Kedge anchor choice

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Peter

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Looking to get a kedge anchor, Christmas present. I'm looking at the "folding" anchors, the 3 manufactures being Fortress, Brittney and Guardian. They seem to be the same basic design, with different material of construction. The best of the bunch being the Fortress from the various article and test done but at the same time the most expensive. Between the 3 types what is the differences and are they any real differences when acting as a kedge. Which to go for

Thanks
 
JUst going to piggyback onto this.


Am doing the same.

from what i can see the guardian is a stripped down version of the fortress.
 
As in everything it's a matter of personal choice.

I only carry a kedge on holiday cruises to the West Country and / or Channel Isles, Brittany.

I use a folding grapnel, about 20lbs with 2 metres chain & 30 mteres nylon warp.

The reasoning behind this is two-fold ( pardon the pun ) - as a straightforward kedge it will hopefully hold in conditions where the bower Bruce won't, like rock & weed in emergency.

NB these anchors rely on a fairly small hinge pin, I would hopefully only anchor with it to gain breathing space.

In normal use I lower it in folded state halfway down the main bower warp as an 'angel' to lower the pull on the Bruce and take the shock out of waves it it's becoming unpleasant.

This has worked well in severe gales at Studland etc.

If going on hol to these places again I'd also take an anchor more suitable for digging in at normal anchorages to supplement the bower if caught at an exposed spot, another Bruce or CQR etc.
 
Fortress and Guardian are both made by the same (American) company and are basically the same anchor but the Guardian isn't as shiny as the Fortress and only has one angle setting for the blades. We've used both and there is little practical difference between them apart from the price - the Guardian can be had for about half the price of the Fortress.

The real advantage of either of them over any other anchors is that they are lightweight. We usually launch and recover the kedge by hand, so the fact that the one we use weighs about 6kg is a real plus point and the reason why we bought it.

A final point is that they both break down into a fairly small package if you need to pack them away between uses.
 
I have a Fortress for my kedge on 31ft boat.It works OK but you do need to be going slowly when it touches the bottom as if you go too fast it starts to skip across the bottom (especially hard bottoms) and does not bite.Here on East Coast mud it is fine and I have the optional mud flaps.The Guardian is the same anchor but as you say cheaper material.
The major benefit of the Fortress is ease of handling due to size/weight ratio.
Folding grapnels are OK for smaller boats and ribs but then I would't use a Bruce or a CQR either.
 
I have a Fortress, used frequently, it has never failed, easy to handle, excellent. I was looking at a Guardian earlier this year and it appears very similar, at a much reduced price.
The Britany is made from galvanised steel and is therefore heavier, but is used by thousands of boats very successfully. It does not have the bar at the crown that the other two do, which may make it easier to stow and handle in the dinghy.
There is also a Danforth, which could be described as a sort of steel Fortress. Its big advantage is that it is probably the cheapest of the lot, and often comes up on Ebay.
 
Danforth IS A Good Choice

I would also consider a Danforth which has a reputation for holding very well unidirectionally, is light enough for a kedge, folds flat and is very low cost. I used one on a 41' yacht many times and it never let me down: running mooring and hauling off being two frequent uses (I used to sail 100% of the time, so kedging with the Danforth was a regular occurrence).

As the Danforth, Fortress and Guardian are all similar styles of anchor I would go for the cheapest. Having said that I purchased a Fortress second hand for not a lot of money. It had a bent shank and I ordered up a new one FOC from Fortress and ended up with a good anchor. However, I could only justify it because the price was low; it replaced a 40 lb CQR kedge.
 
+1 for the Fortress. Light & easy to stow.

I have an Ankarolina tape warp for ease of use but also carry a spare 5m of chain spliced to 45m of Octoplait warp if I had to use it as a replacement for the bower anchor.
 
One other difference between the Fortress and the Guardian is the guarantee. The Fortress is warranted for life and they will replace anything for any reason.

The Guardian has only a year, or thereabouts and its not unconditional.

Both are fantastic kedge anchors.
 
I will continue to steer clear of the Fortress, the Guardian and the Danforth as a kedge anchor for one simple reason.

If any of the above anchors gets foul of a ground chain, you have "had it" - the anchor "bites" the ground chain and there is no way of freeing it - you have to cut the cable and make an insurance claim for a new anchor.

With a CQR, a Delta or a Bruce, there is a simple and well known "trick" for freeing the anchor (it's in Hiscock) which has worked every time for me.
 
Fortress without a doubt, lightweight, easy to set & with a decent length of chain and good rode it'll hold you no problem. We've used ours 100's of times and the biggest problem has been recovering the bloody thing as they do dig in well!

I use an FX11 on the stern rigged with 10m x 10mm chain attached to 50m of 18mm rode.

When I know I'm going to be anchoring in soft mud or sand ,I have an FX37 or or 45lb Danforth (which ever is easier to get to/the Mrs wants to use) on the bow and it has never failed apart from on very hard ground. If your going to anchor in soft mud/sand then it's the only anchor to use!

I managed to bend the bar and blades on my FX37 and Fortress supplied new ones within a week to collect a Budget Marine, what else can you ask for?

The tried and test method of freeing a snarled anchor works for Danforth & Fortress as well. You could always just dive on it and free it mind! Or, if you don't dive bouy it and get a diver to collect it for you - usual price a few beers.
 
The ring of chain trick won't work if a Danforth-type has got the ground chain firmly lodged between the flukes and the shank, because the CG of the anchor - plus - ground -chain will always be forward of the point that the ring of chain can reach.

Don't ask me how I know that - but it should be obvious anyway.
 
Fortress, excellent product - cannot fault it. A major advantage is that you can deploy it from a dinghy safely. We use an FX23 which weighs in at around 7kg. A steel 'equivalent' sand anchor would weight in at 20kg and would be a nightmare to deploy from a small dinghy in any sort of weather. As mentioned they dig in so well they are less easy to retrieve, best done with the yacht rather than the dinghy (in fact after a blow it would be impossible to lift/breakout from a dinghy. Storage is not really an issue, anyone with imagination could devise a way of attaching it to a stanchion, transom or wherever for immediate use. They can be carried de-mounted - but again as a kedge when you want it you want it NOW - not when you have found the 2 sizes of spanner and one screw driver needed to assemble it.

I have no experience of the Guardian - but the lifetime, no questions asked guarantee works for me.

An alternative would be the alloy Spade another excellent anchor. Easy to assemble, quickly. Probably works in a greater range of seabeds. As efficient as its gal equivalent, but wallet squeezingly expensive.

We have used both the alloy Spade and Fortress (and an alloy Excel - but you would not be able to get one of them easily) - cannot much fault any of them. To us the major advantage is their light weight and the fact they work just as well as their gal equivalents (accepting that alloy has not quite the strength of the Excel's Bis 80 shank!)

Jonathan
 
I have recently read two articles on kedge anchors (magazine/book) and they both said Danforth were the commonest type to use. The previous owner of my boat fixed a 10KG Danforth (£60) to the inside of the cockpit locker side with a bungee so it can be easily got at rather than having to dig through fenders to get at it.
 
Last edited:
Minn said:
Don't worry; you will.
Click to expand...

Think you have to recognise (as has been amply demonstrated here) that many people sail where ground chains are not common so is not the issue that you see and the Danforth/Fortress/Britney type of anchor has the characteristics that make it the first choice for a kedge anchor. You also have to recognise the different roles of the anchor in different situations and for the common situations where it is used in tide free waters with no ground chains to worry about, to hold the boat in one position or as a back up, it is the best design.
 
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