Travelling off-road can be risky and you need to have the right equipment to make sure you can get out of any pickle. One of the essential tools you can use in your recovery kit is a shackle that can be connected to many parts of a vehicle. You can also connect a shackle to winch cables, recovery straps etc.
The most common type of shackle you will see being used is the D-shackle.
It is named so because it looks similar to the letter “D” shape. These are very strong and durable and you can use them in so many different ways. For example, if you are using this with a winch, D-shackle connects the winch cable to the vehicle that is being pulled. The winch cable can be attached securely to the vehicle using this D-shackle but you need to make sure that it is rated for the weight of your vehicle. You can also use it to attach recovery straps to a vehicle. For a lightweight and strong shackle, you can select a soft shackle that can be used in applications where weight is a significant concern. These are made of synthetic materials to achieve these characteristics. You can use soft shackles in winching applications. So even if the cable fails, the chances of this damaging the vehicle are quite low.
Another type of shackle that is similar to D-shackles is bow shackles but these have a rounded body where D-shackles have a flat body. This round body makes it an ideal option to deal with a load that is pulled from many directions; this is because there is greater flexibility in attaching a round body. You can also use this to attach snatch blocks that can increase the pulling power of a winch. If you are looking for a shackle that can be used in light work, you can look into screw pin shackles. You don’t need to use a tool to attach this or remove it. But as they are not designed for heavy-duty applications, they don’t have the same strength as a D-shackle. There are also safety pin shackles that have a similar design to screw pin shackles. But in this case, there is a safety pin used to prevent the pin from unscrewing accidentally. If the load is constantly in motion or if it is vibrating, this is a good shackle type to use. The vibration will not dislodge the safety pin.
There are also shackles that are a combination of two types.
One such example is the screw pin bow shackles. It is designed as a bow shackle but it comes with a higher degree of convenience because of the threaded pin used; this pin screws into the body of the shackle similar to a screw pin shackle. You can use this for situations where the load is pulled from multiple directions. And the workings of this shackle will make it easier for you to attach and detach the shackle repeatedly.
