When to retire a strap?

[mike h]

I have a strap that sufferred a puncture from mis-use. You know the recovery hooks on the front of early toyotas, they have a pointy end to them. The strap was too long for the area we had to work with, so I doubled it up, and pulled from the Toy (in reverse - did everything wrong) with the strap folded over the hook. The other end had D shackles on the stuck truck. Which was a very light truck, in a very light stuck, hence the reverse pull.

When it got slack, it rode up and onto the pointed end of the hook, which shredded a tear into the strap on the second tug.

the strap is huge - 5 inches wide, 30 feet long, totally overbuilt mil-spec strap. The type a bulldozer would use on a construction site, or a HumV would carry.

I thought of putting a simple flat knot in it to make it trustworthy, but have no idea how to judge the safety factor. Seems like a waste to retire it... but I've since bought two other straps so I wonder what to do with this one.

Would make a kick-*** tire swing in the yard.

m.

[DaveInDenver]

This is the eternal question. When do I retire a [insert piece of gear]? How do you know when a 'biner or sling is too old? A piece of whatever. In the case of a snatch strap there is an obvious time, when it's cut or frayed. But only you know when it's /really/ gone. Personally I write the month and year I put the strap into service on it, usually there's a sewn in tag or something. If the strap makes 10 years without a major compromise, I retire it. It is nylon afterall, which has a finite life due to UV, chemicals, just daily use. My point is this, if there's a question as to the usefulness of the strap, it might be time to replace it anyway. Old recovery straps make great lashing straps or like you say, swingsets. I personally believe a correctly done repair is fine, so if you think the strap is otherwise still viable maybe go ahead. But my $0.02 is to make a cool tire swing for your kid and get a new strap that you don't have to worry about.

[RoundOut]

Two things come to mind... First, it sounds like an overbuilt strap, which is pretty nice to have in light-truck or SUV service, and Second, with the right equipment, it could be repaired, what a waste to relegate such a strap to tree-swing service, when you can use cheaper rope for that. Dave brings up a great point though, assuming the strap is otherwise in good condition.

If it is so overbuilt, and since the working load for recovering a fully loaded small SUV or truck that is stuck in sucking mud would not overburden a normal-duty strap of 25,000# or so, I'd try to repair it. Just so long as you don't try to pull out a bulldozer, HumVee, eighteen-wheeler, or the like, you should not get into trouble.

There is an upholstery shop here in Houston that has the heavy-duty sewing equipment to stitch a new end for a recovery strap (I am sure that such upholstery shops are not unique to the Houston Metro area, LOL). Fuse the end so it doesn't ravel, then have your local upholstery shop duplicate the stitching on the other end of your strap. If done properly, it should be good as new. Most straps have a twist in the loop on the end, or some kind of protective covering, i.e. suede also sewn into the loop. If this is the case on yours, maybe the upholstery shop could duplicate that, too.

I had a 30,000# strap fixed like this. I also have a better strap, so I use it first, but if I needed additional length or needed parallel straps for whatever reason, I wouldn't hesitate to use it. I would be careful not to exceed half or 2/3 of its original safe working load.

If you do decide to fix it, err on the side of caution. If the strap is rated for a 50,000# pull, cut the safe working load in half. Recovering a pickup truck or SUV should not exceed a safe working load of 25,000# or so.

My $.02.

[asteffes]

You could always hang onto it for more menial jobs like moving logs out of the way or other situations that don't require ultimate strength and those in which you don't want to dirty up or damage your new strap. Just mark it with a Sharpee as not suitable for recovery ops.

[Carl2500]

I've never had a strap that heavy duty, but have worn down a couple lighter duty straps. In the past I just got another (new) strap, and retired the worn one to something much lighter duty, like ATV use, logs, and tying down loads. May be a bit of a waste of a strap that still has a lot of life in it, but I never have that worry in the back of my head wondering if the worn area is going to compromise what I'm using it for. I think of it as a little insurance, or extra peace of mind, which is totally worth it to me.

[762X39]

The best answer is to have a professional look at it and shorten/re-certify it. Straps are cheap, life is precious. :coffee:

[RocketManDane]

I work with straps and chains every day (when I work) and we always build safety factors into their use! Depending on how the strap or chain is designed and tested they normally are rated for a straight pull or hang. Any angle put into the strap or chain reduces it capacity. That being said we never use it for more then 75 % of its rating. Ie: 10000 pound chain is only used for 7500 pounds. For abrasion or cuts in straps also depending on exactly what it is being used for we are Allowed one 1/2 inch cut per strap. Use your best judgement is what I would suggest to you! If you you decide to use it keep the cut as far away from any angle as possible. For tie down purpose I personally hesitate to use it depending on size of cut . But if you plan to use it to pull anything near its rated capacity I would think twice and buy a new one.

[BIGdaddy]

when it breaks? :)

[mowerman]

Good straps have safety stitching running through them, as shown by the two black runs of thread on my strap here:-

http://i413.photobucket.com/albums/pp217/mowerman2/IMG_0013res.jpg

The stitching is designed to break if the strap is damaged by being stretched or in some other way, and provide a tell tale that it should be discarded.
Sorry if this is common knowledge, thought it may be of interest :)