That $50 tow strap snapped on my first real pull

Was out near Silver Lake last Saturday trying to yank my buddy's Rancher out of a mud hole. The strap looked thick enough but it just gave way on the second tug with a sound like a firecracker. Lucky nobody was standing behind it or we'd have been picking nylon out of our teeth. Anyone else had a cheap strap fail on them like that?

2 comments

2 Comments

matthewg639d ago

Yeah those cheap nylon straps don't have any give in them. A proper recovery strap has some stretch to take the shock, that one was probably just a tow strap meant for flat towing not yanking. Might be worth looking for one rated for actual recovery work if you're gonna be pulling stuff out of mud.

wyatt8629d ago

Yeah @matthewg63 you nailed it. It's kinda funny how people think any strap will work for pulling a stuck truck out of mud when it's really a whole different tool. I've noticed this pattern in a lot of places honestly - folks grab the cheapest thing on the shelf that looks similar and then wonder why it snaps. It's like buying a cheap extension cord for a heavy duty saw and acting surprised when it melts. People see "strap" and assume it's all the same, but the difference between a recovery strap and a tow strap is night and day. A proper recovery strap with some give might cost a bit more but it saves your bumper and your face in the long run.