I see the obsession is contagious. You should be aware there are some additional step in this obsession.
1) Protecting your soft shackle from abrasion where it touches metal. Saturating the line with 3M 52000 where it wears works well. A kevlar cover over the shackle at the wear point and the whole section saturated with 3M 52000 works even better. For the ultimate, I saw someone make a curved titanium tube as an outer cover (be sure to design it so when the line fails, you don't lose the tube.
2) Cool titanium thingies. These are plates designed hold the ends of your soft shackle. It makes it quick and easy to replace the line on the beach. The simplest plate has 2 holes to hold the knotted ends of the line. There are also 2 slots so you can loop the middle of the line over the area between the slots. Make the slots slightly v shaped so they hold the line.
3) Pins - A Marstrom pin(ss pin with a loop on one end and loop of bungee) and a loop of line is an easy to make shackle. The line is the "U" shaped part and a loop of bungee goes over the ends of the pin and keep the line from sliding off. A dumbbell shaped pin This is like the Marstrom pin except you put enough extra loops around one end of the pin so that you can just barely get it off. I bought handful of titanium dumbbell pins at local shop. They work like sister screws and I just leave them in small blocks. I was told that I was buying BIG piercing pins that nobody wanted (3/16 and 1/4!). There is also a barrel pivot that is a threaded tube with a screw in each end. You can also splice a loop in each end of the line that will just barely fit over the ends or nylon strap with a loop sewn in each end. This works well great when the weight is hanging from the line.
4)Loop of line with a square knot. This is what you use when you are tired of making complicated things. I am also using this to get rid of some mistakes I bought, just cut them when you are done(like lines that tangle unless you watch them constantly)
#1 and #4 I use a lot. #2, I have 3 or 4 where the plate is hard mounted to a block or something. #3 I use on a 14 where the loop goes through the foot of the sail, around the boom to the main blocks.
