Soft Halyard or Line Shackle

[Essington]

Originally Posted by allene

I am not following what you have here. It looks like you have one line coming down into a diamond knot but somehow it becomes two strands. I have done a lot with soft halyards but, as I said, not sure what you have here.

Actually it is Brion's button knot rather than a diamond knot. When the knot is completed, you have 4 parts exiting the bottom of the knot. 2 legs make the shackle, and 2 legs are "tails". Normally the tails would be buried into the legs that make the shackle, but in this case I left one tail quite long, and buried the other tail into the longer one. That leaves a shackle at the end of a very long tail.

As I said earlier, this construction is probably not ideal for halyards, but might be useful in other applications.

Originally Posted by allene

This is what I am using now for my halyard. http://L-36.com/HybridHalyard.php

Your Hybrid Halyard is what I use for my halyards ... it really is a better solution for halyards. No taper to jam in sheaves, and the shackle at the end can be replaced if needed.