Winch hooks/end links that accept soft shackles?

[roving1]

I see that Factor 55 makes stuff that is radiused to not damage soft shackles. I think this is a great idea that adds to flexibility of gear.

But their prices are RIDICULOUS. Anyone one else out there making something like that? I can't drop $200-250 for a chunk of machined aluminium that does the same thing more or less as a 20 buck steel hook.

 

[Airmapper]

I have one of these:

Safety Thimble II - Winch Thimble - Tactical Recovery Equipment

Safety Thimble II sets the standard for superior synthetic winch rope termination! Designed for 5/16″ to 7/16″ synthetic winch rope | Winch Thimble

tacticalrecoveryequipment.com

Several design features on it that I prefer. It does soft shackles which is mostly what I use with it, but it will accept a standard shackle both ways. Also the synthetic line attaches in a way that eliminates additional points of failure like the pin in Factor 55's. With most rigging, this shackle will let you eliminate at least one extra piece of hardware if not more.

I'm not sure where you get the rubber bumper now, I don't see it included but I have one so I can suck it up to the fairlead.

 

[DaveInDenver]

I have the first version of the safety thimble that @Airmapper links. That one is not soft shackle friendly but is synthetic rope friendly. Very happy with it but should mention you have to re-splice the end of your winch line to install it unlike the Factor 55 with the pin.

Winchline has the rubber bumper for $10.

Fairlead Thimble Isolator

<META NAME="description" CONTENT="Winchline.com offroad synthetic winch line rope and recovery gear supplier." />

www.winchline.com

 

[roving1]

Thanks that was exactly what I was looking for and I can swallow $75. I had no idea the bling level $$$ those Factor 55 ones were before I checked the prices.

 

[Hillbilly Heaven]

I have one of these:

Safety Thimble II - Winch Thimble - Tactical Recovery Equipment

Safety Thimble II sets the standard for superior synthetic winch rope termination! Designed for 5/16″ to 7/16″ synthetic winch rope | Winch Thimble

tacticalrecoveryequipment.com

Several design features on it that I prefer. It does soft shackles which is mostly what I use with it, but it will accept a standard shackle both ways. Also the synthetic line attaches in a way that eliminates additional points of failure like the pin in Factor 55's. With most rigging, this shackle will let you eliminate at least one extra piece of hardware if not more.

I'm not sure where you get the rubber bumper now, I don't see it included but I have one so I can suck it up to the fairlead.

How difficult is it to get the splice correct?

 

[DaveInDenver]

Yeah I know. That ~$60 seems fair. It's a sizable chunk of CNC'd aluminum done State-side so I don't think anyone's getting wealthy making them.

Splicing isn't impossibly difficult but buying a couple of decent fids is worthwhile over trying to use old ball point pens or whatever. I actually found doing the lock stitch and whip to be more tedious than the actual splice.

 

[roving1]

How difficult is it to get the splice correct?

It's pretty easy with a tool or something rigged to do the same thing.

 

[Airmapper]

How difficult is it to get the splice correct?

@roving1 hooked you up and there are lots of online resourses on working with synthetic line. But yeah, it's easy. The harder you pull on the splice the stronger it is, awesome stuff.

 

[Airmapper]

Yeah I know. That ~$60 seems fair. It's a sizable chunk of CNC'd aluminum done State-side so I don't think anyone's getting wealthy making them.

A while back I got a trade magazine at work, a machine shop rag that had an article on it and a photo of those being machined. They didn't mention the customer, this was the shop making Safety Thimbles and had an image of the unfinished product and the fixture they placed in the CNC was 3D printed, it was cool stuff.

I found the online article:

Desktop 3D Printer as Job Shop Resource

The low-cost 3D printer in this shop supports machining by simplifying prototyping and producing usable hardware—including vise jaws.

www.mmsonline.com

I happened to run the same 3D printer at the time, it caught my eye to see the thimble there.

 

[Metcalf]

Why not just use the thimble on the end of the line for the connection to the soft shackle?

Most hooks have decently soft radii for use with a soft shackle also. I've found a few with forging/casting/machine lines that needed touched up with a round stone.

I think a lot of the 'other' connections on the market are pretty gimmicky with extra connection points that are not really needed.

 

[Low_Sky]

Factor 55 Splicer thimble.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[DaveInDenver]

Factor 55 Splicer thimble.

That looks like it would work, too. Cost is about $80 so similar to the Safety Thimble + rubber isolator.

 

[Metcalf]

That looks like it would work, too. Cost is about $80 so similar to the Safety Thimble + rubber isolator.

View attachment 539504

The radius on that still looks pretty minimal for soft shackle use. The rough rule of thumb is 2-3x rope diameter for a static bend radius for full strength with 12 strand Dyneema type products.

 

[Airmapper]

Why not just use the thimble on the end of the line for the connection to the soft shackle?

With the larger machined thimble/bumper, when you are done with the winch you just suck it into the fairlead with no risk of it sucking itself in or your hand in there, plus it looks kinda put together and not ghetto rigged.

I always let the run-on suck my thimble in and that puts a bit of tension on the gears making unlocking my clutch pretty much impossible without reversing it out to give some slack. Since my master switch to the winch is under the hood, this prevents any would be pranksters or other hooligans from messing with my winch as easily.

 

[Metcalf]

With the larger machined thimble/bumper, when you are done with the winch you just suck it into the fairlead with no risk of it sucking itself in or your hand in there, plus it looks kinda put together and not ghetto rigged.

I always let the run-on suck my thimble in and that puts a bit of tension on the gears making unlocking my clutch pretty much impossible without reversing it out to give some slack. Since my master switch to the winch is under the hood, this prevents any would be pranksters or other hooligans from messing with my winch as easily.

To each their own. This is what I see with the 'safety thimbles' on the market....



If your hawse/flairlead has a large enough throat, you can loop the noose of the soft shackle over a normal thimble and suck the stopper knot up.

Personally, I don't love the idea of sucking the end of the winch line tight ( especially on the trail). Just last year we had an incident where a friend was descending Z-turn in Moab and took a bad line. He ended up a breath away from going over forward from the top ledge. A key factor was being able to QUICKLY access the winch on front of vehicle behind him without needing the plug-in controller or anything 'extra' not included on the winch already. The person first on scene was able to hit the disconnect lever, pull out cable, hook the rear of the endangered vehicle, engage the drum, and have the driver reverse the vehicle to put tension on the vehicle in trouble. This happened in about 20-30 seconds total. This put me firmly back onto the camp of having a complete connection point....be it a hook or soft shackle....on the winch at all times.