, IMHO - other than perhaps allowing an anchor to "flip" over into the proper orientation when coming up over a roller... Anyone too lazy to deal with that manually, well, they deserve whatever might be the result of introducing something as needless as a swivel into their ground tackle system....

There have been many documented instances of failures of swivels, their main problem stems from the difficulty of properly inspecting them, many of the components are hidden from view even upon dis-assembly... And, if you're using hi-test chain, chances are any appropriately sized stainless swivel will be the weakest link in your system... ACCO makes a hi-test galvanized swivel sized for 1/4" hi-test, otherwise they are extremely hard to come by...

Boggles the mind how often I see swivels clamped right to an anchor , without any intervening bow shackle, just begging for a side load upon the anchor stock to pry the jaws of the swivel apart, or induce an eccentric load on another part of the swivel, a disaster waiting to happen...


KISS, a single bow shackle between anchor and chain, there is no reason to add additional complexity and potential points of failure, IMHO...

Here's just one recent cautionary tale:

Latitude 38 - 'Lectronic Latitude
 
#5 ·
There isn't any more reason for a swivel to fail than any other part if properly selected. And if you are worried that swivels wouldn't swivel, is this any different that just not having it.

I feel swivels done correctly make sense.
 
#6 ·
I'm not sure what the swivel is supposed to do in an anchoring, as opposed to mooring, situation. If the wind shifts 180 degrees the anchor will (I hope) reset. The twisting that a swivel is supposed to eliminate is not a big problem with anchor use because: 1) it is short term,and 2) the anchor should reset, reducing or eliminating the twist.

A mooring, which is fixed and long term, is of course, another story.
 
#9 ·
When I bought our Bruce 30kg I asked about swivels at a large local marine supply. I knew the fellow behind the counter had been around for a long time and had talked to him about different pieces of gear from time to time, a very knowledgable guy. Instead of giving me an answer about swivels he reached under the counter and brought out a horribly mangled and broken, large, heavy duty anchor swivel (an expensive stainless one, don't remember the brand). I don't use one. Even with all chain rode and anchoring extensively I don't have any problems getting the anchor up into the roller.
 
#10 ·
I'm with JE and the other anti-swivel guys on this one. Keep it simple by using a bow shackle.
I put the pin of the shackle through the anchor. Some people don't do this because if you use a shackle bigger than your chain size, as often recommended, the shackle won't go through the chain link. For this you need an oversize end link.
The reason for preferring the pin through the anchor stock is to do with bearing surfaces; the straight pin gives the best contact with the parallel sides of the hole through the shank. It just looks better fron engineering point of view.
 
#11 ·
I've never used one before, don't use one now and probably never will. And my anchoring is not something I worry about now. It may be if there's a swivel in play.

It's an additional expense I can do without.
 
#12 ·
If you bring your anchor up at a measured pace, any twist in the chain will have a chance to unwind as you spray our glorious Chesapeake mud off. *grin*

My last boat had a swivel that came with the boat. My current boat doesn't have one and I don't miss it at all. Fewer pro's than con's in my mind.
 
#13 · (Edited)
I'm just off the phone with Lewmar tech support, because I've been having troubles with my new anchor rode (50' chain, 200' rope) jamming on retrieval. He highly suggests the swivel, because the rope wants to twist (or untwist) as it gets paid out or pulled back. That all gets "pushed down the line" to the chain, and the anchor has way too much inertia to be spun around so the twisting gets bottled up in the chain.

From that advice I think I'm going to go ahead and add the swivel, sizing it as large as I can to attach to the chain. I may just keep it on there for a while, in hopes that the twists inherent in a new rode all smooth out over time. (For now we're just in San Francisco Bay; we're upgrading things before the big cruise.)
 
#14 ·
If you are determined to add a swivel, use a short length of chain between the anchor and the swivel such that the swivel cannot be subjected to side or prying loads, which are a major contributor to their failure. Using "Brait" rather than 3-strand eliminates the issue of twist in rope rode; and, takes less space in one's chain locker.

FWIW...
 
#16 ·
I had an oversized swivel shackle on my rhode. When I transferred it to my new (to me) boat with an anchor roller I found that it created more problems than it ever solved.

My mooring does have a huge swivel, but that's semi-permanent so it needs one.
 
#17 ·
Since we're on the subject of swivels, does anyone have an opinion on whether to use an eye-to-eye or an eye-to-jaw type swivel on a mooring chain? I had read somewhere that someone did not recommend using the eye-to-jaw type, but they didn't give a reason.

If you use the eye-to-eye type then you have to use an extra shackle, so I don't see the benefit of doing that. I actually can't see a reason to not use a jaw-to-jaw swivel and eliminate the extra shackles altogether. Thoughts? :confused:
 
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