RV MAIL
LETTERS FROM THE ROAD
RAISING THE SHACKLES
ARTFUL RESPONSE
I always thought Aboriginal rock art was just
a pretty geometric display of colourful, wavy
lines and dots, until I read Di Morrissey's novel
The Songmaster. Every Australian should read
this book because, not only does it contain
wonderful descriptions of the Kimberley,
it is also a primer of the intricacies, hidden
meanings and layers of this art.
It beautifully tells of how life, history, family
and culture is contained in these ‘pretty
geometric displays’. And, as a bonus, the book
is a cracker of a tale.
Buy it or borrow it from your library.
I gave it 4.9 out of 5 in my scorecard of
books I have read.
Via email
Richard Beard
ROCK ART
Everything you have written about D-shackles
is true (www.GoRV.com.au) but I would like to
add a little to clarify the issue a little further.
Unfortunately, many commercial outlets have
cheap, imported shackles on their shelves
and this can be a dangerous trap for the
unwary. Apart from the marking requirements
of shackles that comply with the Australian
standard (which the cheap items don't have),
the pin of a rated shackle will always be slightly
larger than the material in the body of the
shackle. This is a percentage ratio that is less
obvious on the smaller shackles but more
obvious on the bigger shackles.
To use an unmarked and unrated shackle
for any purpose at all is extremely dangerous
as they are made of inferior material and can
fail without warning, unlike the rated item which
will deform quite markedly before failure, which
usually occurs at the beginning of the thread on
the pin.
The bow and D-shackles perform exactly the
same in service, with the exception that the
bow shackle was designed to accommodate
multiple slings, rings, etc., without them
becoming damaged by ‘crowding’ and riding
on top of each other.
Via email
James Pacey
D-SHACKLE HOAX
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