Cycles of failure - I can see dirt really accelerating the wear-out of these things. They can be washed though.
I can speak to this briefly from my personal experience from another industry: I used to be a rock climbing guide and instructor, and as a climber we treat our ropes as sacred things...
I agree 100%, and I am surprised it didn't occur to me as well. I did find it HIGHLY SKEPTICAL that the simple Bow Shackle would be almost the same as the Snatch Block (with a roller bearing), while the aluminum ring would be so much worse. It seems more likely to me that either the videos...