Snatch or Extension??

Go to your local 4wd shop and ask/compare with theirs.
Otherwise, I can't recall for sure but one normally got one longitudinal mark in the middle of the strap and the other 2 or 3. That's what a 4wd instructor told me a long time ago to be able to tell the difference. Unfortunately my memory is not that good. I would say the one with one stripe is the snatch strap and the other one a winch extension strap. Anyone heard that one before?
Also my snatch strap is wider than my winch strap. so are they both looking the same or not?
Finally you could try to connect it between two vehicles equipped with proper recovery points and see if it expands or not. The snatch strap should be elastic, the winch strap should not.
Rgds,

Sly.

Compare it with your new snatch strap. If it looks the same then its a snatch strap. If its thin like you seat belt then its a winch strap.

just test it.

Attach one end to your vehicle, the other to a tree, or power pole, or something (but not a wheeli-bin!) and very slowly move about 3 or 4 metres. A winch strap will not let you move much, the snatch will stretch and you could probably move at least 5 to 10 metres.

Andrew

Snatch strap is usually 9 metres in length. The good ones have a tag with its rating written on it (I guess you've looked) and as sly mentioned have a line down the middle which is meant to tell you whether its past its used-by date.

Winch straps are usually 10,20 or 30 metres, and as Rod says, look like seat belt material.

For the sake of $50 for a new 8000kg strap, I'd get a new one if I was in doubt.

You are not likely to require it for snatching on the usual Simpson roads; it can always be used as a towrope.

Cheers
Phil