Emergency recovery strap suggestions?

Not usually somebody who is rabid about stuff made in China vs USA but for some reason buying the recovery strap and shackles hit a sore spot for me. Received everything and everything is made in China. Steel shackles are made in China, Smittybuilt recovery strap is made in China. At least the 303 Aerospace Protectant I bought at the same time is Made in USA.

ARB makes/sells good equipment. Two problems I have with a winch. One is that I would need a new front bumper ($). An Aluminess would be amazing ($$$$). Two is it adds a fair amount of weight to an already heavy front/Cummins/end. And finally I am hoping that, now that I'm more prepared, I won't need it!!! : )

I have an ARB Recovery Strap, 3" x 30', 24,000 lb rating that I have used on the beach to pull out guys stuck in the sand. ARB makes the best stuff in my opinion, made for the Australian outback and now here in the US.



Where we went camping on the beach, it was easy to get stuck in soft sand especially pulling the TT (even with tires at 15 psi), but there was always somebody around to give you a hand. Winch is useless on the beach beacuse nothing to attach to. If I was solo in the woods I would opt for a winch because more likely to find a tree to attach than another vehicle.

They are not mutually exclusive either...can use a recovery strap and a winch...as the strap stretches under the tension of the winch, it works like a rubber band and can add that little extra push to break you loose from whatever you are stuck in.

Straps are straps and the "recovery" are simply ones made out of nylon webbing material which streches to absorb the shock of pulling a stuck vehicle out of some place. If you plan to pull a 10,000 lb. truck the load is not going to be 10,000 lbs to move it horizontally unless it is buried up to its axles.

Important to avoid the ones with hooks as if anything brakes the can become shrapnel. Best to use shackles with a 10,000 lb. or greater rating and good ones are made under the Warn brand.

Most vehicles have little or no place to safely attach a snatch strap and if you are being the good Samaritan and damage occurs to their vehicle they likely to expect you to pay for the repairs.

I carry a strap and a couple of shackles and a folding shovel. If someone is on soft ground I start by digging a ramp to minimize the force needed to pull them out.

In all the years I drove trucks with winches I never used them to pull my truck out of places but always someone with 2WD who did not understand their limitations or that of their vehicle. Now I don't bother to mount them on my trucks. With cell phones people can call for a tow truck and use its winch and its insurance.

Reddog1 wrote:

dadwolf2 wrote:
... I just learned that there is a difference between a tow strap vs a recovery strap. ...

What is the difference?

The posters already answered the question. Recovery straps are made of nylon which has some elastic properties and aids the recovery with a little slingshot action. A little give is easier on both vehicles too. Tow straps are made of polyester and don't give. A recovery strap can be used for both applications as long as you understand and account for the slight slingshot action and a tow strap should just be used to tow. At least that's what I got from the tutorial from US CARGO CONTROL's website.

Their website really had a lot of good info. The pros and cons of 1 ply vs multi ply straps, how much strap capacity you should use for the weight of the vehicle, general rule of thumb is 10,000 lb strap capacity for each inch of width but vehicle weight to be about half of strap break strength, etc..

Dome wrote:
Don't get any straps with hooks on them. Use a "D" shackle, the hooks are cheap and tend to brake. I've seen it happen while on the Jeep trails. In any case be very careful when using a winch or tugging on anything.

Good advice. I was helping out 2 teenagers that had hydroplaned and run off the pavement and stuck in he mud.

Their recovery cable had a hook that snapped and took out my $652 powered sliding rear window. Mostly my fault for letting them use their cable versus my chain and then there was that Cummins power under my hood! :)

for normal use like pulling someone out of the snow a 2in strap is fine..keep one in my truck just for when i need a nudge off the grass.. :( if you want to try yanking something harder go with a 4in strap or a good rope i have a heavy 2in jerk rope made from ship mooring line for pulling out stuck mud trucks can't beat it.. yes get the best shackles you can i have bent many of them..

Recovery straps (what most folks have) are designed to stretch where tow straps dont, tow straps generally will have hooks, work better when towing distance on the road. Recovery straps (use to call them jerk straps or snatch straps) when streched will rebound from the stored energy-helping to jerk a stuck vehicle- usually with a bit of momentum of pulling vehicle.
You can tow with a recovery strap but you can't (or shouldnt) jerk with a tow strap. Thats where you see folks break stuff trying to jerk with a tow strap, rope or worse chain. Or person your towing slams on brakes, no give with a tow strap. Course when towing with a recovery strap, its easier on stuff but invaribly person being towed when applying brakes thinks thier not slowing down (cause strap is stretching) and applies more brake-same effect. Fun stuff-usually involves pulling over at least once and being a little more emphatic about how to use brakes when towed..

Recovery straps are typically elastic so you can take a run at pulling out another vehicle and have the momentum to snatch them out without hitting a hard strap or chain which will likely do damage to both vehicles.

Dome wrote:
Don't get any straps with hooks on them. Use a "D" shackle, the hooks are cheap and tend to brake. I've seen it happen while on the Jeep trails. In any case be very careful when using a winch or tugging on anything.

I think it may depend on application, and quality of the hook. Personally, I would not use them with my truck, but would use them for different things on my Samurai (less than 3000 lbs), and other uses.