Steel or Synthetic Winch Rope

[BioHazard]

http://i.imgur.com/JRZy9vP.jpg



I thought this was relevant to post here! (Just saw it online)

[ROADBLOK]

[quote name='BioHazard' timestamp='1358620567' post='41810']





I thought this was relevant to post here! (Just saw it online)

[/quote]



Man that is nuts! Hope he won a Darwin Award.

[Hesh]

How do you know that the strap being used is an "Elastic recovery strap," for the sake of argument, they do make winch straps which look very similiar to recovery straps (see link below), but do not have the stretch that a recovery strap would have. Some companies like ARB will even color code their straps for their different purposes, etc, but not all companies follow this trend. I realize the one could say that with everything else that is going wrong in the picture, it`s likely he isnt using one, but if he went with synthetic line, which typically comes at a premium, it wouldnt be unreasonable to believe he might have been comfortable spending the extra cash for a proper winch strap.



Not only that, but I also think you are jumping to some conclusions (unless of course you were on hand for this incident). Why would the gentleman be using a d-ring at the end of a winch-line, when the majority of winch-lines come with a sling hook or spring-loaded locking hook









Also, if nothing else is available I wouldnt say that using a recovery strap is the end of the world, just I wouldnt use it until it is an absolute last ditch attempt, though it certainly wont be the most efficient way to get the most out of your winch. What you surely do not want to do (or get confused with) is using a bubba-rope/KERR rope where the elasticity is FAR greater than that of a typical recovery strap.





http://www.arb.com.a...uipment/straps/

[shotgun-cam]

I found this interesting on Lake Simcoe I watched as a boater ( trying to get his boat min to load on trailer) use a lenght of water ski tow line to pull out winch cable reason when dropped the ski line floats. Thats much nicer than fishing around in mud or a muddy bottom to find a dropped line.

[Hesh]

Synthetic also floats.

[humybby]

I prefer syn in the summer, steel in the winter. In Moab, where you almost never winch (if req'd you almost always strap), steel works better because you WILL be dragging it against the rock, but syn is lighter on the nose of your truck. So it's basically a tie.



Right now I have syn, it works good - even through a snatch block. It's safer, easier to handle but you just need to care for it more and sometimes that can be a pain - like when you're trying to use a rock to smash a huge clump if ice off your winch with a rock.



Something I really, really like syn for is when you need a winch extension. It's easy to carry and easy to deploy.



Greg

[shotgun-cam]

[quote name='Hesh' timestamp='1358653296' post='41824']

Synthetic also floats.

[/quote]

But when using steel its nice to have something that floats also if dragging a steel cable when on unstable or slippery surfaces ski boat tow line (synth rope ) allows one to get where you need to be without the stress of dragging a heavy steel cable.

[Hesh]

[quote name='shotgun-cam' timestamp='1358752332' post='41834']

also if dragging a steel cable when on unstable or slippery surfaces ski boat tow line (synth rope ) allows one to get where you need to be without the stress of dragging a heavy steel cable.

[/quote]



Can you clarify what you meant by this, Im not sure I completely understand what you are getting at.

[shotgun-cam]

I meant by using a Ski Tow rope one can use a steel cable on winch with the advantage of the synth cable. You drag the tow rope to point then use it to pull winch cable to attachment point. Really nice if your using a snatch block you set it up then pull centre point of winch cable to block.

Rhino's synth rope is enclosed by the ARB bumper so less UV exposure. Also the smooth metal fairlead means no rollers to freeze or seize something that happened with our prior winch.