Nomad Willy
Guru
The Bruce is another rather unique anchor but unlike the Forfjord it has been copied by many manufacturers. The copies are still w us and the original is gone so I'll refer to this anchor as the claw. I just bought one and I do'nt even know who made it. Just says "made in China" and 22lbs. Must have been made specifically for the US market as it gave the weight in pounds. I see that the fluke tips are slimmer or sharper but otherwise it looks like a faithful copy of the original. Actually all the Bruce copies I've seen look like the manufacturers are hell bent to make their anchors as much like the Bruce as possible. The Bruce advertising stressed that the Bruce was better than all the copies and you'd suffer if you bought brand X. Looks like the present claw manufacturers bought that totally but in time I'll bet we see some variations as I think the Bruce was'nt perfect and sombody's bound to make a visible change and say "look *...ours is better". But it has'nt happened yet. When I get through playing w this 22 pounder I may have some modification ideas myself. Not only does the claw look different but it is different in several ways. The most important (I think) is the fact that close to 100% of the anchor's weight is on it's flukes when on a flat surface w the shank end and 2 flukes in contact w the supporting surface. I'm fairly certain this is the reason the claw has a well entrenched reputation for setting quickly despite it's rather blunt fluke ends. Once an outboard fluke is embedded and the anchor on it's side w the shank flush on the bottom I do'nt see how the anchor continues to rotate untill it's right side up. It could be the twist in the outboard flukes. A righting force is required at that time because the weight of the shank would tend to keep the anchor laying on it's side. I voiced my suspicions and was required to stand down on that by some Prof (can't remember what) that that did'nt happen. I'm still a bit suspicious that the claw sometimes stays on it's side not completely setting. It's also said that chain is not needed and the claws will perform quite well at short scope. The most unique claw is the Manson Ray and in a small anchor test w the Manson Supreme and the Rocna those qualities were tested and indeed the Ray out performed both of the other anchors. But the feature of the claw that has had the greatest impact on sales has not been performance but the slick way the claw sits on the bow roller of the average boat. It rides on the bow better than any other anchor. Some say the claw breaks out after initially setting and then usually resets. I've heard that about no other anchor that I can recall and my only possible explanation is my theory about the claw setting only on it's side but that's been dispelled. Perhaps someone else has another explanation. I've seen Bruce's bent but I've not heard of them breaking. I'll not post a picture of a claw as I think everyone knows what they look like.