Thread: Snatching - How not to

Steve <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE</div><div class='quotemain'>Am looking forward to conquering my beach fear[/b][/quote]

A healthy respect is what you should aim for here.

Bruce.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE</div><div class='quotemain'>A healthy respect is what you should aim for here.
[/b][/quote]

Noted and good point mate, thanks, and dont forget to let the air out of ya tyres you forgot to mention :wink:

Regards

Stevo

Steve,

Staun Tyre Deflators - worth their weight in gold ( except they are made of brass just screw on to tyre stem and they let the tyres down to 18psi (default setting and I feel the best). At $80 for a set of 4 from ARB shops they're a bit $$$ but sure beats doing it by hand.

The thing to watch out for with them is they haven't accidentally been set to 0 psi (by a mate!!!) Work your way around the car and the first one started should be the first one finished, then the next etc.

Also with Bribie, avoid driving 3 hours before high tide so you have plenty of time if you do get stuck. The beach there gets really chewed up on a busy day so on an outgoing tide you have had fewer vehicles driving on it, and more hard beach to drive on.

Bribie is also a beach that changes from month to month. Flat hard and wide one month, narrow soft and hump after hump after !@#$ing hump the next.


Bruce.

Hey Bruce,

Thanks for the info, one of the first things I bought were the deflators, however they didnt come with instructions so thanks for the tip. I will keep the rest in mind for my next trip to Bribie, the more I can learn about these things the better . Will get the chance to test out the deflators when I go to Bribie in about 3-4 wks. Have tested the air compressor I got and on the weekend have a recovery session with the Gold Coast club, so next time I will be better prepared and more importantly not panic 8O ,

Regards

Stevo

Originally posted by stevo68
.....so next time I will be better prepared and more importantly not panic

Or the hit the submit button three times 8O

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE</div><div class='quotemain'>Or the hit the submit button three times [/b][/quote]

Gee make it obvious why dont ya , I blame the puter, it was its fault, no panciking here ,

Regards

Stevo

Originally posted by stevo68
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE</div><div class='quotemain'>Or the hit the submit button three times

Gee make it obvious why dont ya , I blame the puter, it was its fault, no panciking here ,

Regards

Stevo[/b][/quote]
Just say you have a posessed mouse

It is interesting all this. I'm quite inexperienced too, so I'd love to do a recovery /general training course as well. Im sure the LROC Brisbane will do one soon, and I'll be keen for that.

I woiuld like to think I woiuldn't be stupid enough to do what these guys did though. Snacthing from the towing eye is possibly the most horrifying aspect of all this. As I understand, these points are there for towin cars on the assembly line, and for pulling cars onto tow trucks etc... not recovery.

On our whole 10 days in the Simpson we only had a few recoveries to do. All were pretty easy though. Just hook the strap up and go

I maintain that it's only for the fact that the defender knows what to do that I haven't gotten stuck anywhere yet! I know that at rainbow I went charging past this poor guy in a 100 series LC bogged to the axels letting his tyres down.. It was pretty soft sand so I couldn't stop. I just presumed that the extra 800kg he was carrying because of the T badge on the front was to blame!

Some sand tips learnt the hard way! :wink:

Staun Deflators - set them at home BEFORE you go out there. Some say to use a bicycle tyre, me I just used my vehicle.

However, I personally don't use them, as a decent gauge and 5mins has all of my tyres done anyway!

Tyre pressures - I normally start off at around 20psi. If the vehicle is labouring, OR the sand is very soft, I immediately go down to 16psi. I normally don't like goingunder 16psi, as I've found on my vehicle that it promotes rolling of the tyre off of the rim. However I have heard of people using 12psi or lower sucessfully.

Snatch Straps - the process I was taught (and teach) is this:
1. Snatch straps are never to be connected together UNLESS, a/ you use a newspaper or similar between them, or b/ you connect them directly together - however you will most likely never get them apart again.
2. Never ever use anything solid (eg - shackle, pole etc) to connect two snatch straps together.
3. Always connect to a rated recovery point. Be that a proper point installed, or the hitch of your tow bar (note - not the tow ball or the trailer safety mount). Take the towball off and feed the strap into the hitch - then feed the pin through as per normal.
4. I personally always use 2nd gear low range - on both the recovery vehicle and the bogged one. I set the vehicles up so there is enough slack to lay the strap out in a figure S pattern. Then I instruct the person that I am recovering to engage 2nd gear low range, and just before the strap takes up the slack to try and drive out. The snatch strap works as it says - but it never hurts to try and help yourself either! :wink:
5. Last but not least - however much strap you have laid out - make sure that there are no spectators within 1 1/2 times that length. Another words - an 8 metre strap is used. No spectator watching the recovery is to be within 12 metres of the vehicles in any direction. That way IF the strap happens to let go - there's no kids or people getting rushed to hospital - or worse! And that has happened to many times for my liking!

The first thing I ever learnt about recovery was the most important. And the second one was bloody good advice too! They where:

1. Never ever rush
2. When flustered, make a coffee or similar, sit down and have a think. Everything always seems clearer when you sit down for a few minutes.


Recovery is easy. But it can be bloody dangerous in the wrong hands. I will always recommend a course for those who have never done it before.

Cheers
Chris