SAFE AND SOUND
SAFETY during a recovery – snatch or
winch – is paramount, so it’s essential to
have the correct gear and follow certain
safety procedures during the process.
This starts in your garage, by checking
recovery points for any damage or loose
fittings. Next, ensure your recovery kit
(strap, shackles, gloves, etc.) is packed in
your rig and all contents are serviceable.
When it’s time to initiate the recovery,
ensure you can access the recovery
point safely and easily. Check the
wheels are on firm ground, and under no
circumstances should you crawl under
a vehicle bogged in soft mud. Move
everyone out of the way of the area and
ensure they stay to the side, as should
anything break and fly off it will generally
do so in the direction of the recovery.
When attaching the snatch strap or
winch cable, connect it to your recovery
point via a rated shackle and don’t
overtighten the shackle. Instead, wind
it right up and then back it off a quarter-
turn to avoid it seizing when under load
and thus making it impossible to remove.
The most common shackles are metal-
rated shackles, but for those looking to
eliminate the slight chance of a rated
shackle breaking and sending dangerous
pieces of flying metal through the air, you
can opt to use a rated soft shackle.
The Roadsafe soft shackle is made
from 10mm 12-strand synthetic rope
(similar to synthetic winch rope), hence
the ‘soft’ moniker, and is rated to a ‘rope
splice’ breaking load of nine tonnes
(similar rope tech is used in yachting, but
with less loading involved). It includes
a loop at one end and a large knot at
the other, with ‘bracing’ sections of the
shackle colour-coded to line up with your
recovery point and snatch strap.
We asked Troy Schipper, 4WD Product
Development Manager at Roadsafe,
exactly how the soft shackle works. “The
soft shackle utilises tension to set the
knot,” he said. “Setting up the shackle
requires the shackle to be positioned so
the load is across the shackle and not
directly on the knot. Once load is applied
in a recovery situation, the tensionapplied to the loop at the base of the
knot will hold its shape.”
Troy also reiterated the advice of
Adam and Steve regarding maintenance
and regularly inspecting the shackle (and
the rest of your recovery gear) to ensure
it’s all in working condition and set-up
correctly during recovery.
Finally, once set-up, don’t forget to
throw a damper (recovery blanket, for
example) over the snatch strap/winch
cable before recovery.
Communication between the two
vehicles involved is the last essential
step to a successful recovery, and it’s
especially pertinent during a snatch
recovery. The driver in the bogged
vehicle needs to know when the snatch
is about to take place so they can (if
possible) accelerate to assist in the
pull. Plus, an agreed stop point must be
communicated between the vehicles
to save additional load/strain on the
vehicles and recovery components.http://www.4X4australia.com.au 1551