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Speaking of tow straps

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5.3K views 20 replies 11 participants last post by  corax  
#1 ·
I saw videos of several tow straps and recovery points being snapped at SnoDrift.

Teams-

Most of you have tow straps. These are not (significantly) elastic. They're designed for near constant tension pulling.


Please remind your enthusiastic rescuers, both other teams AND sweep, that they should not be handled the same way as elastic recovery straps. There should be no significant slack in the line before someone starts trying to pull on them.
 
#2 ·
Matt,
Elastic type recovery straps are a better choice for snow extraction correct? I have standard tow straps mounted to the car for gravel events and swap out for an elastic one on the rear when I go to SD. In your wisdom of extraction... is this the way to go? I agree that over eager sweep can do more damage by "jerking" the car out than just a steady "pull" in most instances.
Bryan
 
T
#4 ·
I have a recovery strap. More suited to yanking a vehicle out of a ditch, etc. But probably less suited for use in a flat tow.

Pros/cons and opinions of each? What do people typically carry? What it is the typical use case?

Tim.
 
#5 ·
I see quite a few $9 Harbor Freight straps. OK for flat towing or getting pulled off a high center.

A lot of sweep guys have their own kit since they prefer to know what they're dealing with.

I don't think a recovery strap is going to be a real detriment in a flat tow situation if it's attached with clevises.
 
#8 · (Edited)
Another article for folks to have a look at:

http://www.offroaders.com/info/tech-corner/reading/snatch.htm

http://arbusa.com/Getting-Started/Recovery-Techniques-Equipment.aspx


No endorsement as to the correctness of the information, but I believe it to be generally correct in differentiation between a static vs. dynamic pull.

edit: these sorts of concerns are probably why we saw the more stringent recovery point rules several years back. Those requirements have been relaxed, but we're still using what we do have in and on the car in ways that aren't safe, so let's get a bit more educated.
 
#11 · (Edited)
XenoWolf said:
What not to use (or at least how not to use it)...
Click to expand...
If you are worried you are on the edge of strength, looping the strap around will help (although it makes your strap shorter).

Two straps in parallel, if they're the same length, wouldn't be a bad idea, either.

Snow is tough. No one has good traction, so you are stuck using inertia.
 
T
#10 ·
The article I linked to talks about how much additional "weight" you need to pull when a vehicle is stuck or needs to be pulled up a grade. This car was both.

Someone says "There goes another one." How many did they break?

Not as easy as just hook up and pull...

Tim.
 
#13 · (Edited)
Two ended up breaking. The third one got the car out. I believe the third was more robust (at least visually). I'm not trivializing vehicle extraction, just reinforcing the idea of having the right tool for the job at hand...
 
B
#12 ·
A little help from the 121 subie would have been appreciated, dead weight w/ the front wheels sideways is no fun. Other than a "drop weight" on the strap, not as big a deal as with a winch cable or rope, very limited other options. From what we could see it was a hook less strap = good, the attachment points on both the car and truck held firm = good.
 
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#15 ·
And it looked like it was still in gear also. Brake may have still been on with no keys to get into the car. If the doors even opened. The may have even been something under the car that it was caught on stopping it. But yes the wheels not being straight and turning was a big factor. I prefer to use the elastic straps with fixed attachment points on the car/truck. Have seen the effect a small half pound steel hook can do to bodywork let alone glass or a person.
 
#16 ·
I had some issues with sweep pulling me out on Friday night. Ended up ripped my rear tow hook off the car, which I seam welded the shit out of that thing and surprised it ripped off. I was more or less surprised that they didn't have a winch or recovery straps. I told myself I need to get them, I saw them at Harbor Freight, but didn't buy one. Really, sweep and I spent almost two hours throwing ideas to get me out of the ditch, but if we had a winch I would have been out pretty quick.

Like Matt said, on snow/ice you're fighting for traction. Anchoring a car down (hook to a solid tree) and then winch with the other end seems far better solution. I was also talking about doing daisy chain of sweep vehicles to get me out as well since they were spinning all 4 tires trying to pull me out.

My other suggestion was to remove my entire rear suspension so I would just drag on the HDPE under the car but nobody seemed to want to take off pieces. I would have done it myself, but I was still in my race shoes/suit and was getting pretty cold at the time.
 
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#17 ·
Sounds like there was some un-prepared sweep?? I have been lucky enough to always have well prepared sweep extract me.... do organizers have a list of required equipment for sweep vehicles or just take the truck with the biggest tires?
 
L
#20 ·
I spent a lot of early years driving things into the woods that should not have been there in the first place (and more than once, walking back out). I have recovered cars from groomed snowmobile trails and large trucks from mud. The moment you need a snatch strap you will not have one. It would probably be a good rule of thumb to have both a snatch strap and tow strap regardless of the style of rally. Snow will make things harder but it can be a pretty good analog for mud or "wet land" that can be found in the woods after inclimate weather. Expecting recovery guys to have a winch everytime is pretty extreme as they are a pretty expensive item that requires some knowledge to keep somebody from wrecking an alternater or anchoring to something that won;t hold them. Just my tow cents
 
#21 ·
bentmettle said:
Teams-

Most of you have tow straps. These are not (significantly) elastic. They're designed for near constant tension pulling.

Please remind your enthusiastic rescuers, both other teams AND sweep, that they should not be handled the same way as elastic recovery straps. There should be no significant slack in the line before someone starts trying to pull on them.
Click to expand...
Yes, and please avoid the Wal-Mart yellow rope with metal hooks on the end - they give me the heebie-jeebies and rarely stay attached very well.
For $20 you can get a basic strap from HF rated to 6,000 lbs. $30 will get you a heavy duty strap with some quality features in it. A bit of info to keep in mind while shopping
- Polyester recovery straps stretch only about 2 to 3 percent at full force - best for flat tows, anchoring, etc.
- Nylon stretches and is suited for stucks in mud/snow/sand when the recovery vehicle needs a bit of running start. By running start, I don't mean taking up slack at speed, rather a strong steady pull where the stretch of the strap helps smooth the recovery (do not want to see this happen). Remember also that the stretch in Nylon stores kinetic energy, so if it breaks it will recoil and could hit someone - stay safe & if you're not in the car with the doors closed keep a safe distance.

bentmettle said:
A lot of sweep guys have their own kit since they prefer to know what they're dealing with.
Click to expand...
This is true, but my first question when I come up on a car is "do you have a strap?" If I can minimize wear & tear on my own equipment, then great - it adds up over the course of a season or even a single event, especially the good stuff like kinetic ropes which are easily over $100 each.
Article 6.4 MINIMUM SCRUTINEERING REQUIREMENTS line 20 "A tow rope capable of towing the vehicle" doesn't really specify requiring a good one, but we appreciate it.

bentmettle said:
They're volunteers, so I think we're fortunate that we get anyone willing to spend their weekend following us around.

I don't think the sweep paradigm has ever been to replace tow trucks.

Did you buy them a round of beers?
Click to expand...
Thank you, and yes, beers or donations for the upkeep of med bags (everything has an expiration date) are appreciated.
BTW, I thought I heard that (in the past? currently?) some rallies use tow trucks that charged for recoveries, instead of a sweep crew. Has anyone else heard of this, is it normal elsewhere? In the 2 years I've been doing this I can't remember seeing a single tow truck on course here in the PNW. Sounds like it would make a bad day even worse if a wrecker pulled up with a card swipe ready.
 
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