Recovery Straps: Near Miss

[CLynn85]

Don't know how many of you have seen this but for those of you that haven't this is a good read and a reminder on proper recovery procedures and what can happen if you don't follow them. And also, although not used in this specific incident but more likely to have similar results, the reason those straps with the hooks on the ends should never be used for recovery.

http://www.southernhighrollers.com/tips/articles/a_near_miss_from.htm

Edit - guess this should've gone in the recovery forum, oops.

 

[Brian McVickers]

Interesting, and fortunate that the driver was only brused.
But,
This article says nothing about what propper procedure should be...

From the article we know the frame rail on the stuck truck failed, so that is a bad place to connect? Or was there a problem with that trucks frame rail?

Definitely bad to connect two straps with a shackle!

But for pulling out of snow, sand or deep mud what is best?
Will the elasticity of a tow strap help or hurt?
Will the static property of a winch cable / rope or a tow chain help or hurt?

The energy in the tow strap significantly contributed to the recoil of the strap but this is also what can help tug a stuck vehicle out of stuck.

So what are the rules of thumb?

:wavey:

 

[goodtimes]

There are a ton of "rules of thumb". All of them some variation, or special case of these basic rules:

1: Use only gear/equipment that is made for, rated for, and ready for the job at hand. If a strap, cable, anchor point, or anything else in the picture is damaged or questionable, don't use it.

2: Use as little energy as required. Wether using a winch, or another vehicle to pull, more is not always better. Slow and steady, increasing force as needed. The more energy you have stored in the system, the more potential damage it can cause if something goes wrong.

3: Eliminate missile hazards. No hooks on straps. place a heavy jacket or blanket over cables to help absorb the energy when/if they snap. Anything that can come off, assume it will. If it is questionable, don't use it.

4: Maintain a clear path for the strap/cable to "snap back" into. If you are looking down the length of a cable or strap that has tension on it, you are in danger of being killed. You should be a minimum of 15 degrees off to the side of the strap/cable, relative to the direction of force, as measured from each attachement point. If you are inside of a vehicle which is inside this danger zone (such as you are being pulled out of a mud hole), put everything you can between you and the cable. Leave your hood open if the cable or strap is attached to the front of your vehicle. Place cargo behind you if the strap is attached to the rear of your vehicle...better to have a strap break and destroy your hood or some cargo, rather than have that strap destroy your head.

5: Communication. Everyone involved with the recovery needs to be able to communicate. Everyone else needs to step back and stay out of the way. One person is in charge....he/she makes all the calls. No second guessing...so pick that person with care. The exception here is if someone sees something unsafe. If anyone starts yelling "stop", then stop.

One last thing. All recoveries have the potential to go very wrong, and people get killed. It is usually a combination of things that cause an accident. If you remove one of those contributing factors, the accident is avoided. So you remove as many "possible problems" as possible. Then you accept that things still may go wrong, then you proceed as you see fit.

 

[asteffes]

Interesting, and fortunate that the driver was only brused.
But,
This article says nothing about what propper procedure should be...

From the article we know the frame rail on the stuck truck failed, so that is a bad place to connect? Or was there a problem with that trucks frame rail?

Definitely bad to connect two straps with a shackle!

But for pulling out of snow, sand or deep mud what is best?
Will the elasticity of a tow strap help or hurt?
Will the static property of a winch cable / rope or a tow chain help or hurt?

The energy in the tow strap significantly contributed to the recoil of the strap but this is also what can help tug a stuck vehicle out of stuck.

So what are the rules of thumb?

:wavey:

Tow straps are not elastic. Recovery straps are. Tow straps have hooks. Recovery straps do not. Now we have a prime example of why that is. Recoveries are dynamic operations. You're counting on the elasticity of the strap to absorb some of the shock and to help spring the stuck vehicle free. This is no time for a metal hook to pop loose, tear out whatever it's hooked into, or for a static material to not absorb some of the impact once the strap is under tension.

It sounds to me like the hook was attached to the shipping anchor holes in the frame rail, and was not hooked around or two anything meant for a recovery operation. The hook probably bit into the edge of the hole in the frame rail and just started to zipper it apart, ripping a piece out in the process.

The big lesson is to use attachment points intended for recovery, like an actual recovery/tow hook, and to use only recovery straps without hooks for these operations. There's really no reason to mess with those hooks - they're just convenient for lazy people. Put a strap's eye around the towhook or hitch so you don't end up with a missile aimed at your face.

 

[Grim Reaper]

These stories are scary. It never ceases to amaze me the stupidity I see in so many photos of events. WAY too many people in the danger zones and poor technique.

The one that always gets me is young kids down hill from a disabled vehicle that they are trying to recover or between the vehicles when winch cables are in use.

Thankfully my club is very safety conscious. We are a sponsor club that handles United's Back country awareness class for the SE. http://www.ufwda.org/4wdawareness.htm That class we go over recovery do's and don't at great length and we actually pass the picture of that jeep around to the students as an example of how dangerous recoveries can be.
One of our instructors use to work on commercial fishing boats and has a horrific story of a winch line failing and cutting a guy clean in half that he was witness too that usually get brought up in the winch section of the course. :Wow1:

This is a topic that cannot get covered enough. People just don't realize how dangerious recovery situations are.

 

[Brian McVickers]

I was tought to raise the hood of your vehicle when winching, sit inside the cab and opperate the winch from their behind your shield.

Does anybody do this?

 

[Grim Reaper]

I was tought to raise the hood of your vehicle when winching, sit inside the cab and opperate the winch from their behind your shield.

Does anybody do this?

Its a good idea if a truck is stationary winching a different vehicle but not practical if you are winching the truck the winch is on. Winching up Slick rock or school bus with your hood up just isn't going to work.

I do make myself as small an object as possible by sliding down in the seat some.

 

[goodtimes]

One of our instructors use to work on commercial fishing boats and has a horrific story of a winch line failing and cutting a guy clean in half that he was witness too that usually get brought up in the winch section of the course. :Wow1:

You should see the Navy training film "Snap Back". You get to see people get cut in half by mooring lines (which are kinda like monster recovery straps). One poor guy gets hit at the waist, falls to the deck and gets to watch both of his legs fall over the side of the ship.

They used to say:"If you hear the line snap, don't worry about it because you are alive. If you don't hear it snap, don't worry about it because you are dead"

 

[Gonzzo]

My brother has a honda rincon he likes to burry in the mud as often as he can(morbid facination with mud i guess). A few months ago he installed a 3000lbs winch on it and that also gets used quite often. So a few weeks ago i got him one of these:

http://www.ok4wd.com/index.php/catalog/product/winch_saver_winch__saver/

I got him the ATV size one for his quad and a full size one for his 12,000lbs winch on the front of his project truck(turns out i need to get him a second full size one for the 12,000lbs winch at the REAR of said truck, can you say morbid facination with winches?).

Anyhow, i ran into this product at some convention a while back and think it's a good idea. I have seen people skip the blanket/wet towel over the winch line step far too many times and i have seen some straps fail. I think the winch saver makes sence, the way i see it, if it's already there you'd be stupid NOT to use it.

On a side note, my brother has informed me that his original brand new still in the box 9000lbs Mile Marker winch(wich he deside was not enough winch for his big ole truck)was mine as soon as i can mount it on my ZR2 Blazer :wings: . I guess ill have to get ME a winch saver too.

Just to let you know, I DO NOT work for nor am i afiliated with the manufacturers of the winch saver, i just think it's a darn good idea.

Now im off to figure out how im gonna mount that winch on my BlazeR2 .


Hope this helps.


Gonzzo.