Injury from soft shackle failure

My Jeep weighs about 3,900 lbs with me in it and my Superduty can weigh around 8,600 when full of fuel, packed for a trip and me in it, trying to determine what size rope is best for double use, or if I need to recover one of them with the other. I thought a 7/8" would be a good choice for both but now re-thinking maybe I need 2 different sizes.
 
Blackjack said:
Complacency can kill we already know that from not even a year ago and yet for some reason these things keep repeating.

I have done many recovery classes and I cannot stress enough to folks is we are out recreating and recovery operations should never be rushed. Even in situations where things are precarious , you stabilize then regroup for the recovery and not just dive in head first.

Since we are armchairing this obviously not rushing is the first thing and really the biggest thing that should be taken away from this. Making sure to follow the acronym STOP works here just like in any emergency or survival situation. Taking a second to either dig or pack a track probably would have got them out most likely on the first pull.


Here are a couple things I observed. One major one is the positioning of the rope on the vehicle’s and positioning on the trail to maximize pulling forces to benefit the recovery. On the back pull they hooked the rope to the driver’s side of the Bronco. You can see as the Jeep pulled back that the Bronco pulled further off the trail. Had they hooked the Bronco on the passenger side and increased the offset of the Jeep as much as possible those forces would have helped pull the Bronco back onto the trail.

Next Blaine eluded to the size of the rope and that leads to the next thing and that is equipment sizing in general. When you see the damage to the Broncos bumper and how close this recovery could have went more sideways than it did it just stresses how important making sure both the correct equipment is used coupled with the proper technique for that equipment. The way those shackle eyes are done on that bumper using a yoke to utilize both simultaneously may be a better option.

It was mentioned in the vid and several places online about the use of a damper. There is a reason why you do not see them used as either the rope will just slip through if an end failure occurs or if the damper is secured well enough to the line you just added that mass and in the wrong circumstances you could turn it into a projectile.
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Finally watching this painfully slow video. I'm in agreement that the underlined part was a significant part of their problem.

I'm tired of hearing the word clevis as this guy blames just about everything they did for being wrong.
 
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B1Toad said:
My Jeep weighs about 3,900 lbs with me in it and my Superduty can weigh around 8,600 when full of fuel, packed for a trip and me in it, trying to determine what size rope is best for double use, or if I need to recover one of them with the other. I thought a 7/8" would be a good choice for both but now re-thinking maybe I need 2 different sizes.
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Same issue. I originally bought a 1 1/8" Yankum 30' rope for my Superduty. It's a PIA to move recovery gear and tools etc from one vehicle to another and inevitably things get left behind.

The Yankum has worked fine for pulling out Jeeps (and trucks) in the snow...but we don't often hammer on it.

We also have a 20' 7/8" "kinetic rope" from Rhino (not) USA. Also works fine. Don't expect it to last. Coils up a lot easier than the stiff Yankum.

Realistically I'd love to have 7/8 and 1 1/8 Yankum's in 20 and 30 ft lengths for all vehicles...but damn that's too expensive and they already take up way too much space.

I know the right things to be doing most of the time. But that doesn't mean I have/can afford the right stuff to be perfect.

Everything is calculated risk. Learn what you can, make good decisions and hopefully your mistakes don't hurt too much or cost more than purchasing the right gear in the first place.

-Mac
 
B1Toad said:
My Jeep weighs about 3,900 lbs with me in it and my Superduty can weigh around 8,600 when full of fuel, packed for a trip and me in it, trying to determine what size rope is best for double use, or if I need to recover one of them with the other. I thought a 7/8" would be a good choice for both but now re-thinking maybe I need 2 different sizes.
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You do. Depending on manufacturer its probably 3/4" for the Jeep and 1" for the Superduty.
https://www.tacticalrecoveryequipment.com/size-kinetic-recovery-rope/
 
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My LJR weighs in at 5280# fully long distance trail loaded. I've been using a 30' x 7/8" MasterPull for years, rated at 28,500. So far so good. Using proper recovery points is critical.
Pulled a TJ and a JK out together with it on the XJ 😳, low range , fully locked. They couldn't be separated without cutting the TOW strap they were connected with (I didn't rig that shit show)😳. Maybe we dodged a bullet. I hammered it. No damage.

I do snatch from the rear when at all feasible.

And yes rating/recommendation varies by mfgr.

YMMV
 
I’m thinking about keeping a piece of LEXAN in the Jeep to put in front of the windshield if winching or pulling 😂😂😂
 
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Blackjack said:
Here are a couple things I observed. One major one is the positioning of the rope on the vehicle’s and positioning on the trail to maximize pulling forces to benefit the recovery. On the back pull they hooked the rope to the driver’s side of the Bronco. You can see as the Jeep pulled back that the Bronco pulled further off the trail. Had they hooked the Bronco on the passenger side and increased the offset of the Jeep as much as possible those forces would have helped pull the Bronco back onto the trail.
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Better positioning on the rope would have been more effective and likely kept the occupants out of the line of fire as well. Those pulls from the rear looked pretty poorly setup.

Nothing about the Metalcloak bumper on the Bronco?
 
bty34 said:
Better positioning on the rope would have been more effective and likely kept the occupants out of the line of fire as well. Those pulls from the rear looked pretty poorly setup.

Nothing about the Metalcloak bumper on the Bronco?
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It was mentioned just not by name.
 
I for one hope this thread continues so we can all learn more. I've been watching a lot of You Tubes, I've watched about 4 hours worth of "How To" recovery You Tubes between last night and today. Most of the info seems straightforward but in a couple of instances I've found discrepancy's. Sizing is a big one, and for a TJ with limited space it's hard to carry it all. If you size your kinetic rope to your TJ, what happens when someone comes along to pull you out and they have a bigger truck but no rope? When we go to Mexico I'm the only TJ, everyone else has 1/2 ton 4x4 trucks and a couple have 3/4 tons so everyone outweighs me by 1,000 to 3,000 lbs.

The size to weight ratings are pretty varying by manufacturer as noted earlier. The Master Pull brand that was mentioned earlier has a 7/8" that claims a range from 3,500 to 7,500 lbs. which seems like it would be perfect for my situation as it would cover my vehicle and most any vehicle that would be likely to pull me.

In one video I learned a neat trick for those with open ended hooks, he uses the Velcro strap that the rope stores in to secure it to the hook.
 
B1Toad said:
I for one hope this thread continues so we can all learn more. I've been watching a lot of You Tubes, I've watched about 4 hours worth of "How To" recovery You Tubes between last night and today. Most of the info seems straightforward but in a couple of instances I've found discrepancy's. Sizing is a big one, and for a TJ with limited space it's hard to carry it all. If you size your kinetic rope to your TJ, what happens when someone comes along to pull you out and they have a bigger truck but no rope? When we go to Mexico I'm the only TJ, everyone else has 1/2 ton 4x4 trucks and a couple have 3/4 tons so everyone outweighs me by 1,000 to 3,000 lbs.

The size to weight ratings are pretty varying by manufacturer as noted earlier. The Master Pull brand that was mentioned earlier has a 7/8" that claims a range from 3,500 to 7,500 lbs. which seems like it would be perfect for my situation as it would cover my vehicle and most any vehicle that would be likely to pull me.

In one video I learned a neat trick for those with open ended hooks, he uses the Velcro strap that the rope stores in to secure it to the hook.
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You should have a rope sized to get you out. They should have a rope sized to get themselves out.
 
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B1Toad said:
How does that work if you're sizing to the pulling vehicle?
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Now I see what you’re getting at. TRE says size to the weight of the vehicle being pulled but Yankum says size to the weight of the vehicle doing the recovery.
 
Apparition said:
Now I see what you’re getting at. TRE says size to the weight of the vehicle being pulled but Yankum says size to the weight of the vehicle doing the recovery.
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That's what confusing. Do you size to the pulling vehicle but at the same time make sure it is rated enough breaking strength for the stuck vehicle? And then some manufacturers/sellers, like Master Pull, have wide ranges and others have quite narrow ranges. @Blackjack and @mrblaine can you weigh in on this?
 
I guess in a perfect world everyone would carry a rope sized to their vehicle for recovering others.
 
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