Thread: Another snatch strap death

I wonder if part of the bar or shackle was attached to the strap? It doesn't mention if they used a damper on the line as well. Did see a shackle joining a snatch strap once near Mount Hotham. I did mention an alternative join from a distance!! They told me to go away.

Having been near several broken straps, ropes, tow hawsers with ships attached and wire lines - I count myself as rather lucky to be alive at times. Not a place to be unwary or take chances.

RIP to the gent trying to help and his mates and family

Is there a correct way to do this that minimizes the risk of something going wrong ?

Thanks
John

Yes! Use proper (rated) equipment, and common sense!

Got to wonder if it was a "snatch" recovery with a non-snatch strap. I've seen some of them go horribly wrong! Or maybe repeated snatch attempts without allowing the strap to recover (I usually carried at least two straps to allow some recovery time.)

Generally a strap on it's own would be hard put to have the velocity and mass to get through a window, and continue on to the front seat.

Another case where the report has insufficient data to determine what actually went wrong, so nobody can learn anything from the incident unless the coroners findings are published in future.

Putting aside the obvious things like rated shackles and tow points etc - get away with this stupid idea of a damper in the middle of the snatch strap - it does not stop a metal bit flying half the length of a strap (and hitting at the secured end) before the dampper starts to slow things down.

I use two dampers - one at either end of the snatch maybe a meter or so from the ends so if a bit breaks the metal bit has to fly pulling the damper with it.

To me the current recommended system with a damper in the middle does little.

Garry

Originally Posted by JohnboyLandy

Is there a correct way to do this that minimizes the risk of something going wrong ?

Thanks
John

A shovel to dig out the stuck car as much as possible, and dampeners (weighted bags) over the strap to stop it flying in event of a breakage. Also connecting to rated recovery points is a must.

I've had a rope fail during a snatch attempt and luckily I had a dampener about halfway along the strap, biased to his end. He had a worn rope that he wrapped around his bullbar, instead of a proper recovery point. His gear failed and the shackle ended up next to my back wheels. I don't like thinking about what could have happened without the dampener on the strap. I ended up towing him out with a large shackle around his suspension leaf pack - not good but there weren't many other options, as we didn't have a winch and I couldn't get behind him to pull him backwards.

There are many safer ways to recover (winch, maxtrax, a big shovel) but they often aren't as convenient as the snatch strap.

Originally Posted by garrycol

Putting aside the obvious things like rated shackles and tow points etc - get away with this stupid idea of a damper in the middle of the snatch strap - it does not stop a metal bit flying half the length of a strap (and hitting at the secured end) before the dampper starts to slow things down.

I use two dampers - one at either end of the snatch maybe a meter or so from the ends so if a bit breaks the metal bit has to fly pulling the damper with it.

To me the current recommended system with a damper in the middle does little.

Garry

Yea but the advertising logo is not as visible on camera if the damper is not in the middle.

"Initial investigations suggested a tow point on the bull bar of the car being towed broke, causing the towing strap to fly through the back window of Mr Poulsen's car and hit him."

Looks like the attachment point gave way, always be careful what you hook up to and bear it in mind when you are doing a recovery.

Regards,
Tote

Originally Posted by Tote

"Initial investigations suggested a tow point on the bull bar of the car being towed broke, causing the towing strap to fly through the back window of Mr Poulsen's car and hit him."

Looks like the attachment point gave way, always be careful what you hook up to and bear it in mind when you are doing a recovery.

Regards,
Tote

Particularly when snatching - the forces involved are quite massive, compared to a straight pull or a winch recovery!