The $75 215 Gear Frog Zero retention lanyard has been designed by a Navy Seal as a simple, fast and overbuilt device to keep operators from falling from helicopters. It uses a trick shackle, called ‘Frog’ by its Italian maker, that automatically snaps in by just jamming it straight into the anchor point. With 2 internal gates, the shackle is as secure as using two opposing carabineers but way faster.
I could have wasted twenty minutes trying to explain how the shackle works in writing. Instead, I asked Bryan Smith, one of our awesome graphic artists, to waste five hours of his time building the cool animation you see above. Hit the play button to watch the frog internals move. Pinching the two lower legs primes the frog. As soon as it makes contact with a bar, it snaps closed around it. Pinch the lower legs again and pull to release.
With the Frog shackle rated to hold more than 6000 lbs., the break strength comes down to the stitching on the nylon webbing. 215 Gear uses eight 42 stitch bar tacks at either end of the shock-corded 1 inch tubular webbing equaling a total holding strength of 4000 lbs.
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