Another recovery gone wrong. Be careful out there, folks!

There was another recovery incident recently. Some blaming a generic soft shackle, one comment blamed the recovery vehicle for pulling too hard/fast.

Either way, a good reminder to be careful, and don't try to cheap out on recovery gear.

Also, another reminder that kinetic ropes can be extremely dangerous. I personally consider them a last resort at this point.

 

Link to FB

 

https://youtu.be/NrIR_4IPIbk?si=nPM-7l41NtySMAYl

 

Was it only the soft shackle that went through the windshield? No metal?

 

Couldnt he just use his winch?

 

Wow! I hope he knows how lucky he is. The last one like that posted here a guy died with his family in the vehicle when the same thing happened.

 

Scary stuff, thanks for the reminder

 

That's what it sounded like to me. I had to skim through the video because it was so long.

That's probably what I would have done. I'm not really sure what led up to the situation, though.

 

That's how it looked to me. I really hadn't given it much thought. I guess me knee jerk reaction had been that soft rope and shackles were safer. But it crashed right through that windshield.

 

wow at first i just thought ohno a new windshield.. yikes

 

Shit imagine if it was a steel winch cable or a chain. Back when I started offroading thats all we had.

Gotta be smarter then the tools your using.

 

I watched from beginning to end, and his conclusions seemed right to me. His takeaways were:

1. He didn't spend enough time assessing the situation.
2. He should have dug the buried wheel. This can't be emphasized enough. (My observation: a lot of the recovery disasters posted online stem from people not understanding how big an obstacle they're trying to overcome.)
3. The kinetic pulls were way too hard.
4. The soft shackle was mounted to a clevis
5. The soft shackle was of unknown quality. However, he did note the frame damage which indicated that it survived an incredible amount of force.

Getting back to the winch question, I suspect that given his frame damage, a winch may not have had enough power to get him clear of the obstacle as it was situated, especially if the pulling vehicle was on an icy surface. That part in italics is critical, though. It may have worked if he had dug out first. I've always felt like I'm not done digging until there's nothing diggable left in front of any tires.

 

Yikes!!! Thank you for posting this as a reminder for all of us to use that safety-first mindset.

 

Crazy stuff, dangerous.
I know this might sound silly but has anyone tried putting the hood up during a kinetic rope pull? Maybe I'm the first idiot to think of trying that. The hood might be just enough material strength to deflect some of that energy. I have heard of metal also sheering off and if that went flying possibly a hood could slow it down some before it breaks through to a windshield? Think of a ricocheting bullet. If the hood was at an angle does it have enough strength to deflect some of that energy downward instead of towards the cabin? Maybe worth trying. I might be more inclined losing some components on the top of my engine block vs DEATH. Would make a great YouTube experiment.

Just a thought.

 

Shiiiit I feel like this is a great idea honestly.

 

I thought this was common knowledge and practice. I don't winch or pull from the front unless the hood is up.

 

Makes me want to get soft shackles. If they were metal he would be dead.

 

Thanks for posting. The comments in that video mentioned something else I never would have thought of…. That snatch straps or ropes need time to reset after a hard yank.

Not sure how true that is, but the comment mentioned after 2 or 3 hard pulls like in the video, snatch straps can become more like tow straps unless given a day or so to “reset” to their original length.

All this is a good reminder that a little knowledge is a dangerous thing. A lot of knowledge is much safer lol.

Totally agree with @Thatbassguy that dynamic pulls need to be treated as the most dangerous. They can be quick and convenient, but a mistake or a failure has heavier consequences to people and equipment.

Not to mention that whenever another person is involved in the recovery, the risks are huge if there isn’t a game plan communicated with clear expectations for each person.

 

I generally winch with the hood up. I'd be concerned about the hinges getting tweaked in a kinetic recovery, but I might be over-thinking that.

 

Also you can throw a towel, or shirt or something to slow it down when it comes at you.

 

When I was a kid in the '90s, I used to read a lot of the off-road magazines. This was actually something that they had suggested in all of their winching articles. Back then everything was chain, steel cable, and steel shackles, so it was definitely important.

Reading about this instance has me looking at name brand recovery gear, I have an ARB strap, but I've been using iron Man soft shackles which I think I'm going to retire.

 

It wasn't a winch cable. It is not customary or effective to put a winch damper on kinetic rope pulls.

Copying from the TW discussion thread:
Don’t go ham yanking on a kinetic rope
Don’t use a soft shackle through a recovery point that isn’t designed for them
Don’t use cheap soft shackles
Use appropriately sized kinetic rope that'll stretch as intended. The pull had a harder impact on both vehicles because the 1" rope was too stiff, acting more like a tow strap.