The good ones are made of bronze, the agricultural type are of galvanised iron. Both work equally well, but the boaty shackles, from the marine chandler, are five times the price of those from the hardware store.
They come in different shapes and sizes. No boatowner standardises his shackles: they were all bought at different times, from different shops, when the need arose.
Some of them have a threaded pin which, when you unscrew it, falls into the waterway and out through a scupper. Of this type, some have a hole in the end and are operated by a marlin-spike, the most dangerous of all tools on a bouncing boat. Others have a flat, which is too small for your fingers and needs a shackle key. Does anyone carry a shackle key?
When the pin is not threaded it has a keyway. The shackle key doesn't work here, and your fingers are too wet and cold.
The greatest joy of a shackle is mousing. You'll need a small reel of Monel wire. Gold wire is cheaper, but it's too soft. Correct mousing will keep your shackle pin secure, make it too difficult to bother to unfasten it and, if it's not bronze, allow it to rust fast shut. Incorrect mousing will leave wire ends which will tear your hands to ribbons. No mousing will allow the pin to unscrew itself: you know about Sodde's Law, don't you?
Shackles are a pain, but what is the alternative?
The alternative is soft shackles. Which will not damage your hands, for which you do not need a key (or a pair of pliers), which need no mousing and which are easy to close and open. If your hard shackle falls into the water you can make a soft shackle in half an hour. A paragon of impossible virtue?
| StJohn makes beautiful soft shackles from pieces of braided Dyneema, and Grogono describes at least two variants on his delightful website. |  |
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