Snap Shackle - Worth it?

[Tasky]

Hi all,

I've seen a few Wenger models with the snap shackle, or carabiner clip, and was wondering if they're actually any good...?
My main concern is the rounded tip of the moving gate, as it looks like a fabric belt loop might be able to work its way through, resulting in the knife falling off, especially if the spring tension is weak.

What experiences do others have of this?

[MadPlumbarian]

I bought one and before I modified it the snap wasn’t great, and even I did modified it the snap isn’t great, cause the gates snap is based on the back spring, I mean if you opened it and hooked it to a belt loop I’m sure t would stay put,,
JR

[nate j]

I don’t own one, but it always seemed kind of silly to me.  If I wanted a SAK to be able to hang from a carabiner, I would just put one through the split ring.

[Tasky]

I don’t own one, but it always seemed kind of silly to me.  If I wanted a SAK to be able to hang from a carabiner, I would just put one through the split ring.

I've had the split rings work their way off things before, which is what had me wondering about this one.

[nate j]

I've had the split rings work their way off things before, which is what had me wondering about this one.

I’d be interested in learning more about what happened if you’re willing to share, as I’ve always considered split rings (at least good quality ones like Vic provides) to be a fairly reliable means of attaching things.

The only failure I can recall from personal experience involved a split ring that was overloaded to the point that it failed structurally.  Even then, nothing was lost, but the split ring was trashed.

[Tasky]

I’d be interested in learning more about what happened if you’re willing to share, as I’ve always considered split rings (at least good quality ones like Vic provides) to be a fairly reliable means of attaching things.
The only failure I can recall from personal experience involved a split ring that was overloaded to the point that it failed structurally.  Even then, nothing was lost, but the split ring was trashed.

One of my squadmates hung his Vic off an old style flat spring-clip (as pictured above) which was clipped to his webbing. A couple of times he noticed that the swinging of the SAK meant the clip worked its way under the open end of the ring. One day he went to use the knife and found the clip was hanging empty.
Other occasions I've heard about is where the SAK has caught on something, during physical activities, and that has pulled (or snapped, burst, whatever) the split-ring apart, again resulting in the loss of the SAK.

In theory the Snap Shackle should be more secure, but the gate gap and rounded end have me concerned.

[nate j]

One of my squadmates hung his Vic off an old style flat spring-clip (as pictured above) which was clipped to his webbing. A couple of times he noticed that the swinging of the SAK meant the clip worked its way under the open end of the ring. One day he went to use the knife and found the clip was hanging empty.

Interesting.  It seems the issue there was the flat spring clip.  Sounds like this problem wouldn’t have occurred with a more rounded carabiner.

Other occasions I've heard about is where the SAK has caught on something, during physical activities, and that has pulled (or snapped, burst, whatever) the split-ring apart, again resulting in the loss of the SAK.

This is the situation I was trying to describe when I said “overloaded to the point that it failed structurally”, and I have seen it happen firsthand.  I suppose it might be possible to use heavier split rings, but the diameter of the hole in the key ring attachment point would be the limiting factor.

[fabregas485]

Sorry, slightly off topic but similar to what you guys were saying, If you are worried about split rings, the stainless steel ones sold for fishing are brilliant. They are very stiff and designed to be tugged on etc. I had a Victorinox one fail on my manager as I removed my keys from my pocket and it snagged. Not had it happen since.

The secret with split rings is to make sure you don't use them with thin stuff as it can work its way around as said above.

I would definitely trust my split ring over that carabineer though

Sent from my Pixel 6 using Tapatalk

[Tasky]

I'm not really looking to replace the split-ring function, I'm just interested in how well the Snap-Shackle tool worked, and whether it's worth buying one.