M'Lord and m'lady's Dark Secrets

What? You want to know what dark secrets we might have in our background? Haha! That's ridiculous! No-one, in this modern age, has dark secrets in their background but ... you know what? We can, actually, tell you ONE ... and only one. However, you must swear NEVER to reveal, or discuss, this secret to / with anyone else but those who have discovered it before. That dark secret is ...

Moderator's edit: We regret to inform you that we do not condone release of dark secrets!

Well ... M'Lord and m'lady have to abide by the Moderator's rules. We wonder who that Moderator could have been! [grin]

Oh ... and it's mission? Well, it needs to travel from cache to cache picking up dark secrets from those who retrieve it and pass it on. If the findees can't post their dark secrets (which we hope they do) they can always email them to us via geocaching.com.

The Travel Bug that you have in your hands could be up to a century old. It probably has a past that, to some, would be either fascinating (if you were a historian) or mundane (if you had no interest in such items). To us, it's a just a very interesting relic of the sailing era!

As a more general description, a shackle (also called gyve) is a U-shaped piece of metal secured with a pin or bolt across the opening, or a hinged metal loop secured with a quick-release locking pin mechanism. They are used as a connecting link in all manner of rigging systems, from boats and ships to industrial crane rigging. A carabiner is a variety of shackle used in mountaineering.

There are several different types of shackle (pin, snap, D, headboard, twist, and bow). This one happens to be a threaded shackle.

In a threaded shackle, the pin is threaded and one leg of the shackle is tapped. The pin may be "captive", to prevent it from dropping loose. The threads may gall if over-tightened or have been corroding in salty air so, in both old and modern usage, a liberal coating of lanolin or a heavy grease is not out of place on any and all threads. A shackle key or metal marlinspike are useful tools for loosening a tight nut.