I don't think anything would have stopped that. Those ball mount tow hooks weigh like 15 lbs and a 6" strap being tugged at 25 mpg has to have so much energy stored up. That's one of those "stop, inspect both tow points, think about what could go wrong" type deals. It was very sad though. His fiance and their child were in the cab with him.

 

Both examples really drive home that rigging is more important then the winch itself. It's also FWIW why whenever possible I prefer chain. Chains don't store and release energy like cables and straps do. I really dislike straps, they are very limited in how they can be used, chafe, fry, rip, etc. as well as stretch and release. IIRC back in the day when "tow straps" came onto the market they were sold as tree saver straps. They were intended to be used only to wrap around a tree for a pulling point instead of a chain to avoid digging into the tree. Compared to other options straps are cheap for the weight rating, those pennies saved in the short term hurt in the long term though.

 

Oh I don't know about that. Good straps are expensive and they hold up fine. Look at their extensive use in crane rigging these days (slings and etc) . And chain definitely does build up energy and will snap back. I saw a chain break a tow hook loose and come flying back through an expedition plastic bumper cover thing and through the thin sheet metal fender.
And for recovering a stuck vehicle, a true swatch strap with some give to it will pull a truck out would require several times the weight of the pulling truck's static ability to pull (like with a winch) .

Everything has its place.

 

I'm not saying you are, but an important note to make for anyone reading is that chains should NEVER be used for a dynamic recovery. ONLY for a static pull. This means no running start, no jerking, no momentum. When using a chain for recovery, tension it first at very slow speed, then apply power once it is tensioned.

As has been mentioned, there is a LOT that can go HORRIBLY wrong with a recovery, many times ending in catastrophic part failure, damage to vehicles and equipment, and most importantly, severe injury or death. I know we are all pretty numb to warning labels these days that suggest injury or death may happen. It seems like even stuffed animals come with a warning label in this litigious society. This is a REAL warning. Any metal parts used in a recovery can become dangerous projectiles, even if everything is done properly. There could be a manufacturing defect or even a freak occurrence of something breaking. Stay out of the way of recoveries! Know what could go wrong and prepare for it. The knowledge to perform recoveries safely is far more important than the equipment you have. People spend hours and hours researching the best strap or best winch or best whatever and they spend about 10 seconds looking at the product and 5 seconds skimming the directions before going out and attaching it to a 9,000lb hunk of metal with 400+ft/lbs of torque. This is a recipe for disaster. Watch a youtube video or two and learn how to use the product properly.

Synthetic rope and straps lose energy faster than metal winch line and chains but they still have enough power to kill if they snap.

x2.

We would NEVER allow chains on our trail rides for a recovery between vehicles. Straps are the standard these days. As hasteranger said, every tool has it's place, but these days, chains are losing a lot of their place in a recovery kit. They can still be useful for a handful of things, like dragging a tree across a road or attaching a winchline to a sharp object but in all honesty, in the 8 years that I have been leading off-road runs in NH and the thousands of recoveries that we have performed, I have NEVER used a chain.

Tires that could be inflated with air were first developed for bicycles. Where a product started really doesn't have much of an effect on a product's current use. Straps have come a long way since they were first introduced.

 

I always carry chain just because it's so adjustable and it isn't chafed if it needs to be wrapped around a rock or a leaf spring or whatever you need to do with it. But I only use it for static recovery or use on the end of a winch line.

If I had two vehicles wheeling all the time, I'd rather have a buddy and a Bubba rope and solid recovery points front and rear than a winch.

 

On the chain thing, I said whenever possible, should have said when appropriate. The subject is winching not jerking after all.

Jerking one vehicle out with another's momentum or to be fancy what you call dynamic recovery is a last resort. It should not be the go to move.

 

Witnessed a very similar incident in SC back in the early 90s, except it was the girlfriend sitting in the passenger seat that was killed. The guy put a chain around a receiver ball and jerked it. Not a thing I could do to even begin to help her. A very disheartening thing to watch and with all my years training and experience, there was nothing to do but cover her up and wait for the authorities.

 

I never understood why people want to hook to the ball when there are always two perfectly nice safety chain steel hook points on either side.

 

Because those are designed to cradle a tounge that pops off and only hold about 1200 lbs before they bend or snap. Unlike the 5000 lbs a class v can hold....

 

Oh contraire. Those are "designed" to take the entire weight of the trailer if the coupler, ball mount, or tongue fails, plus the shock that accompanies the tongue dropping. In other words, they are usually plenty sturdy. If you are tugging hard enough to break a chain point, you probably would have broken the ball or ball mount anyway, and as a huge plus, you just broke a little thing so you have maybe the clevis you used to attach it flying, and not a 15 pound ball mount.
If you insist on using a receiver as a recovery point, your one hundred percent safest and easiest route is to stick the loop of strap into the receiver and slide the hitch pin through the loop, securing it with the pin.
Everything has a limit though. The bottom line is the "stop and pull your head out of your ***" rule, where you take a look at how stuck you are and figure out what the best route to take is. If you're buried to the frame, especially in an excursion, 90‰ of the time your first tool is gonna be the shovel and your second tool is gonna be your highlift jack and the spare tire or a board. Before the winch or the tug strap or anything else.

 

That's why I use a puppy like this.



Stewart

 

All my "hard" recovery items are rated higher than the Master Pull kinetic rope and my straps to maximize the chances that my "soft" items (rope & strap) will break first.

Stewart

 

Well, I've never understood those shackle things you just shared a picture of. Stick the eye of the strap right into the hitch itself, that way if the hitch pin does break, the strap goes flying, but without the heavy shackle ball mount. Those things are ok for static pulls but if you are going offroad and getting stuck, you really need to step it up and add some real recovery points beyond the factory hitch.

 

2 welded 3/16 plates vs 2". Solid steel and a 1/2 inch pin in double sheer. Which would you choose?

 

The plate! Are you not paying attention? The ball mount can kill you. If you are gonna tear 3/16 plate, you're doing it wrong.