AeroLock^® Synthetic Connector
A safer, stronger, superior soft connector

For the longest time there was one type of shackle to use, made from steel. Advancements in synthetic ropes have brought about soft shackle designs. Soft shackles effectively remove a very heavy and potentially lethal standard metal shackle from the load path. But the strength of most existing soft shackles relies heavily on a knot, and knots can fail. They also become hard to undo once used. Additionally, most conventional soft shackles are not designed to interface with ropes that have similar breaking strengths.

Meet the contender to knotted soft shackles. No longer do you need to worry about a knot which creates unpredictable results and wastes material. Introducing the AeroLock® Synthetic Connector from Cortland. With working load limits from 22,050–176,400 lbs. and a minimum breaking strength of 110,250–882,000 lbs., these products are ideal for a wide range of commercial marine, mining, and industrial towing applications.

Patent-pending, lightweight and flexible, these AeroLock® Connectors can be opened and closed quickly without the need for any additional equipment and are self-locking under load. To address friction and abrasion, they feature a braided SX jacket for enhanced abrasion resistance, ensuring long-lasting durability in the toughest environments.

As with any new technology, rigorous testing for both safety and efficacy is essential.

Testing included more than 15,000 cycles at WLL and 2.5x WLL at 1:1 D:d ratios. It also included tension fatigue testing and break testing to ensure reliability in all conditions. All testing was conducted with rope-on-rope connections to simulate field usage. During testing, Cortland’s engineering team ensured that the ropes being connected did not lose strength due to being connected to the AeroLock® Connector as opposed to conventional soft shackles.

The results? The AeroLock® increased in strength with minimal wear to its durable jacket.