Soft Rigging Solutions’ synthetic lightweight shackles improve safety by reducing the risks associated with heavy lifting and manual handling, eliminating the need for multiple people struggling with traditional heavy steel D-Shackles. Combining his knowledge of mining and sailing, founder Josh Leppard’s synthetic lightweight shackle has a minimum break strength of 510,000kg and weighs only 13.7kg, four times lighter than the equivalent steel d-shackle that weighs 58.68kg.

Soft Rigging Solutions is dedicated to bringing award-winning, patented & innovative rigging solutions to the world. Its mission is to redefine rigging by making the use of dangerous heavy steel d-shackles and slings redundant. Its products not only increase productivity but improve safety and enable inclusion.

A death at a mine site led to founder Josh Leppard solving the safety challenges posed by traditional heavy-steel d-shackle.

To reach and right an overturned dozer, Josh and other first responders had to negotiate a steep embankment over large rocks at night while carrying several heavy steel d-shackles, each weighing 58kgs.

Realising there was a better way, Josh combined his knowledge of mining and his love of yacht racing to design and manufacture synthetic lightweight shackles. The result was a shackle that consisted mainly of fibre with minimal steel, had none of the risk and weighed 1/5th the weight of the traditional shackles.

The Poseidon Shackle, with break loads of up to 550,000kg, is a safe replacement for heavy, steel d-shackle to attach slings to broken or bogged machines. It has a minimum break strength of 550,000 kg and weighs only 12.7kg, five times lighter than the equivalent steel d-shackle. The Orion shackle is similar but suited to square edges, such as tow points. The Erebus shackle is a machine, ship or skid-based towing shackle. With applications across several industries other than mining such as rail, shipping tugs, aquaculture and agriculture. Finally, the Erebus safety fuse is a versatile system that allows a sacrificial designated breakpoint in towing setups that are designed to break within 5% of the designated tonnage.

Soft Rigging Solutions is in the process of introducing to the market a tray retention system for holding dump truck trays in the "up" position while maintenance is carried out. Soft Rigging Solutions patented technology has seen something that previously took two physically capable people to attach with a 43kg weight, down to a very manageable weight of 7.9 kg, that anyone can use.

All Soft Rigging Solutions shackles are manufactured in Australia with a Dyneema core, one of the world's most robust and reliable synthetics fibres. Weight for weight is 15-times stronger than steel and floats on water. Its applications include formula one, military vehicle armour, the building of the Mars rover, and even used in surgery to repair human joints. The shackles also have a tightly over braided Dyneema cover for high UV and chemical resistance and chafe tolerance.

The Soft Rigging Solutions shackles do not release stored energy. Instead, in the unlikely event, the weight capacity is exceeded, the stored energy is contained within the unique double-over braided Dyneema cover and remains in one piece. In other words, there isn't any chance dangerous flying parts caused by stored energy that occurs when steel breaks.

The synthetic lightweight shackles & slings improve safety by reducing the risks associated with heavy lifting and manual handling while eliminating the need for multiple personnel to manage traditional heavy steel d-shackles.

Finally, they allow for a more inclusive workplace by removing the physical barriers that may exclude some people from successfully using heavy d-shackles.

Soft Rigging Solutions prides itself on adapting its technology to suit clients' needs, stocking shackles in varied sizes and designs, and custom building gear to suit different attachment points and uses.