How To Choose A Recovery Strap Or Tow Strap

Imagine towing a vehicle uphill only to hear a tearing sound between your cars. From then, you see the towed vehicle disengaging and wrecking at the bottom of the hill. Although this may sound far-fetched, it has happened before and could also happen to you.

That's why you're probably asking, 'what strength tow strap do I need?'

Before buying a tow strap, proper research is in order. You should ensure that your tow strap's strength will be sufficient for the vehicle recovery process or towing another vehicle. With that said, you might be wondering, what working load limit should I go for when buying a tow strap?

Here is all you need to know about tow strap strength and how to choose the best one with the safety factor in mind.

Is There a Strength Difference Between a Recovery Strap and a Tow Strap?

There are different types of tow straps. One of the best kinds with the best strength rating includes recovery straps. However, if you want to cobble up recovery gear, you might be wondering if it is worth it to buy recovery straps or if a regular tow strap will work. Is there a difference in strength between these two kinds of rope? Let's find out.

Recovery straps

Recovery straps, also known as snatch straps, are highly effective recovery gear used with a significantly high pull rating. These can get used for vehicle recovery in challenging situations such as muddy banks, ditches, etc.

You can also use a snatch strap instead of a winch line to secure vehicles on flatbed trucks. However, their primary use gets dedicated to recovering stuck vehicles.

Tow straps

Tow straps, as the name suggests, are primarily for towing. They tend to have a weaker break strength when compared with recovery straps. Since tow straps have not gotten rated for recovery vehicles in ditches, muddy banks, and so forth, they could tear and compromise recovery efforts.

Therefore, for recovery situations, a recovery strap should be the strap you use unless you need it for some lightweight towing. Recovery straps could be overkill for the latter. Getting tow straps could help save money if you won't be doing heavy-duty towing.

How Strong is a Kinetic Strap?

Another type of strap used for recovery is the kinetic strap. These straps leverage kinetic energy to recover vehicles with a bit of momentum from the towing vehicle. The kinetic energy gets transferred from the primary towing vehicle to the kinetic ropes that jostle out the stuck vehicle.

It works pretty similarly to a rubber band. The rope has some stretch, and once it reaches its maximum, the stuck vehicle gets popped out of its sticky situation. However, is a kinetic strap strong enough for heavy-duty towing?

Kinetic strap strength rating

Kinetic snatch strap solutions have different weight ratings, which reflect their strength. However, some straps are strong enough for the wildest off-roading adventures!

You can get a kinetic snatch strap with a working load capacity of 17,000lbs. With these snatch strap solutions, you can break free in dicey situations when your vehicle gets stuck in ditches or muddy banks.

Working Loads and Breaking Strength in Different Ropes

Each type of rope is unique from the others. The leading benchmark for recovery and towing ropes gets measured in working load and break strength ratings. Before buying a snatch strap or tow straps, you should thoroughly research these factors to know what your rope can achieve.

Once you have uncovered these crucial details, ensure that your chosen rope will be able to deliver when you need it the most. For example, what are the different working loads and break strengths for recovery straps, tow straps, and ropes that use kinetic energy to jostle vehicles free when stuck?

Recovery straps

Recovery straps are purpose-built for recovering vehicles stuck in seemingly impossible situations. Getting a rope with a good enough width will contribute to a successful recovery. Your line should have at least a 10,000lbs weight load limit and a 30,000lbs break strength for optimum preparedness to get you out of tricky scenarios.

You can get higher ratings for straps with better specifications for more advanced applications such as heavy machinery recovery or towing. In such cases, you can look for specialized specs when shopping around for recovery straps.

Tow straps

Tow straps get primarily used for lightweight pulling. For example, a tow strap is the most suitable if a vehicle has broken down on the road and needs a simple tow to the repair shop. However, using tow straps for heavyweight recovery pulling could be disastrous and compromise the safety of the stuck vehicle.

The working load and break strength of tow straps are lower than recovery straps. These straps tend to have a working load limit of 3,000lbs and a break strength of 11,000lbs or more. That is more than enough for vehicle towing but might not be enough for dicey recovery scenarios.

Kinetic ropes

The primary use of kinetic ropes is for recovering vehicles in ditches, mud, or snow. Therefore, it only makes sense that this rope should be heavy-duty and have a significantly higher working load limit and breaking strength. If you are looking for kinetic ropes, do not settle for less since these ropes come to play in pretty intense situations.

To get a general idea of what to look for, try aiming for a kinetic rope with more than 7,000lbs of a working load limit and 29,000 in breaking strength. Then, you will have a line that pulls through when you're stuck and stranded.

What Length Offers the Most Power?

Just as much as the type of rope or strap you use is essential, you should also get the sizing correct. Different lengths have different benefits, and most off-road enthusiasts choose to have several sizes for situations they might encounter in the great outdoors.

When buying recovery straps or kinetic lines, get your primary line and then get a backup which should be shorter. Your primary can be the longer strap or rope. Generally, this line is 30ft long. The backup can be 20ft, and using these recovery straps should depend on space and other factors unique to your situation.

Longer straps allow the pull vehicle to get more momentum and have a higher stretch, thus making it highly effective. Unfortunately, at times you might now have enough leeway for a 30ft rope. In such situations, the best trick would be alternating to your 20ft backup.

Kinetic ropes are most suitable and highly effective when they are 30ft long since the stretch can get maximized as opposed to shorter recovery straps.

Can I Maximize Strength by Connecting the Rope to My Vehicle a Certain Way?

The main idea behind vehicle rope recovery is getting a higher stretch for maximum tension. That is also why a running start is effective in such situations. However, there are some different setups you can try to get full strength when pulling out a vehicle from a ditch. One such effective method is attempting a steep pull. How does this method work?

Perpendicular pull

First of all, when pulling a vehicle from a ditch or muddy bank, you can leverage a third anchor point to get maximum pull strength. That can be by tying the strap or rope to a tree and then to the stuck vehicle. Once you have tied up the rope or strap on both ends, hook up the pull vehicle in the middle of the line and pull perpendicular to the stuck vehicle.

The laws of physic dictate that this method maximizes strength to a great extent and offers enough pull strength and tension for even the trickiest vehicle recoveries. At the same time, using this method uses up any extra length from your rope effectively to add power and strain for a successful recovery.

Is a linear pull effective?

Let us say there is no anchor point such as a tree in sight. In this case, should you go for a linear pull? It all depends on the situation you are in at that time. In most cases, a steep tow at a 45-degree angle has proven to be more effective than a linear pull.

If you have some wiggle room to use a steep pull at an angle, you can safely pull out a stuck vehicle. If there is no room, you can go for a linear tow with a bit of a running start to get enough momentum and kinetic energy stored on the rope for an effective jostle.

FAQs

Do you still have some questions? Here are a few frequently asked questions that could answer some of your queries.

How much weight can tow straps hold?

The working load limit and break strength of tow straps depend on their size and the materials used to manufacture them. If you a looking for a regular line, you can get a working load limit of 7,000lbs and a break strength of 15,000lbs. For higher quality tow straps, you can get a working load limit of 20,000lbs and a break strength of 40,000lbs.

What is a 2-inch strap rated for?

A 2-inch recovery strap is one of the more standard sizes amongst snatch straps. That size has enough strength to recover or tow up to 15,000lbs. It is one of the most practical straps and pulls through when you are stuck in recovery situations.

What size rope does Matt's Off-Road Recovery use?

Matt's Off-Road Recovery uses a 7/8" rope with loops on either end to hook up on vehicle recovery points. Its total length is 30ft, offering more flexibility for different off-roading situations you might experience.

Final Thoughts

Whether you choose to use kinetic recovery ropes, snatch straps, or tow straps, ensure that it has sufficient give for the weight you are recovering or hauling. At the same time, ratchet straps must also be up to the task of securing a load on a truck.

As much as the rope or strap is essential, your vehicle should be able to pull the weight. Tow Ratings has a comprehensive database of tow capacity ratings for cars dating back to 1991. Look up your vehicle before getting involved in recovery situations or towing another vehicle.

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