Unusual Anchor

[plittle2005]

Does anyone have any thoughts or opinions of the "Slide Anchor" or "Box Anchor"? They look like they would set and hold aggressively, but are very ungainly. I would be willing to put up with a lot of ungainli-ness for a good night's sleep on the hook!

Source is https://www.slideanchor.com/boxanchor

I have a 33' 18,000 Lb. 1992 Carver Aft Cabin, high freeboard, a lot of sail area.

Thanks in advance.
Phil Little, Weehawken NJ

 

[mvweebles]

This one?

From 2006 Practical Sailor:

Box Anchor
The Box anchor, made by California-based Slide Anchor, has sides constructed from hot-dipped galvanized steel; the hinge pins, stabilizing bar, and return spring are all stainless steel. It stores flat in the accompanying bag. In our testing, we found this hybrid design set easily but provided little in the way of holding power in the soft mud bottom. In both the long- and short-scope test, it dragged through the mud at about 100 pounds of pressure. Our large version box anchor weighed 25 pounds and is priced at $179.

Bottom Line: Pricey, hard to handle when assembled, and a poor performer. We’d pass on this one.​

Peter

 

[Comodave]

Go with a more traditional well known anchor. I think that the box anchor is pretty much a gimmick. I watched a boat at Lake Havasu constantly reset one in just a fairly light wind while everyone else’s anchor held just fine.

 

[O C Diver]

I've come to the conclusion that the more moving or disassemble parts, the greater the risk of structural failure. One piece welded anchors (such as a Bruce or Rocna) simply have less failure points. Pick what you like for holding design, but convenience of storage generally adds failure points.

Ted

 

[grahamdouglass]

What is the maximum safe rating?

No where on the website did it say what the largest boat was for using this anchor. It only says for over 32' use the extra large anchor. This looks like a temporary hook for lunch time for a small boat. And if that is the case why not use the traditional folding anchor? I think the review from Pratical Sailor says it all.

 

[Nomad Willy]

This was almost a dupe of what I saw some time ago from Mantus.

Some guy walking backwards pulling a Rocna on a rope at just a high enough angle so it slid along the hard sand w/o digging in. Then pulling the Mantus at a slightly lower angle and/or just a little slower.

This is just another corny-phony add.

At the last though I wonder what the “shackle” hookup was. Looked like a “beaner”.

But I saw a good video of that blue anchor. It was marketed as a kayak anchor. Quite impressive.

Another take ... If that guy would have pulled very slowly the blue anchor probably would have set good. Kinda like you hear on our anchor threads “just let it soak”. Imagine being bested by a kayak anchor .....

And another thought. The blue anchor has two flukes. Like some airplanes called canard airplanes. Pitch stability is an important element of anchor dynamics and a second plane getting into the act can really help.

 

[GFC]

In that video the two anchors that failed were towed along the sand, out of the water. The Mantus was tossed into the water where the sand on the bottom might have been a bit softer and was pulled toward shore. While the video said it hooked up every time, what they were showing was one shot where he tossed the anchor into the water. Then it was rewound and run again, rewound and run again, etc.

Not a fair test by any stretch of the imagination.

 

[mvweebles]

When I first read the OP's post, I had a vague recollection of the anchor he cited. When I googled and saw the shape/geometry and how the loose shank attached, I said to myself "Hmmmm...wonder what keeps it from tripping-up with a decent load?" So I found the Mantus compare and, lo-and-behold, the box anchor tripped-up easily.

BTW - my go-to source on anchors these days is Steve Goodwin of S/V Panope. He has dozens of anchor tests with underwater cameras on his YouTube Channel (SV Panope). Mantus performs pretty well. He recently re-tested the Spade which he likes a lot too.

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCy1Fn_m9nfcf4asEG_bulHA

Peter

 

[Sabre602]

In this part of the country those are called "river anchors." The river fishermen seem to like them because they don't easily get snagged on all the sunken logs and old logging cables that are common in western rivers. The fishermen also like them because they're easy to haul up by hand...yes, because they don't set too deep!

I've never, ever seen anyone using one in salt water.

Look again at the design before thinking it might set aggressively. The small "flukes" would start to sink into the mud, then the large box section would stop downward progress and would just bulldoze the mud. If it were to sink in a bit deeper, the top flukes would actually resist further digging in.

Farmers use something similar to this called a "box blade" behind their tractors. They're great at smoothing and levelling.

 

[RickyD]

I bought the little 2 lb Mantus shown for my 800lb dinghy. Given a reasonable scope it works surprisingly well. I have only used it in a sandy bottom. I liked it so much I bought another so I could throw one off the stern, then one off the bow up the beach and suspend the boat just off the beach. For 2 pounds it totally outperformed my expectations.

 

[RickyD]

In that video the two anchors that failed were towed along the sand, out of the water. The Mantus was tossed into the water where the sand on the bottom might have been a bit softer and was pulled toward shore. While the video said it hooked up every time, what they were showing was one shot where he tossed the anchor into the water. Then it was rewound and run again, rewound and run again, etc.

Not a fair test by any stretch of the imagination.

Actually the Mantus was dragged along the sand first at the same angle as the others, then thrown into the water. I find it to be an amazing light weight anchor for my dinghy. I bought an 85lb Mantus for my standard bow anchor for my Californian 55 which weighs 64,000 lbs. It is a little small for this but our anchoring here is very mild and I have all chain rode. If a blow comes I also have a Fortress 55 which will hold like crazy. I don't use it regularly because it really needs 5 to 1 scope and I anchor in 100' regularly. The Mantus has been perfect at 3 to 1. Again, very mild conditions.

 

[Mako]

Silly anchor.

OP your boat is 33’ long. You have dozens of options to choose from to get a good night sleep.

Hell if you really want to swing from a mooring then grab a rusty old 100lb Bruce copy from a salvage yard. Sharpen the flukes and send it out to be galvanized. Modify your bow roller.

Bob’s your uncle.

 

[plittle2005]

To all who posted, thanks! That vid was certainly convincing, so glad to have seen such graphical proof.

I guess I'll have to pop for a Mantus or a Fortress after all! Thanks again.

Phil Little

 

[markpierce]

How would it rest/hang on the boat's bow?

 

[Comodave]

How would it rest/hang on the boat's bow?

You could hang it like a Christmas tree ornament...

 

[mvweebles]

To all who posted, thanks! That vid was certainly convincing, so glad to have seen such graphical proof.

I guess I'll have to pop for a Mantus or a Fortress after all! Thanks again.

Phil Little

Hi Phil. I see your Plan B anchors (Fortress and Mantua) can both be disassembled for easier storage. Both are good anchors, though quite different. If you're looking for an inexpensive anchor and have a bow roller to store it in (vs disassembled), finding used Bruce or Delta anchors is often reasonable as they have been upgraded. These were state-of-the-art anchors 25 years ago and a significant improvement over their predecessors, so a good anchor. Just not as good as current generation of spoon anchors. Knock-offs of the Bruce are quite reasonable, but I do not know what the tradeoff would be in functionality, if any. The anchor test guy SV Panope may have done info on his YouTube channel.

Peter