Recommendations for Kinetic Recovery Rope? Maybe I need to add this to my equipment. I just have a couple of straps.
Kinetic Recovery Rope
- Thread starter Hulk
- Start date
DaveInDenver
Rising Sun Ham Guru
Don't you have a recovery strap already? They kind of do the same thing.
Anyway, I have an ASR that seemed a good combination of quality and price.
www.asroffroad.com
Anyway, I have an ASR that seemed a good combination of quality and price.
Synthetic Winch Ropes, Kinetic Recovery Straps & 4x4 Accessories | ASR Offroad
ASR Offroad offers a variety of 4x4 accessories including synthetic winch ropes, tow straps, kinetic vehicle recovery straps and snatch blocks for 4x4’s, ATV’s and UTV’s.
www.asroffroad.com
I have a couple of 20-foot Bubba Ropes. I'd say I actually use them more often than my static ARB tow strap. I also have 4-5 of their soft shackles. Not cheap, but I've never had a problem with them.
DaveInDenver
Rising Sun Ham Guru
Are you sure the ARB is a tow strap and not a recovery strap?
There's always been two main types of straps (both are flat woven).
One is made with polypropylene and does not stretch at all. This type may or may not have steel hooks in their eyes and are known as tow straps. You always slowly tension these and pull slowly the same as you'd do with chain.
The other is woven with nylon and does stretch. These are recovery straps. They can be tugged and work basically like the Bubba (or any kinetic) rope. Kinetic ropes are also nylon but are braided and elongate more. It's still not a good idea to go all Bubba crazy doing that, you want slow and controlled as much as possible but that jerk-bump is sometimes just the thing to unstuck someone.
You'd size a recovery strap like you do a rope, by dimensions. A 2" nylon strap designed to be dynamic will stretch more than a 3" wide one just like a 3/4" rope will stretch more than a 1" diameter one with a particular load.
To confuse things even more there do exist tow ropes, which are polypropylene like the straps and you would not use them dynamically either.
Watch your material. Poly is always tension slowly and use a slow, constant pull. Nylon can stretch so you can jerk them somewhat.
The ARB isn't a tow strap, it's a recovery strap - please forgive my incorrect terminology. Any time I'm doing some sort of dynamic pull (as is usually the case in the snow), I use the Bubba Rope. If I'm just gently pulling on a rig, then I use the ARB.
And no, I've never hooked up the Bubba Rope and subsequently gone Bubba on the skinny pedal. Slow and steady, unless a little jerk/bump is necessary.
Man, you use one wrong word, and look what happens...
I think I'll buy one of them ASR 1" ropes. Need to measure my regular go-to recovery strap for length. It seems like a good length. It's probably 20 feet long.
DaveInDenver
Rising Sun Ham Guru
The ARB isn't a tow strap, it's a recovery strap - please forgive my incorrect terminology. Any time I'm doing some sort of dynamic pull (as is usually the case in the snow), I use the Bubba Rope. If I'm just gently pulling on a rig, then I use the ARB.
And no, I've never hooked up the Bubba Rope and subsequently gone Bubba on the skinny pedal. Slow and steady, unless a little jerk/bump is necessary.
Man, you use one wrong word, and look what happens...
I figured you did but not sure everyone knew the differences. BTW, I also had an omission typo, meant no-stretch tow straps and ropes could be polyester or polypropylene.
FYI, in case anyone's curious about picking a size and how much elongation you can expect. Use the MTS for a spliced rope.
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r.swany
Rising Sun Member
@Hulk kinetic ropes are new to my kit too. I dug pretty deep earlier this winter and found the rule of thumb for rope size rating is 4x your vehicle weight. If you go too small they’ll break and if you go too big they won’t snatch. Seems like 7/8” is a good option for an 80 at 28000ish lbs. Somebody please correct this if it’s off base.
Bubba rope def seems to be a fan favorite. I ended up with a 30’ 7/8” Nylon rope from Vulcan for $100 cheaper with no apparent downside to quality or durability kind of like the ASR.
What’s the consensus on 20’ vs 30’ rope?
Bubba rope def seems to be a fan favorite. I ended up with a 30’ 7/8” Nylon rope from Vulcan for $100 cheaper with no apparent downside to quality or durability kind of like the ASR.
What’s the consensus on 20’ vs 30’ rope?
Careful with your word choices there, chief. Otherwise, Dave will be on you like...wait, nevermind...
😉
Talk to Kyle down at Treaty Oak Off-Road. He's the one who helped us out on the group buy for the soft shackles.
Kinetic Recovery Rope
Kinetic Recovery ropes are an essential tool in your recovery arsenal, and Treaty Oak Offroad does them the best. Manufactured and tested at an ISO...
www.treatyoakoffroad.com
DaveInDenver
Rising Sun Ham Guru
You can make a 30' length into a doubled 15' but it's tough to make a 20' into 30' if you need it. That was my thought anyway. I ended up with a 7/8" x 30' for a 5,300 lbs truck since I already had a 2" x 20' web sling around. You can't really say 20, 30 or 40 feet is "the one" right length. Sometimes 20' is perfect, sometimes it's not. You make work whatever you have. Same with winch rope. You want enough but not too much or too little. So you throw a dart to pick something, spool it on and carry an extension just in case.
"What else should I be?
All apologies"
I'll harp on it by saying this more. A recovery strap is at root just a nylon web sling, although ARB's are AFAIK specific to the task so won't be exactly the same as rigging gear (I think they actually stretch more) but the characteristics are probably close enough to generalize.
My old 2" wide strap has a rated WLL of 6,200 lbs (that being how a rigger would use it in a straight vertical pull). The ASME B30.9 design factor for them is 5:1 so it'll have a minimum breaking strength of 31,000 lbs and a 10% elongation at rated capacity.
Compare that to the 7/8" double braid, which has a mean tensile strength of 28,300 lbs. ASME also requires a 5:1 design factor on synthetic rope slings so technically it would be rated WLL of 5,660 lbs. The chart gives elongation out to 40% of MTS since in this case it's actually mooring rope and not a rope sling, it's not exactly the same thing. Anyway, a load of 6,200 lbs on 7/8" rope would represent about 20% of the MTS. So we know it will stretch 12% based on the chart.
I considered a 1" diameter, where I'd be 15% of MTS and the same 10% elongation as my strap but if I was to double it back to make a 15' pull I figured a slightly lighter rope might have slightly more give. Plus we aren't really pulling the full GVW of the truck most of the time so my use favored a lighter rope IMO. The nice thing about ropes is the granularity you have. Webbing only comes in 1" increments and you step up to a 3" only when you're talking a F350 dually with a slide-in or down to 1" when it's a ATV. So a 2" strap is generally our only option from a regular cab mini truck up to a built 200.
That's only why I used your post, it wasn't personal but the terms do matter and are confusing. So best to look at the material and construction.
If you already have a "recovery" strap that is long enough you may not necessarily need to spend more money on a rope. I do understand a rope will seem more gentle due the braided & twisted construction and as a first purchase totally go with a rope. You can feel the rope snug up just with your body weight but once the rope is fully compressed (e.g. at its rated capacity) it'll be the nylon fibers elongating, giving the storing and releasing of energy we're after, in both.
Well, I took it personally, and it hurt. But, after a good cry in the bathroom and a few whiskeys, I feel much better now.
All kidding aside, this is great info. The first recovery "strap" (and I use the term "strap" loosely here) I purchased was a cheapo $30 Amazon special. Luckily, I never used it, and took one of Matt Balazs' recovery skills courses shortly after buying it, which resulted in my quickly throwing the strap in the trash, where it belonged.
DaveInDenver
Rising Sun Ham Guru
"Of all the gin joints in all the towns in all the world, Ryland walks into this one."Well, I took it personally, and it hurt. But, after a good cry in the bathroom and a few whiskeys, I feel much better now.
All kidding aside, this is great info. The first recovery "strap" (and I use the term "strap" loosely here) I purchased was a cheapo $30 Amazon special. Luckily, I never used it, and took one of Matt Balazs' recovery skills courses shortly after buying it, which resulted in my quickly throwing the strap in the trash, where it belonged.
DaveInDenver
Rising Sun Ham Guru
You know, something else that might factor in, a rolled up strap seems more compact to me compared to a coiled rope. So finding a place to stash them might actually favor the strap if it fits in a cubby and can stay all the time. It's always better to have something than nothing, eh?
The great thing about Treaty Oak is all of their ropes are made here in the U.S and are fully rated with tags that specify load ratings.
risingsun4x4club.org
Group buy on soft shackles
All, I contacted Kyle Fogle at Treaty Oak Offroad to see if would be interested in a group buy on soft shackles and this was his reply. "Sure! That sounds awesome. Let’s structure like this. 5 shackles ordered - 10% off 25+ shackles ordered - 20% off Size doesn’t matter, number of people...
risingsun4x4club.org
I have a Master Pull 20' 3/4"or 7/8" kinetic rope I got at Slee, real nice piece of gear. I use my Master Pull as Ryland does, for gentle traction or momentum extraction in actual recovery situations. I still carry an older ARB dynamic/kinetic strap for cheap, dirty, lighter pulls like when towing on trial. When towing on trail the dynamic strap is still softer on the rigs and I don't mind dragging the old ARB over rocks and through the mud as on trail towing often requires.
I'd hate to drag a broken rig for miles on a fancy kinetic rope and watch it dragging over and through everything so if you upgrade I'd still keep the straps around.
That said if you have a decent kinetic/dynamic (nylon) recovery strap you don't need to upgrade to a recovery rope. As a geek/heavy user I prefer the extra stretch of the nice rope but it's definitely optional.
I'd hate to drag a broken rig for miles on a fancy kinetic rope and watch it dragging over and through everything so if you upgrade I'd still keep the straps around.
That said if you have a decent kinetic/dynamic (nylon) recovery strap you don't need to upgrade to a recovery rope. As a geek/heavy user I prefer the extra stretch of the nice rope but it's definitely optional.
Great conversation here guys. Just an FYI, we stock 3/4 and 7/8 master pull super yankers here at Slee if you’re looking for a local option.
DaveInDenver
Rising Sun Ham Guru
Absolutely true! Traceability, serialization, rating and testing to accepted specs and markings are all key indicators for quality manufacturers of gear you can trust.
