Has anyone tried the Box Anchor?

While you guys compare anchors, I wondered if anyone (other than the developer) has actually put a box anchor in the water. I like the fact that it needs no chain and folds flat...

I don't like that there are no real details, other than baby, small, medium, large and extra large sizes. What does that really mean? Tie a real boat to it in a storm and it ends up no longer being a box? There appears to be nothing structural on the front and back sections to prevent bending under loads...

https://www.slideanchor.com/all-products/box-anchor

Looks like a backyard mechanic solution to me. I can’t imagine that can generate any real holding power.

The Box Jellyfish might provide good holding.
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/invertebrates/group/box-jellyfish/

BruceK said:

The Box Jellyfish might provide good holding.

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If you use one of the Australian kind of box jelly, you won't live long enough to see if it actually set...

The design looks like it won't dig in and properly set in the seabed. It looks like it will dig in about as far as the 'teeth' (a few inches). I wouldn't use it. I've seen these used by small day boats beaching on a sandbar.

Adding nuts & bolts, hinges and other moving parts just increases the number of failure points, IMO. I like the concept of a cast or welded one piece anchor with no moving parts.

Ted

"Slide Anchor" probably appropriately named.

I used the large with my 22' SeaDoo jet boat (about 3,500lbs loaded) It works absolutely great and stores easily. I did add a 24" length of chain to it as I did find in rougher conditions it would move around a bit. Not sure I would use it on a larger boat though.

We are searching for our first trawler and I don't think the box anchor will have any use on a larger boat. However, we also have a smaller lake boat (25' South Bay tritoon) and the box anchor is without question the best anchor I have ever used. We have used it for 10 years now.



I was very skeptical..... I mean it just does not look like an anchor, right? I grew up as a boater and THAT (pointing to the box anchor) is not an anchor. I was curious, but not enough to buy one. I found one in a boat we bought to resell and I pulled it out and kept it to try it. Our other anchors have never been wet since. The box anchor is far superior. It is not even a contest.



I don't even set it. I gently drop it overboard, shut off the engine, and we are done. We cove out all day on our South Bay and the box anchor has literally never dragged anchor.



There is probably no application on the large trawlers that dominate this site. However, for those of you that also have a smaller, lake boat that you may enjoy, I cannot recommend the box anchor strongly enough. If I lost mine today I would have another one ordered tomorrow. Despite it's looks, they have built a better mousetrap.

Anchors and anchoring, great subjects for after dinner debate and friendly discussion.
So my .02. After 20 years and 50,000 miles on a sailboat and 3 years 4000 miles on trawler, an anchor and rode has one purpose.
KEEP THE BOAT IN ONE PLACE REGUARDLESS OF CONDITIONS.
On the sailboat we had a 44 lb ROCNA on the trawler we have a 55 lb ROCNA backed up wit h a 44 lb ROCNA on 3/8" Chain.
Out of all those miles we have drug exactly twice. The boat was damaged once by the chain but we were still hooked to the ground.
We have been thru 6 Hurricanes. Did I mention my UNCLE MURPHY.
Get a wlndless and don't worry about weight.

Sleep well.

Southx10 said:

Anchors and anchoring, great subjects for after dinner debate and friendly discussion.
So my .02. After 20 years and 50,000 miles on a sailboat and 3 years 4000 miles on trawler, an anchor and rode has one purpose.
KEEP THE BOAT IN ONE PLACE REGUARDLESS OF CONDITIONS.
On the sailboat we had a 44 lb ROCNA on the trawler we have a 55 lb ROCNA backed up wit h a 44 lb ROCNA on 3/8" Chain.
Out of all those miles we have drug exactly twice. The boat was damaged once by the chain but we were still hooked to the ground.
We have been thru 6 Hurricanes. Did I mention my UNCLE MURPHY.
Get a wlndless and don't worry about weight.

Sleep well.

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I thought this would say something about the Box Anchor. It didnt!

jimisbell said:

I thought this would say something about the Box Anchor. It didnt!

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You are right. I use heavy, proven ground tackle. I don't experiment , nor do I put my boat and the well being of myself or crew in danger.

Southx10 said:

You are right. I use heavy, proven ground tackle. I don't experiment , nor do I put my boat and the well being of myself or crew in danger.

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But that wasnt the subject of the post????

Hey, you have a. boat, you want to use an anchor like that with rope rode knock yourself out.

Southx10 said:

Hey, you have a. boat, you want to use an anchor like that with rope rode knock yourself out.

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I joined this post because I wanted to learn about the Box anchor.

The OP asked for opinions from people that had used a Box anchor.



You have none so your opinion is not valid.. After you use one I will respect your opinion, not before. Your attitude of dismissal with NO EXPERIENCE is similar to the majority position in 1490 that the world was flat.

Ok

It has merit .. to some extent.
I’m the anchor modder here and I’d make the flukes a bit bigger/longer on the back bar. There’s little to impede the side bars from slicing into the seabed if it’s not too hard. Looks fairly scookum and strong.
If the front can work like a bull dozer blade and the back can dig in quite a bit of resistance could be developed.
Proportions and angles could be altered to optimize it’s performance. Don’t think that’s been done. The folding feature could be preventing the development of maximum performance. A series of teeth could be better than the imitation V shaped flukes. Lots of posibilities but the possibilities of matching the anchors dominating the market now is probably not there.
But for a low holding power, dependable setting anchor .... we already have the Claw. The Claw dosn’t fold but it’s dirt cheap, very readily available and has no moving parts. And it stores fairly well in a corner.

jimisbell said:

I joined this post because I wanted to learn about the Box anchor.
The OP asked for opinions from people that had used a Box anchor.

You have none so your opinion is not valid.. After you use one I will respect your opinion, not before. Your attitude of dismissal with NO EXPERIENCE is similar to the majority position in 1490 that the world was flat.

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Jeez, take a breath. You are not in charge of who is allowed to post or what they are allowed to say.


He gave his opinion which was that the box is not a serious anchor and that he believes a serious and proven anchor is important. If you don't like his opinion or perspective, then ignore it and move along. His comments aren't any less valid than any others here.



You get free advice here and might have to live with some posts that you don't find valuable. Boo hoo. Ease up on the grumpiness.

As a dinghy anchor in calm conditions, why not, but I don't see any advantage over a folding grapnel anchor that can be had for peanuts and also folds up compactly. As others have noted, the depth of penetration can't be greater than the length of the teeth, so as soon as the conditions get rambunctious, I can't imagine this would do much more than slow down the rate at which the boat drifts away.

So far it seems that I'm the only one here who has actually used one unless I misread a post above. My experience with it is limited to our 25' boat, so not a big boat.

Over several years it has NEVER drug. Make fun of it all you want..... but I'll say it again, we have NEVER moved or had to reset it. We cove out a lot, and all day usually. I love watching people anchor and enjoy seeing what ground tackle they use, their scope, etc. It's interesting, and pretty entertaining. I've never noticed anyone dragging and then watched them pull up a box anchor.

I'll add one more thought. I'm an old boater, I guess. I've been on boats pretty much since birth. It was hard to look at the box anchor and take it seriously, so I was biased against it. I was simply wrong. I've never had a better anchor for a small boat (say around 30' or less).

AZ2Loop said:

Over several years it has NEVER drug. Make fun of it all you want..... but I'll say it again, we have NEVER moved or had to reset it. We cove out a lot, and all day usually.
I'll add one more thought. I'm an old boater, I guess. I've been on boats pretty much since birth. It was hard to look at the box anchor and take it seriously, so I was biased against it. I was simply wrong. I've never hada better anchor for a small boat (say around 30' or less).

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I noticed thatin the begining there were three sizes, Small, Medium, and Large. Now they are making an Extra Large. Maybe for larger boats. Or are you already using the Extra Large.

I've wondered about that extra large size, too. My box anchor came in a boat we bought to use on a vacation, and then to sell. We sold the boat as planned, but I pulled that box anchor out and put it on our keeper boat just to try it. Loved it. Other anchors have not seen water since. Having said that, I actually do not know what size ours is. I assume it is the large size, but could even be medium. I know it is not the extra large.

AZ2Loop said:

So far it seems that I'm the only one here who has actually used one unless I misread a post above.

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Post #8: "AdmiralS" used a large box anchor on a 22' Seadoo jet boat

Thanks, Shrew. I missed that and stand corrected. It seems they liked theirs, too. Used ours again over Labor Day in a busy cove on a small lake in IN. We saw a few others resetting after dragging when the winds changed, but not one of them was using a box anchor. As usual, we stayed put all day. Small lake boat -- just to be clear. I'm certainly not suggesting they fit for most boats on this forum.