Is this a quality swivel?
- Thread starter mbevins
- Start date
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dwhatty
Moderator Emeritus
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Yup. Was hoping Moonstruck would bring a replacement keg of it up on his invasion of the North this week, but our nasty Yankee weather forced him into a premature retreat.
stubones99
Guru
rode does not mean rope...
rode is the flexible part between the anchor and the boat.
and if you have an all chain rode, you should also be using a bridle.
rode is the flexible part between the anchor and the boat.
and if you have an all chain rode, you should also be using a bridle.
Old deckhand
Guru
I kept the swivel around for awhile for show and tell and eventually threw it away. It is my understanding that it is important to install a shackle between the anchor and the swivel in order to reduce the risk of the swivel separating. Yes, I believe it was a Kong.
psneeld
Guru
Not necessarily a bridle...some of us use single snubbers sometines....especially if you don't have much chain out or are expecting conditions that might lift all the chain off the botton.
Probably as much to take the stress off the windlass than any reason most of the time.
No, I wouldn't. That is the weakest link. It's rated far lower than your chain and of questionable material.
What I would use is a 7/16" alloy, US made, galvanized shackle with a WLL of 5,240 lbs which pretty close to the specs of chain you have. Just my opinion.
https://www.1st-chainsupply.com/attachments/misc/shackles/spa044alloy.htm
Capt.Bill11
Guru
No you don't always need a swivel.
I might not trust that shackle if it's just a generic Chinese one.
I'd be much more inclined to trust one from these folks: Shackles - The Crosby Group
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No…and no…!
The potential problem with this type of swivel is that it will only pivot in one direction on the anchor shank. Which means that if the boat gets off to the side of the anchor the swivel cannot pivot to line up with the rode and thus the direction of pull. So a side (shearing) load is put on the swivel pin itself, which is intended for a load straight through it, not a load trying to bend it off to the side.
The proper way to attach any swivel to an anchor shank is with a shacke with the closed end of the shackle through the shank and the pin through an end of the swivel. This allows the swivel to pivot in any direction and line up with the load.
Unless one has an alignment problem with their anchor to their pulpit when the anchor is retrieved I believe a swivel adds one more potential failure mode to something you don't want to have fail. Ever. After reading Earl Hinz's book about mooring and anchoring in which he graphically describes the difference between attaching a swivel correctly and incorrectly and the potential consequences of the latter we removed our swivel from our all-chain rode and threw it away. It had served no real purpose when it was there and we never missed it when it was gone.
