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Tow straps and kinetic ropes, what to use and brands

Hooligan

Xtreme wheeler of the web
Joined
May 19, 2020
Member Number
341
Messages
871
Loc
Sacramento
Been a while since I’ve bought a tow strap. Holy cow, there are a lot of brands now and now kinetic ropes are an option.

Seemed like Keeper and ARB were the only options. I know there is a love/hate with Amazon, and I can’t tell the good from the China crap on there.

Bubba Rope still a go-to?

What size rope do you carry?
 
It depends on the weight of your rig and the situations you are getting into.

i have had great luck with a pro comp 330000 recovery strap. 4-6k pound vehicles stuck in mud/disabled in bad situations.

Tow or straps are different than nylon kinetic energy (recovery/snatch straps) and should be used differently.. I don’t have any experience with ropes due to the cost.
 
the problem with knowing a lot about a topic, is when everyone else already knows a lot about it too..

if you want to save money, I strongly recommend getting a strap with leather hoops on the end... rated at 40k pounds..

and there are very few for you to choose from, of that caliber
 
I've found that for a Jeep (5,000 lb-ish) I like a 2", 30 ft, 20,000 rated strap. Anything bigger (wider/higher rating) does not have enough elasticity to give a smooth pull without a hard jerk. Same with a 20' strap, plus in many cases it's too short to be on firm or flat ground when pulling. I'm old school and have not gotten used to a Bubba rope. For me, they have too much stretch and it's hard to gauge how hard to pull. RE brand, there are so many, it's hard to pick one over the other but I try to stay with name brands.
 
Every one of my shitboxes has a cheapo HF strap with two hooks and the "2-ton" come along in it and I've got a bunch of 4" ratchet straps kicking around if I need the extra length. That said, everything weighs under 4k, I avoid deep mud and I basically always have trees to anchor to.

Practice matters more than what you carry.
 
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Usage will be snow extraction or pulling some one off a high centered rock, from Jeep to full-size truck.

For trail use, not pulling dump trucks or tanks. Don’t need a monster size strap.

The ropes get spendy. Is there a benefit over straps? Thought straps also were elastic to benefit from kinetic energy.
 
white-rhino said:
I've found that for a Jeep (5,000 lb-ish) I like a 2", 30 ft, 20,000 rated strap. Anything bigger (wider/higher rating) does not have enough elasticity to give a smooth pull without a hard jerk. Same with a 20' strap, plus in many cases it's too short to be on firm or flat ground when pulling. I'm old school and have not gotten used to a Bubba rope. For me, they have too much stretch and it's hard to gauge how hard to pull. RE brand, there are so many, it's hard to pick one over the other but I try to stay with name brands.
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I ran into a buddy who was a little stuck in some shitty snow. He had a big tg strap and hooked it to me. I gave him a small bump and the jerk was like nothing I've ever felt from a strap. Felt like a chain. His wife thought some one hit them. :laughing:

Having used buddies Bubba ropes, they are pretty awesome. We towed a dead rig out of Fordyce and it was 10x's better than a normal strap. I definitely want to add one to my gear.
 
Hooligan said:
Usage will be snow extraction or pulling some one off a high centered rock, from Jeep to full-size truck.

For trail use, not pulling dump trucks or tanks. Don’t need a monster size strap.

The ropes get spendy. Is there a benefit over straps? Thought straps also were elastic to benefit from kinetic energy.
Click to expand...

Straps stretch inches , those ropes will stretch feet.
 
Think the one I have is a predator rope, local club pimps their shit. Works well, considering we used to use 2 chains with a tire in the middle :flipoff2:
 
YotaAtieToo said:
I ran into a buddy who was a little stuck in some shitty snow. He had a big tg strap and hooked it to me. I gave him a small bump and the jerk was like nothing I've ever felt from a strap. Felt like a chain. His wife thought some one hit them. :laughing:

Having used buddies Bubba ropes, they are pretty awesome. We towed a dead rig out of Fordyce and it was 10x's better than a normal strap. I definitely want to add one to my gear.
Click to expand...

I could see where the extra stretch from a rope would be nice for towing. Never thought of that. But if I only need to carry one, it will be a strap.
 
I have always carried a 20’ 1” rope with braided eyes in each end I was given after it was retired from a small ship. I still use it today 20+ years later and have an extra 30’ piece of 1.5” rope as well. That with come alongs all ways got us unfucked.
 
I carry 2 2"x20ft straps, 2 tree savers and a 3"x30ft strap. I also have an assortment of 1"x3' straps for whatever I need to use them for. I mainly use the 20ft straps for recovery as the 30ft is pretty damn long for the super tight tree lined trails I usually wheel on. Between all this stuff, my winch, snatch block and the hi lift/winch kit I can get out of damn near anything.
 
how about some links for the straps you guys use, ir brands?

I used mil cargo paraschute strap from years ago bought off a member here, 60k rating i think, but I left it in the last truck I sold, fuck.

Ropes are $$, and I dont want stuff getting stolen
 
ArTi54N said:
I wouldnt thank him for bad advice..

Working Load (lbs):6,666 lbs.
Click to expand...

Not bad advice. The strap is rated for 20,000 pounds. :homer: Straps are garbage though. Ropes are definitely worth the extra cost.
 
So let's get into rope size length and rating for us noobies to kinetic ropes...
 
I carry a Viking winch line extension with reinforced ends and a guard on it, a tree strap and normal 30" strap with reinforced ends. I carry a few metal shackles, soft shackles and a ring as well. We don't much recovery but when we do it's typically a total nightmare. Last one was a rig with a broken link and no steering in a rock filled washout was with no steering.

I've used a friend Bubba straps and it works well.
 
I use a ARB in my Jeep. One of the cheaper name brand options when I bought it. Since all we have is sandy mud to wheel in, I prefer the strap style. Seems to not have the issue of dirt getting in it.
 
I have the big BUBBA rope. it's to much, I should have gotten the smaller diameter version.

With that sad I also have 2 of the 5' purple Harbor Freight straps that stay with it now.

I will usually use them in a basket configuration and keep the Bubba rope away from each of the rigs as to not screw up the Bubba rope.

I had to learn that one the hard way:mad3:
 
I saw exactly this on the snow run the other day, the 1" and bigger was just to much, while the 3 \4" - seemed perfect for lightly stuck heeps, the dent side f350 not so much!
 
One of the few topics I feel like I can speak with any authority. I volunteer for an offroad recovery group. We currently average 2 or 3 recoveries a week. We use kinetic ropes a lot. Static straps are limited to extensions or anchors. If we are pulling with a vehicle, there is a kinetic rope in the mix.

I carry a 3/4" 20' in the Jeep and a 7/8" 30' in the Power Wagon. 3/4" is perfect for Jeep sized vehicles in most situations. The 7/8" is great for most trucks and heavier stuck situations.

As far as brands, JM Rigging is a small made in the USA company that we use for a lot of stuff. His ropes are all top notch and reasonably priced. Factor 55 and Yankum are also well represented in the group. I have a couple of the value line ropes from ASR. Also made in the USA and a great value. I try not to spend any more than I have too on them because we deal with enough idiots that I have to replace them too often but they are absolutely the go-to if not using a winch.
 
I used a Bubba rope for the first time this year and 100% will be purchasing one after years of TSC straps.
Such a smoother pull.
Also making the switch over to soft shackles.
 
I’ve got a voodoo kinetic rope. It’s getting pretty worn, 5 years of use with zero regard to it. I’ve lent it out, used it in mud, snow, rocks.

For me, the kinetic rope is the go to in any pulling situation. It’s very smooth, no jerking.

I use traditional straps for wrapping around rocks when winching.
 
$330,- for a stretchy rope from Matt's Recovery.
That's a bit rich unless you're yanking out stuck vehicles all the time.
 
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