Ninety-two pounds of rigging went through an airport as carry-on. Rick's words, not ours: "92 lbs of Yankum rigging." It lands in Nebraska, where a skid steer is frozen into the ground with four inches of thaw over solid ice, and the first thing out of the bag is a handful of soft shackles.
If you have one sitting in a drawer and you are not sure what to do with it, this is how to use a soft shackle: what it is, the three moves that open and close it, where it is allowed to attach, and the two places it does not belong.
- It is one piece of synthetic rope. A knot on one end, a small loop on the other. No pin, nothing to drop.
- Open, thread, seat the knot. That is the whole technique.
- It attaches to anything rated and round: a rope eye, a sling, a lifting eyelet, a hitch receiver recovery point.
- Loop it twice and the spec says it carries close to double.
- Never to join two ropes together. Never on a tow ball.
- Size it off the truck doing the pulling. 7/16" is the 1" rope's partner.
1. What a soft shackle actually is
Pick one up and it is lighter than it has any right to be. A single length of HMPE synthetic rope, a fat knot worked into one end, a small loop spliced into the other, and a fabric sleeve covering the body where it rubs. That is it. No pin, no bow, no threads to seize up.
Yankum, who make the ones Murphy's sells, describe their soft shackles as as strong as steel, and the point of the exercise as taking the metal out of your recovery gear.[2] No dropped pins in the mud. Nothing heavy in the system if it lets go.
2. Opening and closing one
Three moves, and you will have it after one go.
- Open it. Work the knot back out through the loop. The double loop version goes from 20" closed to 40" open, so you will see it grow in your hands.[3]
- Thread it. Pass the body of the shackle through both things you are joining. A rope eye and a recovery point. A sling and a lifting eyelet. Whatever the pull is connecting.
- Seat the knot. Push the knot back through the loop and pull it snug so it sits hard against the loop rather than sliding. That seated knot is what carries the load.
Slide the chafe sleeve so it sits where the rubbing will happen, not somewhere convenient. Abrasion is what kills synthetic, not weight.
It really is that quick. Here is Rick coaching a hand through it on a job:
"You're going to put it right through like mine."Wrecker Rick, coaching a hand through the rig, "Nobody Would Save This Small Business… So My Family Flew 1500 Miles"
3. Where it is allowed to attach
Anything rated, and anything round enough not to cut it. Rope eyes, slings, lifting eyelets, and rated recovery points on the vehicle.
Hitch receiver points are worth calling out because the good ones are designed for this. Murphy's 2" hitch point is built to accept soft shackles up to 7/16" without chafing, and the 2.5" version has chamfered edges specifically so you can, in the maker's words, eliminate the metal in your recovery.[4] Pull in line with the hitch, never sideways.
20" with the loop closed, 40" open, with a 36" chafe sleeve. The extra length gets you onto an awkward point under a stuck rig, or doubles around a connection point for close to twice the strength. HMPE fibre, pre-coated for UV, water and abrasion.
4. When to loop it twice
The double loop is not just a longer shackle. Wrap it around the connection point a second time before you seat the knot and the spec says it "will nearly double the strength of the soft shackle."[3]
So when do you bother? When the point you are on takes it and you want the margin, or on a winch pull where you are stacking loads. The rest of the time the extra length is doing a different job entirely: it is reach. Forty inches gets you onto an eyelet buried under a stuck rig that a short shackle will never touch.
5. Where a soft shackle does not belong
Two hard limits, and neither is a matter of opinion.
Quoted from a recovery-safety source that sells no competing gear.
- Never join two ropes or straps with a shackle. "NEVER connect two straps or ropes with a shackle. If the shackle breaks, it can fly like a bullet and cause serious injury."[1]
- Never onto a tow ball or bumper hitch. "These are not rated for recovery and can break off under load."[1]
- Keep it off sharp and rusted edges. That is the chafe sleeve's job, and it only works where you put it.
- Pull in line. "DO NOT put side loads on recovery points, always pull in line with the vehicle."[1]
- Dampener on the line, everyone back further than the rope is long.[1]
- Inspect the knot and the loop after a hard pull. Cuts, fraying and glazing all mean retire it.
6. Rigging a frozen skid steer
Back to Nebraska. The machine is locked in ice, the crew has been digging, and Rick starts handing rigging out of the bag.
"Take them to the back of the skid steer. Couple of soft shackle jobbies here. Here you go. I'm going to put this through the eyelet on the back."Wrecker Rick, handing the rigging out, moments earlier
Through the eyelet on the back. That is the whole move, on a machine locked into frozen ground, in gloves. There is no ceremony to it. Which is exactly why they have taken over.
He is also braiding fresh loops into synthetic winch lines on the spot, because he pulled the lines off winch drums knowing he would need extensions. The shackles are what join all of that together into one system.
7. Getting the size right
Size the shackle off the truck doing the pulling, same rule as the rope. Here is Yankum's published chart.[2]
| Diameter | Minimum breaking strength | Recovery vehicle weight |
|---|---|---|
| 1/4" | 16,100 lbs | 700 to 1,399 lbs |
| 5/16" | 37,100 lbs | 1,400 to 4,999 lbs |
| 7/16" | 45,500 lbs | 5,000 to 10,249 lbs |
| 1/2" | 62,500 lbs | 10,250 to 14,499 lbs |
| 5/8" | 94,000 lbs | 14,500 to 22,999 lbs |
| 1" | 201,500 lbs | 23,000 to 67,000 lbs |
Drive a 3/4-ton or a 1-ton and you want the 7/16", which is the size Yankum pairs with 7/8" and 1" kinetic rope and the size that ships in the Murphy's kit. Going up a size is normal when you want margin. Going down is not.
20" closed, 40" open, 36" chafe sleeve. Reach, or double it up for close to twice the strength.
Two 7/16" soft shackles, two 7/16" slings and the 1" x 30' kinetic rope, in a roll-top bag.
Designed to accept soft shackles up to 7/16" without chafing. WLL 13,200 lbs at a 5:1 factor of safety.
A sling with two matching J-hook soft shackles, so the pull loads two points and the vehicle tracks straight.
Sources
- BFGoodrich, "4x4 Driving Guide: Recovery Techniques." The shackle, tow ball and side-load warnings are verbatim from this page. bfgoodrichtires.com/auto/learn/4x4-driving-guide/recovery-techniques
- Yankum Ropes, soft shackle product page. "Time to take the metal out of your Recovery Gear. Soft Shackles are as strong as steel with real beneficial advantages." Sizing chart of diameter, minimum breaking strength and recommended recovery vehicle weight read from the same page. yankum.com/products/soft-shackle
- "Double Loop" Soft Shackle product page, fetched live 2026-09-19. "This shackle is 20\" when the loop is closed and 40\" long when it is open." · looping it around your connection point "will nearly double the strength of the soft shackle." · 36" chafe sleeve. murphysdiesel.com/products/double-loop-soft-shackle
- 2" and 2 1/2" Hitch Receiver Recovery Point product pages, fetched live 2026-09-19. "Designed to also accept Yankum soft shackles up to 7/16\" without chaffing" and the chamfered-edge note on the 2.5" version. murphysdiesel.com/products/2-hitch-receiver-recovery-point