Mantus Chain Hook - any experience?

[RichardS]

By any chance, does anyone have any experience with the Mantus chain hook

http://mantusanchors.com/mantus-chain-hook/

Of course, you monohull guys are probably thinking "looks like a solution to a non-existant problem" ......... but on a cats we often only have a small slot next to the aft side of the trampoline to get at the anchor chain below the bow roller. It's too small for two hands to reach into so chain hooks with a latching mechanism are really fiddly (tried that) and both ends of the snubbber bridle are about 8 feet away from the slot where I am working so it's not possible to keep tension on the snubber bridle whilst lowering the chain, which is why a conventional slotted chain hook sometimes drops off before it comes under tension. It's then a swim or dingy round to the bows to retrieve the snubber which is now dangling in the water about 6 feet away from the chain! Of course, I can pull the chain hook back up on deck using one end of the bridle but there's then no way of re-attaching it to the anchor chain which is hanging below the trampoline!

I've tried using a tensioning line attached to the hook and back up through the slot which does work provided I remember to keep it under tension but it's just another line to get in the way or get caught round something so I'd prefer to find a better solution.

We could use a third crew member to tension the snubber but two up with SWMBO on the windlass control and me with my hand down the slot (OK stop smirking at the back!) we've run out of options.

It appears that I would have to import the Mantus hook from the States but if it's the "answer" it would be worth considering.

All (clean) comments welcome!

Richard

PS This is not supposed to be an "anchor / anchoring technique" thread.

 

[vyv_cox]

No experience but it looks OK for your particular situation. I have no problem with a forged hook, which never comes off unless I want it to, but I can see that it might not be the same for you. Have you followed the soft shackle thread in which Evans Starzinger discusses using a Dyneema shackle for snubber attachment? Looks like a reasonable and much cheaper alternative.

 

[ghostlymoron]

you could also use one of these http://www.force4.co.uk/1155/Force-4-CHAIN-GRAB-HOOK-8mm--Break-Load--3000kg.html if i have understood you problem correctly.

 

[J Neeves]

We have had the exact same problem and don't have the answer. We, this is me (Jo deploys but I attach the bridle) I retrieve. We have tried conventional, I think they are conventional (edit: they look just like the one Ghostly illustrates), stainless steel chain hooks, a Witchard chain hook (with a spring latch) and a Transport Chain Hook. The Witchard is fine, except you cannot retrieve it single handed and getting both hands at the hook needs someone considerably more dextrous than me. We have 8mm chain and the 5/16th inch chain hook falls off too easily and the 1/4 inch chain hook is a bit of a fiddle (its too small). The transport hook is fine, except I cannot find one that's galvanised.

The best solution so far is changing the bridle, this is a simple accidental benefit.

I'm of the belief the short bridle of the cat, bow to bow, is too short and I have installed a boat length bridle from stern cleat to a snatch block on each bow (I've since installed padeyes right on the bow with loose blocks) to the chain hook. The bridle is effectively 14m long (each side) of 11mm nylon (38' 6-7t cat) by the time it reaches the chain hook. We have hollow stanchion bases - so it runs up inside them not on the deck at all (in the same way you might hide bow furling lines). Because its already so long its tight, no need for slack, and as soon as I attach to the chain its under tension and the hook does not fall off. Its set up such that the hook hold the chain up, so the bridle is above the chain and the hook lifts the chain. If you think 14m too long, attach to an amidships cleat.

Because ours is so long a little bit of load soon stretches the bridle such that it looks, probably like yours.

Jonathan

 

[vyv_cox]

you could also use one of these http://www.force4.co.uk/1155/Force-4-CHAIN-GRAB-HOOK-8mm--Break-Load--3000kg.html if i have understood you problem correctly.

That's the one I use but it does need constant tension on the snubber to prevent it from falling off. I thought the OP had problems doing that.

 

[ghostlymoron]

Sorry, hadn't read the original question carefully enough.

 

[RichardS]

That's the one I use but it does need constant tension on the snubber to prevent it from falling off. I thought the OP had problems doing that.

That's right Vyv. I called it a slot type of hook, for want of a better term, but it is the one identified by ghostlymoron. At the moment I'm using a more conventional hook and physically jamming it into a link. This does usually hold in place whilst I run out the chain but sometimes manages to come loose in the night if wind and waves are gentle. This is not a problem as the snubber is then not so important but if I don't notice it has come off and a blow sets in the next day I suddenly hear the chain rubbing against the hull and realise that we have no snubber attached!

Richard