Thread: Another snatch strap death

Steep hills can possibly catch people out more than bogholes. Recovering a vehicle that has rolled and or gone off the track in steep terrain is often tough.

I hope the overarching message though in this thread is that snatch recoveries in Australia are generally considered the first option when recovering, and thus that they are safe enough, when in reality they are very unsafe and tricky and best kept as a last resort or not used at all. There are much better options.

Originally Posted by rammypluge

I dont think thats the full story though.

[...]

And i reckon with experience you really can avoid big time recoveries. You can judge that that boghole is a major risk and test its depth.

[...]

The “full story” is wrapped up in my comment about every recovery being on a sliding scale or continuum from lightweight to seriously heavy. Is there something more?

Your comment that with experience one can avoid big time recoveries I do agree with. Experience and training go a long way - I would just add the words “most of the time”.

Hence my point to trout1105 is that no one is perfect and so even the best can possibly get badly stuck.

At least trout1105 acknowledged not being perfect.

Originally Posted by rammypluge

[...snatch recoveries] when in reality they are very unsafe and tricky and best kept as a last resort or not used at all. There are much better options.

This same discussion used to go on and on and on about hilift jacks being so fiercely unsafe that they should be avoided like the plague.

Any tool, any piece of equipment, can be dangerous when used incorrectly or inappropriately.

The message to the folks here here should be simply:
- if you don’t know the risks then get trained before recovering others.
- and if you are being recovered, don’t simply trust the other bloke is an authority. (If his attachment point on his vehicle breaks it will head your way rapidly)

The first step towards preventing these deaths and injuries from beginners snatching is to come up with a simple, truthful narrative, that reverberates. To achieve a meaningful shift, cultural change is needed.

'Snatching is Unsafe!'

Its an education process. There have been lots of programs over time that have steered Australia in the right direction.

One example, it was realised that most people being bitten by snakes were trying to kill them because they were in or near their home. So WIRES(?) and the like were created.

Aids was becoming rampant in concert with low condom use. Public education helped address that.

Kids were drowning in backyard pools, so we fenced them, and started teaching them to swim at a young age.

The biggest problem is that snatch recoveries are typically completely socially acceptable and encouraged. Like alcohol. So inexperienced people do it thinking it is safe, but its the opposite, its very unsafe.

So if you are going to snatch wear a condom and have a long handled shovel handy for snakes.

Cheers

When i am with people and vehicles I know (and where we are all using the right gear) snatching is safe and quick. So Rammy I agree we need more public awareness but I don't agree about it being "unsafe".

Cheers

Driving is unsafe.... should be stop that?

Snatch recoveries are not unsafe, they have an element of risk... knowing when, how and what is required to mitigate this risk is the educational component.

As a public message, the reality is that most snatch recoveries as being done by Australians are unsafe. So that needs to be the message. Snatching is unsafe.

Sure, done right, it can be safe enough, but the message is about the snatch recoveries that are being done. I am not suggesting the message should be that snatch recoveries are inherently unsafe.

We still say that backyard pools are a safety risk, even when they are fenced and there are no children living in the house.

Maybe the message should be that 'Snatching is a Safety Risk !!'. But would that have stopped the guy that prompted this thread from dying? I dont think it would have been enough. We gloss over that, thinking we are better. My drill came with a message like that. I think we need to start with the message that snatching is unsafe, and qualify it later.