Recovery strap?

John_Rambo

Anyone know where I can get a reasonably priced recovery strap with no metal bits in Ireland or the UK?

Thanks!

stock>

http://www.prolift.ie/

http://www.gunnebolifting.com/Lifting/

John_Rambo

Thanks Stock, I see what I want on the second site, the webbing sling duplex, but there's no option to buy one.

Anyone else?

doctorchopper

try www.otto.ie they have a lot of 4x4 offroad stuff. also try www.recoveryandwinch.ie

John_Rambo

Thanks a million Doctor but still nothing. I'm going to have to go offline and use things like my legs and a phone.

doctorchopper

what exactly are you looking for? a long one for pulling out a stuck jeep? I got one off ebay but can't find where. Its like a lifting sling. maybe this site wil help https://www.trailerstuff.ie/p/1853:c:210_179_159/shop-by-category/trailer-accessories/tow-ropes-and-ratchet-straps/flat-web-lifting-sling-90mm-w-x-8m-l-3000-kg-swl/

doctorchopper

This is what i got http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/RECOVERY-WINCH-4x4-TOWING-TOW-ROPE-STRAP-7M-OFFROAD-14TON-/150534498599?hash=item230c8e2927:g:n4MAAOSwNphWaW3T

pete4130

lifting slings are different. Snatch straps are what you are after.

They have elasticity in them and its that stretch and return which snatches the vehicle.

They take about 2 hours to reset after a snatch and their effectiveness is reduced until fully reset.

John_Rambo

pete4130 wrote: »

lifting slings are different. Snatch straps are what you are after.

They have elasticity in them and its that stretch and return which snatches the vehicle.

They take about 2 hours to reset after a snatch and their effectiveness is reduced until fully reset.

Thanks to all of you for links and advice, I mean it.

I need to explain things here....

There's a few of us involved in extreme beach sports. Most of us have 4x4's, mostly little ones like Jinmey's, 4x4 Dusters, 4x4 Pandas, Freelanders, and some very old defenders. There's a few Audi quatro's, some Vovlo AWDs, Q7's and a few Disco's, but it's mainly car-shares to the beaches in old 4x4's. (I have a Freelander)

We're very aware of tides, both neap and spring, we don't get caught out. But other people do, usually locals, we're constantly pushing people out of soft sand or trying to drag cars out of wet sand on a rising tide.

We get a fair bit of abuse from locals when we evacuate the scene when the tide rises. We'd be delighted to help, but none of them have a decent recovery strap and they think it's our fault.

Google rossnowlagh cars beached and you'll see what I mean.

So... we all said we'd buy some recovery straps to help, but most of them are on Ebay and cost a fortune..

We've done a bit of research and found out that the ones with metal parts can end in injury and the best ones are nylon straps with a loop on each end (and to drape some carmats/clothing over the strap and to tell everyone to step back). We also learned to tell the stuck car owner that any damage to the car is not on us!!

So... if anyone of you can direct us in the way of good straps with no metal parts that are reasonably priced and will tug a 5 series BMW out of soft sand, or waterlogged sand it would be appreciated.

This isn't a selfish money making thing, we're just "there" when the sheet goes down, and often it means the death of some poor families car!

4odh4n

we have a couple of these at home...

http://www.theratchetshop.com/lashing-towing-equipment/kinetic-recovery-straps/11-000-kgs.html

TrailerBob

Unpopular opinion alert...

Why put yourself through the hassle and possible danger? Fair enough for your own crew within the sports scene, but for Joe Bloggs who is foolish enough to drive his lowered Passat tdi onto the beach.. especially being ignorant of the tide if they are local.

I'll qualify this by saying I've carried out my fair share of recoveries, but only once from a beach... Kinetic recovery is a whole world of things to go wrong if you don't know what you're doing. I used to be very much the person to volunteer to help in these situations, but I've learned that people don't really appreciate it a lot of the time, and there's a huge responsibility on you if something goes wrong. Now, despite having enough gear in the Cruiser to rescue most light vehicles, I think twice before offering

John_Rambo

Yeah, I know you're right. Like most unpopular opinions, it's right... and I don't really know what I'm doing, I'm just some dude in a little 4x4. I'll rethink it. If I come across a cheap strap I'll throw it in the boot and use it to help out friends.

Can't believe you said lowered Passat... the only time I see these cars is when they're stuck. On the beach.

pete4130

I've worked in remote Australia for 5 years, doing up to 600km a day in 4x4's on road and off road and have had off road vehicle training, recovery training etc.

When using snatch straps, there are certain precautions you have to take as it can be a very dangerous process.


Things to note are:

Stage 1 recovery - Up to the rim of the wheels. The effective vehicle weight remains the same ie a 2 ton vehicle will feel like a 2 tons vehicle when being snatched.

Stage 2 recovery - Up to the hubs of the vehicle. The effective weight of the vehicle is doubled. So a 2 ton vehicle becomes like trying to snatch/recover a 4 ton vehicle.

Stage 3 recovery - Up to the underbelly of your vehicle. The weight of the vehicle is effectively tripled, meaning your 2 ton vehicle is equivalent to a 6 ton recovery now.

You can reduce the effective weighting of the vehicle to be recovered by removing weight or digging a stage 3 back to a stage 2 with a shovel.

All this matters. If you only have a snatch strap rated to 4.5 ton, its a t risk of breaking, and regardless of metal pieces on the strap, it can kill either way.
You can use weighted blankets (specific 4WD recvery blankets you can fill with sand) that you place over each end and if the strap breaks, the weight causes the strap to hit the ground before the kinetic energy can be fully released.

If the vehicle do not have a RATED recovery point welded onto the chassis that is rated for its recovery weight (depending on the stage 1, 2, or 3 recovery combined with the vehicle weight) then the recovery point itself is the weak point and can fail/break from the vehicle and become a projectile that can kill or seriously injure. The little hooks on cars that you see are simply tie down hooks for transport. They are not rated for recovery at all.

Tow balls are to NEVER be used for recovery at all. EVER. They aren't designed for the torsional stress applied during recoveries and can easily snap becoming a lethal projectile. There are plenty of incidents where this has happened, the tow ball has broken off, come through the rear window taken the headrest off along with half of the person head/skull/face and killing them instantly. I've seen videos where they used snatch straps with tow balls and they penetrated a bonnet like it was paper. So, NEVER use tow balls for recovery.
If you have a removable tow ball, you can get RATED recover pins that you can attach a snatch strap to. Ensure they meet the weight you intend to recover.

Don't attach to bumpers or bull bars. Same thing. They are not rated and will get ripped off and can be lethal.

Some people attach recovery straps to axles. Not recommended unless you want to potentially rip the axle from your vehicle.

If you do use a snatch strap, have bystanders standing at LEAST double the distance away from the distance between vehicles, at 90 degrees to them.

If you have no experience in recovery, no rated recovery points on your vehicles then don't use snatch straps. It's a massive accident waiting to happen.

For beach driving, the easiest thing is to get a decent 12V compressor and lower your tyres to about 14-18psi depending on how soft the sand is and get yourself some MaXX TRAX or TRED recovery boards. They are safe enough to use, faster than setting up a recovery using a snatch strap and will work most of the time. I've got a set and used them a few times on my Landcruiser and my Hilux when I worked remotely. I even managed to recover an articulated HGV water truck stuck in a wet paddock using them. It took a bit of work but got there in the end.

https://maxtrax.com.au/

https://www.tred4x4.com/

I would rate the Maxtrax over the TREDs from experience.



Watch some of these to put you off using snatch straps:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YR22oP1WRtY


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K-0rUC74DBg

pete4130

With snatch straps too, they only have a certain life span, after 20-30 times being used their effectiveness is reduced as they've lost a lot of their elasticity. Pretty expensive thing to be using on people silly enough to get their own car stuck.

Again, with the Maxtrax, any wheel spin will start to melt the grips on the board due to the heat produced, dulling them and making them less effective.

John_Rambo

Right. Well, that's what you get when you seek info from experts. Excellent, realistic, grounded and honest advice.

Thanks to all of you. I had a feeling there was more to this than simplicity, I didn't realise there was that much to it! But, as I said, I'm an amateur that happens to have a small 4x4!

I did get a reasonably priced strap (I got two actually) and I'll be using it for my friends or people just stuck in soft sand. Some sunshine beachgoers have kids and old folk, I'd feel terrible leaving them stranded. But, when it comes to the difficult ones like cars hunkered down in wet sand on a rising tide I'll help them empty the car and give them a lift home!

So, again, thanks pete4130, TrailerBob, 4odh4n, doctorchopper and stock>.

Cracking intell from people that know their sheet.

Any surfing/kitesurfing/SUP advice needed, just PM me. Have a good summer.

As an aside.. you wouldn't believe where people park on beaches that have an obvious tideline!! It's incredible! We were on the beach last year and there was a small van parked below the tideline on an incoming tide. The wheels were sinking and we scoured the beach looking for the owners, no sign of them anywhere. I eventually tried the doors to see if it was unlocked and it was unlocked. I opened the door and the owners were in it!! Asleep!! The tyres were covered by wet sand, we digged, pushed, pulled, but to no avail. The tide came in and covered it. When the tide ebbed the van was destroyed, all the windows smashed, the roof was imploded (from the pressure and waves before the windows gave out) The interior looked like it was underwater for three weeks, every crevasse was filled with wet sand, glove compartment door torn off, bonnet forced open, wing mirrors broken off etc... I presume the engine was bunched!