Basic recovery gear question

[chorky]

Another consideration is if your in a sticky recovery situation yourself, and your winch breaks. And your buddy only has a steel line. And your 60+ miles from the nearest town with a potential for a tow truck.

Are you really gonna say no to your friend to pull you out? But what if you had a standard snatch block that he could use?

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[Zachanadandy]

nope this is incorrect. There are a few snatch blocks outnthere that work just fine with synthetic and steel line. A snatch block has a wider radius therfore less tension is being placed to round a corner. synthetic rings are often a much tighter radius. But thats not the real concern. Heat dissipation and soft edges is the bigger issue. A lot of the cheap rings build up heat pretty bad and if using a synthetic shackle can burn both the winch line and shackle line. I do agree, partially, with the liability aspect though. But then again if you question anothers recovery gear or abilities maybe theyre not someone you want to be in a potential recovery situation with in the first place.

I'm always willing to help out a fellow stuck wheeler, even if I don't know them. If I don't know you I will question your gear, knowledge, experience, etc. Every recovery needs 1 person in charge. I don't mind taking charge but we are using my gear and doing it my way. If you want to lead, use your gear. I carry more gear than most all the odds of being in a situation where I need to start adding your gear in to the mix are unlikely. Even the heat build up is minimal in my experience as it's pretty rare that anyone needs pulled more than 10-15'. If it's much more than that, we are probably towing your broken rig of the trail and I'm not using snatch blocks or winches for that. Simple tow strap and go.

 

[Zachanadandy]

Another consideration is if your in a sticky recovery situation yourself, and your winch breaks. And your buddy only has a steel line. And your 60+ miles from the nearest town with a potential for a tow truck.

Are you really gonna say no to your friend to pull you out? But what if you had a standard snatch block that he could use?

What if your snatch block broke when your winch failed? Sure in a worst case scenario we could run out of options no matter what amount of gear we bring. Not going to haul around the kitchen sink, been there done that. At some point all the extra weight becomes the cause of most of your stucks and broken parts. I've left a badly broken jeep on the trail for a week at a time on occasion. Come back the next weekend with parts, generator, welder, etc and rebuild the frame where the steering box ripped off. Drive it to the trail head and trailer it home. Prepare for most recoveries, have the skills to improvise when needed, and ultimately be prepared to hike back to the road if need be. I quit wheeling beat up old rigs and err on the side of over built now. Stacking rocks and pulling cable to get through the Rubicon in my wife's wj on 31s was an accomplishment... and a shit ton of work. Driving the Rubicon trail in our 2019 jlur on 38s without so much as needing a spot was much more enjoyable.

 

[Sw00per]

Yes.

The manual is a bit contradictory in that is specifically states "Do not use tow hooks to free a stuck vehicle"

That being said I have watched recovery videos and folks using what appears to be a tree savor attached to a strap with a soft shackle. I am sure there are plenty of variations but to be safe I thought a closed loop system would be better.

 

[smlobx]

The manual is a bit contradictory in that is specifically states "Do not use tow hooks to free a stuck vehicle"

That being said I have watched recovery videos and folks using what appears to be a tree savor attached to a strap with a soft shackle. I am sure there are plenty of variations but to be safe I thought a closed loop system would be better.

They must not be referring to the factory tow hooks but rather an aftermarket tow hook. I have never heard of not using the factory tow hooks. Anyone else??

That is one of the best selling points for buying a Jeep. It comes outfitted to help those Taco guys ?

 

[Sw00per]

They must not be referring to the factory tow hooks but rather an aftermarket tow hook. I have never heard of not using the factory tow hooks. Anyone else??

That is one of the best selling points for buying a Jeep. It comes outfitted to help those Taco guys ?

Here ya go.

 

[Mad Mac]

I broke the OEM front "tow hook" on a 2006 Chevy Silverado 2500HD
attempting to pull a cherry laurel out of a flower bed with a chain.
The broken tow hook flew but did not damage anyone or anything,
thank goodness.

And another chapter in the Poor Boy chronicles,
I found a 5/8-inch pin, 3-1/4 ton D-ring shackle
on the side of the road the other day.
I'm going to put that on an extra drawbar I have
and keep it with me
to recover vehicles that have a hitch receiver.

 

[Escape.idiocracy]

If you don't have a winch, what good is a snatch block? If you do have a winch with synthetic line, I'd suggest a snatch ring. Cheaper, lighter, just as effective, with no moving parts or points for the line to get pinched. You can find a 35klb rated ring that comes with a soft shackle for $30 on Amazon. A 30' 1-1/8" kinetic recovery rope with 2 soft shackles for $80. Add a $20 folding shovel and a $20 tree strap. $150 and you've got a pretty good recovery kit. Add a $300 xbull 12klb winch and you're set. I've been running this same gear since 2019. Dozens of hard pulls in mud and snow and it's good as new.

I am glad that this is working out for you.
For me- the liability isn’t worth saving a couple bucks. I prefer and recommend buying quality, made in America with Working Live Load ratings. Recovering solo, is a self reflecting risk assessment… when you start adding other vehicles and “people” the safety implications go up dramatically in my books.

By adding snatch blocks, and snatch “rings”, both force multipliers that require equally higher rated support components. - if something breaks- which anything and everything can break….. I want to know that I did my part in purchasing properly rated equipment to decrease the probability of injury- if something breaks.

 

[Zachanadandy]

I am glad that this is working out for you.
For me- the liability isn’t worth saving a couple bucks. I prefer and recommend buying quality, made in America with Working Live Load ratings. Recovering solo, is a self reflecting risk assessment… when you start adding other vehicles and “people” the safety implications go up dramatically in my books.

I adding snatch blocks, and snatch “rings” are both force multipliers that require equally higher ratings. - if something breaks- which anything and everything can break….. I want to know I did my part in purchasing properly rated equipment to decrease the probability of injury- if something breaks.

Nobody should ever be anywhere near any of the rigging or the direction of pull period. I've broken many a winch line or rope over the years and nobody has ever come close to being injured. If paying extra makes you feel a false since of security, more power to you. Either way is safe practices during any recovery. I've seen more warn winches fail than any other, but quality and American "assembled" aren't guarantees and don't mean what they used to anyway.

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