Recovery strap, is this one any good

Been looking at purchasing some recovery gear. I have read a few threads on the topic, however I found this on ebay and wondered if anyone else had this one.

Seems pretty cheap, I don't believe in paying more then you need to (eg just paying for a brand name) however I don't believe in buying rubbish either.

Recovery Tow Strap - 12,000kg - eBay 4x4 Accessories, Exterior, Car Parts, Accessories, Cars, Bikes, Boats. (end time 19-Sep-10 10:02:03 AEST)

What material should it be made from and how strong should a recovery strap be 8, 10 or 12,000 kg ?? is it related to your vehicle weight ??

A friend of mine used one like that last weekend with no probs. You will find most will be manufactured in china anyway, just with added branding and packaging.

Cheers for the heads up, may have to get one myself

Edit,
cheap straps direct from china, group buy anyone?
http://www.aliexpress.com/wholesale?SearchText=tow+strap&CatId=0

Thats a tow strap, not a snatch strap. Don't get them confused. That one is made from polyester to minimise stretching (so they say) I wouldn't be using one to snatch with.

Thanks for the heads up Matt76, I know you can't use a tow strap as a snatch strap but can you use a "snatch strap" as a tow strap over short distances.

Still it's pretty cheap as a tow strap and might be worth having ???

whoknows said:

Thanks for the heads up Matt76, I know you can't use a tow strap as a snatch strap but can you use a "snatch strap" as a tow strap over short distances.

Still it's pretty cheap as a tow strap and might be worth having ???

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Yes I would happily use a snatchy to tow short distance, I used mine to gently drag a guy out of an easy bog at cruiser park too, they still work for that. Buy it if you want but make sure you get a snatchy aswell otherwise you will be too tempted to use the tow strap when you shouldn't.

I always carry 1, 25m recovery/winch extension strap and 2 snatch straps. You can never have too much recovery equipment!

and when buying a snatch strap dont buy one over say 8t

why? because when doing a recovery its unlikely you'll encounter 12t of force, and in the situation that something has to give because the car is overly stuck, you want to snatch strap to break.

8t is still heaps, but with 12t straps people have ripped recovery hooks off as the part of the chassis it was bolted to ripped off.

let the strap be the weakest link, not the recovery points or a shackle...

thanks for that tip maddogrc, I did not know that, I assumed that bigger was better. But what you say makes sense.

while i dont think you have to buy the big brand name snatch straps, think of it as safety gear....you want to know its going to take the load that it says it will. Even if its just the strap that goes flying its going to do some damage.

Dont forget snatch straps are only designed for a limited number of uses aswell.

use a dampner on your snatch strap too. Really does help if the strap or hitch breaks. Mate lost a rear window when the bow shakle broke and it flung back into him and almost copped him in the head. Then I've had a snatchy break with a dampner on it and it stopped it before hitting my car. Safety first fellas

ljacko78 said:

use a dampner on your snatch strap too. Really does help if the strap or hitch breaks. Mate lost a rear window when the bow shakle broke and it flung back into him and almost copped him in the head. Then I've had a snatchy break with a dampner on it and it stopped it before hitting my car. Safety first fellas

Click to expand...

the shackle broke? bloody unlucky and strange for that to happen!

was he using a rated shackle? one with a coloured pin?

Thanks for all the input. By using a dampener, you are referring to a blanket or something similar hung over the snatch strap during use.

whoknows said:

Thanks for all the input. By using a dampener, you are referring to a blanket or something similar hung over the snatch strap during use.

Click to expand...

I use a rubber floor mat, but anything will do.

Guys im in process of seeing if i can organise a group buy for some gear. Sent a few emails off and ill let you know if anything comes of it.

Good tips mad dog.

I've even used a jumper tied round the snatch once just in case. Anything is better than nothing, but the heavier the better.

maddogrc - yeah the shakle broke on him. and bits of it came thru the rear windoow at him. He probably gave it all a little too much poke and he was in a heavy arse Patrol pulling out another well stuck Trol.