I’ll chime in here. I have made hundreds and hundreds of soft shackles over the last 10 years or so.
My two hobbies are hunting and hammock camping. I use soft shackles for both endeavors. There are many, uses for soft shackles. I’m not crazy about them in situations where there will be rope-on-rope or rope-on-webbing due to friction concerns already mentioned here. The other real world negative is that they are harder to manipulate than a carabiner with cold or gloved hands.
I will say that I have NEVER had one come undone or break. Under any circumstance. Yes, I have used them on my saddle. About 5 years ago maybe I was using a Kong Duck on my Lineman’s Belt and connecting the Duck to my right side bridge loop with a 1/8” Amsteel soft shackle. My actual LB was 8mm rope from an old Lone Wolf harness. It works great, but I decided I didn’t trust the Duck when my rope got wet and slimy.
I will also add that I make my shackles similar to TacBlades improved soft shackle video, but my two loops are NOT locked Brummell. Rather, I make my loops as eye splices with adequate bury lengths. These are going to be tied in to the button knob, therefore there is no chance that the bury could ever slip. I think these would actually be stronger than TacBlades if you eliminated the “noose”, which is the weakest spot in a shackle.
I would be happy to demonstrate my method at Saddlepalooza if anyone is interested. Just bring your own Amsteel if you want me to make one. I will also have some bombass hammock gear there.
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