Geared

In the vehicle recovery world, one of the most important kit pieces are your shackles. Shackles are used for a variety of rigging duties, such as connecting a tree trunk protector, a recovery strap, or hooking up a winch line. For years, shackles have been made of metal with a screw pin to secure the loop. Several years ago, a lighter weight, more flexible version—the soft shackle—came onto the market and have become popular. Warn Industries sells both, so which is right for you?

WARN Epic Metal Shackle

WARN Epic Hyperlink Metal Shackle

Metal Shackles

For decades, metal screw-pin shackles have been used for rigging. They’re super durable and exceedingly strong. Warn offers three styles of metal shackles for trucks and powersports: STANDARD, EPIC, and EPIC HYPERLINK (a double-screw pin shackle).

How They Work

To use them, you unscrew the pin, attach it to your rigging gear or bumper, then screw the pin down hand-tight and turn a quarter-turn back to prevent binding. If you don’t do this, you will have a hard time getting the pin out again! PROS: Exceptionally durable. Stand up to abuse, don’t care much about abrasion, and can be left on outside of vehicle when not in use. CONS: Heavy and bulky in recovery bags. Sometimes noisy or loosen if left attached to vehicle when not in use.

WARN Spydura Nightline Soft Shackle

Soft Shackles

Soft shackles are relatively new to the off-road recovery world. But as the strength of synthetic winch rope has become more popular, soft shackles are also gaining favor. WARN makes theirs with the same synthetic rope material available in 3/8” Spydura and 1/2” Spydura Nightline versions complete with high-visability weave and 3M reflective material woven throughout. These units have breaking strengths of 29,700 lbs. and 36,000 lbs. respectively, and both are plenty strong for most recoveries.

How They Work

To use a soft shackle, remove the knot from the shackle’s loop. Then connect your rigging, and reinsert the knot through the loop creating a secure shackle—no pin to lose, no worries about over/under-tightening! PROS: Lightweight, easy to handle and use. Plus, there’s no screw pin to worry about. Can be stowed in glove boxes or bags and don’t take up much space. CONS: More prone to damage by abrasion. They also shouldn’t be attached to rigging points with sharp edges, as they can compromise the fibers. The minimum breaking strengths often aren’t as high as a forged metal shackle. If used on a bumper’s recovery point, it should be radiused, or be used in conjunction with a bow shackle to prevent damage.

WHICH IS RIGHT FOR YOU?

The choice is up to you. Make your decision depending on how you’ll be using the products. If you’re doing a lot of utility work in high-abrasion situations, metal shackles may be a better option. If storage space is limited and you’ll only be using them for occasional vehicle recovery, lean toward soft. Or, carry a couple of both and use them accordingly.