Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Anchor testing

Short X video.

https://twitter.com/gunsnrosesgirl3/status/1766888257034297760

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Why sandy bottoms are not all that great for anchoring and why do you suppose chain is important...

BS test method that is. Chains matter. Wet sand is not the same as powder dry sand.

chains matter

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If you try to use one of those sand anchors on a rocky bottom you might donate it.
I like a Columbia River type (rocking chair) anchor for freestone bottoms and sand bottoms.
Solid rock bottoms are a different animal.
Some will use a length of ship's chain (7lb links) for solid rock and you still might donate.

Well, that was about useless.

I keep three (properly rigged) anchors in my boat, a danforth and two mushrooms. That covers about any type of bottom I might encounter.

I may have "donated" a couple of anchors over the years.

If that is real they should stay on dry land.......

It was for entertainment as much as enlightenment.

It does show, albeit to a limited degree, how the different anchors grab (or not), something not ordinarily seen.

It was not a tutorial on what anchor you should have.
👍

Good point. Also, when anchoring a ship, it’s the chain that holds the ship in place. The anchor holds the chain. The more wind or current you are anchoring in, the greater scope (length) of chain required to remain securely anchored. The weight of your chain will usually be several times the weight of your anchor.

For anchoring on rocky bottoms I made an anchor with a loop on the front end, and rigged the chain from there along the shaft where I cable tied the chain on. When the pull was inline with the anchor the cable tie was under very little strain, but when the time came to retrieve it if it stuck then I motored forward until the pull was at 90 degrees to the anchor, at which point the cable tie broke and up she came.

Never tried this on a large boat, but for 14-16' dinghies it worked perfectly.

No, the anchor is doing the holding - the chain simply keeps the angle of pull on the anchor more horizontal so that it doesn't pull up out of the mud/sand/whatever.
If this wasn't the case, folks would just use a heavy chain alone.

I use chain the lenght of the boat, for most anchors. I prefer the rocking chair anchor. I use a float ball and one way slide, to pull anchors from deep water, using the boats power! Then I only have the chain and a couple feet of rope to hand pull. The bottom of the lake or river dictate, what anchor is used.

Wrong! That’s the difference between boats and ships. You’ve clearly never anchored a ship.

So please explain why ships have anchors and not just chains. I believe, considering physics, it's simply a matter of scale.

Interesting.

I have run CQR/Plows and Danforth mostly. East coast, Keys and Carib.

Chain rode length matters a great deal.

If all you needed was the anchor, you would only need enough chain to reach the bottom and keep the shank parallel with the bottom, so your flukes could dig in. That’s how boats are anchored. With a ship, the weight of the chain and the friction created when the chain is laying on the bottom, is what holds the ship. Typically, you would anchor with a scope of chain that is 5 to 7 times the depth of water you’re anchoring in. That provides the weight and friction required. A soft bottom helps hold because the chain sinks into the mud or sand. The first thing you do when you find that your anchor is dragging is to pay out more chain. That doesn’t make the anchor heavier, it increases the weight of the chain and creates more friction. Basically, the anchor, once the flukes dig in, allow the ship to backdown and pay out the desired scope of chain. The reverse is true when weighing anchor.

I know chain or no chain, very few if any anchors I've seen hold in the rocks on the Talkeetna. Now and again you can snag up. And if its clear I can usually see enough in the rocks to snag an anchor. But having drifted miles without power TRYING to snag its not happened. The only way to snag is get close enough to bank to toss the anchor into the trees. And with a long heavy chain its almost impossible. But having drug an anchor with a long heavy chain a few miles down stream....

I will say though our system with longest heavy chain and anchor, seems to allow the boats to drift slower... 20-26 foot jet boats with inboard V8s...

OTOH a big anchor with long wide flukes works really well to winch out bogged ATVs... a fairly easy deadman b basically without all the extra work.

Weird test medium but it does show what anchors actually dig in deep.

I run a 44# Bruce during moose season with lots of 3/8 chain. Probably one of the best investments I have made as 50-70 mph gusts are not uncommon in early Oct.

A ton of scope although often ideal isn’t always the best thing to put if the anchorage is tight. Storm hits you at SE, and at the end of it it switches to SW or W. Great way to end up on the beach if you put out too much scope. Some of my anchorages don’t allow for much swing.

Just as important to what anchor you use is where you anchor and the bottom type.