snatch straps and missiles

There is no Australian Standard for snatch straps so, in reality, a strap which the seller says is 9000kg could be anything?

Mike Harding

Rope will not give the same pull as a snatch strap. The strap relies on it's elasticity to store energy and then "snatch" the other vehicle out. A rope won't do thet.
There's nothing wrong with using snatch straps as long as a little common sense is also employed, but that should be a given in any recovery situation, right???

Use rated shackles and correct recovery points and you won't have any dramas.

Won't the snatch strap still become airborne? If the rope gives way at maximum stretch then surely there will be some recoil. Still, there shouldn't be a projectile attached with the rope breaking. Not a bad idea. Just stand well clear when testing.

Go to my website www.kempen.id.au and click on 4x4 and then scroll down the page to "Close encounter with a Bow Shackle". That is what can happen when you are not doing the right thing...lol

Cheers

A good idea ... a "fuse" for a snatch strap between the stap and any fittings.

But...
Rope has totally different characteristics under steady load and in a snap load situation.

So a rope of a known breaking strain may fail with a much lower load placed suddenly.

IMO that would be very unpredictable, and unless you have the resources to set up repeatable experiments to determine the snatch breaking point you wouldn't know how many turns of rope to use.

And the big unknown - what really is the breaking strain of that bad weld somewhere?? and will it fail after a dozen snatches with no problem - look how strong my truck is - or after three???

Also, as mentioned above, what a fuse" would do is simply make it MORE likely that something would be flying around.

Ken

What about the good old fashioned wet towell over the strap, to help deaden (is that a word), the fling if a strap breaks. We use this technique and thank goodness, I haven't seen a strap break yet so dont know if it is really effective or a bit of a wives tale.

Agree with you obee.

Snatch straps should come with a (replaceble) safety device between the snatch strap and its loop, which fails once a certain force is created.

R.

The strap is not very heavy and wont do heaps of damage. May do some, but you'l live. The "missle" tends to be the lump of steel attached to the end. For this reason I am leery of shackles on the ends, as if the vehicle mount point lets go, the shackle is still attached to the strap with lots of stored energy.

I prefer to make sure the vehicle has hooks. On the towing vehicle I use a high tensile bolt in the towbar pin hole as a "pin" that won't bend. (Please don't start debate on towvar snatching suitability - it'll never end.) If anything there breaks it's unlikely to become a missile and 12mm Hight Tensile bolt is very very strong.

On the stuck vehicle I prefer to have a hook. Failing that, many options are better than a shackle. The shackles never fail (if rated), but they are the most dangerous item to have coming at you.

Paul

Obee, something that hasn't been mentioned above is to use a bridle through the loop of the snatch strap. Just a light loop that extends to something at the side or each side that if the end gives way holds it from whipping. I have practiced that a bit. Even a bit of a rope to hold the loops from whipping away, or slow down any end.

All the stuff you need is in the shops and is rated - no need to make it up as you go.

To stop bits of flying off and killing the driver or onlooker, you need to take a dose of preventive medicine:

#1 Minimise the force required - clear around the wheels to make it easier.
#2 Use 2 strong/rated recovery points on the front - connect them with an equaliser strap (look this up on the net, or buy a Terrain Tamer Equaliser Strap), and this strap goes through the loop on the snatch strap. The equaliser strap halves the force on each recovery point, and should a point break, the other point will retain the broken bit of steel. This is also referred to as a bridle or sling.
#3 Most people use a square hitch towbar on the rear, because they have a good record for safety. Naturally the towbar manufacturers tell you not to. My preference is to put the strap thru the pin, and keep it simple and safe.
#4 Ideally, your strap should be the "weakest link", and naturally be strong enough for the recovery.
#5 Use the minimum force required to recover the vehicle
#6 Ideally recover towbar to towbar if this is an option.

I agree that the "bridal" is the safest option when snatching..... and funnily enough next to none of us use it.... not even me because I am too slack to set it up..

They could be as simple as a heavy dutey tree trunk protector or similar to a second recovery point totally independant of the one the snatch is done off... if the first point comes off the bridal should totally stop the thing before it kills someone! If the strap breaks then it is just a strap.. if it is a strap with a hitch point or half a bullbar on it then that is a different kettle of fish.

Maybe snatch straps should be made with the bridal in them from new.. that would "force" the 4x4 community into hitching it somewhere as a safety measure.