Say you want to shorten a piece of rope without cutting it. Turn to the Sheepshank. Think of it as a practical, mystical creation named after a common herding animal. Its main use is to keep your long ropes long, particularly when miscalculations occur in the field. For instance, if you need to hoist your food off the ground and have a lot of extra length leftover, use a Sheepshank. No more extra length, yet still have extra long rope.