MIKE@UORTC
Adventurist
Amazing thread and I am glad to see that this group is interested in proper recovery techniques, I watched through the videos and wow a large amount of what I saw made me shudder.
I hope that I don't offend anyone with what I post but I would like to present some great information that will hopefully spread some light on the subject of recovery.
First off I disagree with snatch straps with every moral fiber in my body, straps were and still are designed for static pulls. I know there are some rather large companies out there that have developed a "snatch strap" which is what they print in pretty letters on their boxes and claim that they have such and such stretch and are a viable option for kinetic recoveries. One important thing to remember is there is no governing agency that handles quality control over straps, I can go have a strap produced and pretty much rate it to whatever loads I choose and say that it stretches to 35%. Granted I know that these large companies pull test these straps and they are most likely rated conservatively with a good safety factor involved but still there is no governing agency that handles quality control. Kinetic ropes on the other hand and all ropes including your wonderful synthetic winch lines are handled by the Cordage Institute who governs quality control over all types of rope. When you purchase a kinetic rope it has been tested by an outside agency and complies with regulations. Kinetic ropes are also "spliced" not "stitched" which is a weak point to shock loads, and their allows them to stretch many more times and still return to length than a strap. I could go into hysteresis and how it effects our recovery situations but I want people to read this post and not fall asleep. These are the reasons I prefer Kinetic ropes for Kinetic recoveries and think straps should stay static!!!
Now I was truly surprised on the ARB video with one thing and that was using a hitch pin to secure the strap inside of the hitch. Hitch pins are not designed nor are they rated to work like that. When used to secure your receiver there is not space in there to allow bending as they are rated by shear capacity, also the receiver hitch through friction carries a large amount of the weight. Think of the 4 sides of the receiver hitch working against the 4 sides of your mount, have you ever tried to pull a hitch out at even a .001 degree angle it wont work. Also if you slide the strap into the receiver and don't pull in a straight line (because all recoveries are always set up perfectly straight right lol) then you run the chance of abrasion and failure as the edge of the receiver is sharp enough to cut into the strap. You need a recovery point and a hitchlink that slides in is cheap enough and works perfectly.
I hope this information helps in some way, I have not watched the TJM winching video yet as 22 minutes is taking some time to load but please feel free to ask any questions about recovery and I will answer to the best of my ability.
I hope that I don't offend anyone with what I post but I would like to present some great information that will hopefully spread some light on the subject of recovery.
First off I disagree with snatch straps with every moral fiber in my body, straps were and still are designed for static pulls. I know there are some rather large companies out there that have developed a "snatch strap" which is what they print in pretty letters on their boxes and claim that they have such and such stretch and are a viable option for kinetic recoveries. One important thing to remember is there is no governing agency that handles quality control over straps, I can go have a strap produced and pretty much rate it to whatever loads I choose and say that it stretches to 35%. Granted I know that these large companies pull test these straps and they are most likely rated conservatively with a good safety factor involved but still there is no governing agency that handles quality control. Kinetic ropes on the other hand and all ropes including your wonderful synthetic winch lines are handled by the Cordage Institute who governs quality control over all types of rope. When you purchase a kinetic rope it has been tested by an outside agency and complies with regulations. Kinetic ropes are also "spliced" not "stitched" which is a weak point to shock loads, and their allows them to stretch many more times and still return to length than a strap. I could go into hysteresis and how it effects our recovery situations but I want people to read this post and not fall asleep. These are the reasons I prefer Kinetic ropes for Kinetic recoveries and think straps should stay static!!!
Now I was truly surprised on the ARB video with one thing and that was using a hitch pin to secure the strap inside of the hitch. Hitch pins are not designed nor are they rated to work like that. When used to secure your receiver there is not space in there to allow bending as they are rated by shear capacity, also the receiver hitch through friction carries a large amount of the weight. Think of the 4 sides of the receiver hitch working against the 4 sides of your mount, have you ever tried to pull a hitch out at even a .001 degree angle it wont work. Also if you slide the strap into the receiver and don't pull in a straight line (because all recoveries are always set up perfectly straight right lol) then you run the chance of abrasion and failure as the edge of the receiver is sharp enough to cut into the strap. You need a recovery point and a hitchlink that slides in is cheap enough and works perfectly.
I hope this information helps in some way, I have not watched the TJM winching video yet as 22 minutes is taking some time to load but please feel free to ask any questions about recovery and I will answer to the best of my ability.
