Last week I picked up a Factor55 thimble and finally replaced the warn hook to keep the system closed. Will pair well with the soft shackles and will still fit my Crosby shackles if needed.
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Losing the hook was one of my better mods. Good job there.
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Nice, I’m not familiar with the value of ditching the hook - thanks for sharing, I’ve got some homework to do.
From a quick look up:
Hook
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Faster to deploy, single-hand attachment
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Familiar, works with any recovery point
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Failure mode is bad: heavy steel projectile if line snaps or hook fails
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Adds ~2 lbs of mass to a flying object
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Hook latch/throat can deform under side-load or fail to seat properly
Thimble + soft shackle
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Safer failure mode — soft shackle is essentially weightless if it lets go
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More versatile rigging: pass the shackle through any point, basket-hitch around objects, daisy-chain to extensions, run through a snatch block cleanly
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Lighter at the line end (less inertia, less line whip)
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Won’t gouge your bumper or damage recovery points
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Slightly slower to rig — you’re threading a shackle, not just clipping
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Soft shackles need inspection for UV/abrasion damage and replacement every few years
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The biggest point here is if you use an inferior or damaged hook. The general rule is, if the hook breaks it will throw the cable opposite of the opening. I always tried to make it so if it broke it went down. When you hear about cables shooting to the side, this is the biggest reason. I’ve seen two cables break and one chain. All three went straight back. Haven’t seen a hook break. The chain was about 30 foot long and snapped back toward the vehicle pulling. Caved in the tailgate, ramped up a bit off that , half went through the back window and the other half went over the roof, snapping down on the hood. Missed the driver by inch’s.
Cable and hook quality are the only reason I would never buy a cheap winch without upgrading those. Fortunately, I’ve only seen three catastrophic failures out of a few dozen broken cables and chains. Normally they just drop.
On one extraction I did, pulling a TJ up a moderately steep slippery shelf road, the guy decided to “help me” by accelerating. He was told to NOT help and just let me winch him. He made the cable slack then hopped off the side. I was strapped to a huge bolder so he didn’t pull me down with him. He sank my cable three layers down on the spool and ruined it. Got him pulled up and had to find someone to swap with me as winch point for the event.
When I was doing winching for events and all the AAT work, my cable/hook got replaced fairly regularly. This was mostly due to damage
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Something to remember, thimble and soft shackles are for synthetic line, not steel cable.
Ron W.
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