Super Yanker demo video

[emmodg]

Out of curiosity - I noticed in the video that the recovering vehicle snatches the stuck truck out and then continues to "tow" .

In the school I instruct for we've always taught to "yank" and once the immediate "hit" is felt STOP the truck letting the rope do the rest of the work by releasing the stored energy thereby "snatching" the stuck truck out. We usually don't advise towing with a KERR.

What does Master Pull advise?

[Master-Pull]

We have never had a problem towing with a KERR, but I can see a valid point to what you are saying. When we are pulling a truck out of the mud, or sand we do exactly what you are saying. Most of the time in the snow we do this as well. You can see a few times in that video where we are pulling people through a snow berm, which makes it harder to let them drive on their own.

-Alex

[emmodg]

We train a great deal of special teams (SEALs, etc..) sometimes a KERR is all they have and they MUST tow with it. Generally speaking though, if you're going to tow for long distances or just tow to recover a truck (Why involve "yanking" if a simple tow-out will suffice?) a tow strap is the way to go. Towing with a KERR is like towing with a bungee cord!

[Eventhough]

Towing with a KERR is like towing with a bungee cord!

Sort of, and sort of not.

To properly use a KERR or similar dynamic recovery rope you need to put a good bit of strain on it. The more strain you use the more it stretches. Some will stretch upwards of 30% but that is near break. If you are towing with a KERR the amount of strain you put on it is often minimal, but almost always nowhere near a 'yank,' so the bit of stretch you do get will cushion the sometimes very long neck-snapping tow you get from the tow line/rope/strap going taught over and over again as you can't always keep a tow line/rope/strap perfectly taught. I've had to tow for quite long distances before and there is good bit of difference between towing with a nylon snatch strap and a KERR.

Now a strap is less expensive than a KERR so towing with a strap if you can keep it decently taught is a good idea for your pocketbook. A strap also takes up less room - but - if I had to choose between a strap or a KERR to have in my recovery bag for snatching and towing I'd choose the KERR, and Master-Pull makes some nice KERRs.

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[Master-Pull]

I've towed for a few miles on a trail and on a road with both straps and Super Yanker ropes. I would always choose a Super Yanker, the stretch is controlled unless you are really giving it a lot of throttle. Towing with a kinetic on a trail is also much more forgiving (especially around the PNW where you are going up and down hills and over rocks, roots, trees etc. On the road I have never noticed that the rope stretches and then pulls the person closer to me, it always seems to stretch a bit but holds that length as long as the tension is being put on it.

-Alex

[emmodg]

I use both straps and KERR for a living - literally. (And I will say - MP has been very good to us and it is their KERR that we use exclusively!)

Tow straps are ideal for towing. That's what they are made for. Little stretch, (some just 3%) makes it very easy to tow for both vehicles. We tow 1 to 1 and 2 to 1 (towed vehicle in middle when brakes are compromised) there is simply no better way. What we don't want to do is impart energy or store energy and that is what the KERR does and is designed to do. A KERR is a force multiplier and if you have assessed your recovery correctly and a tow is indeed the correct response then a force multiplier is superfluous to the recovery and one could argue dangerous as it ads one more dynamic. A tow is a controlled, static, constant pull.

An experiment: Atach a rubber band to a glass and with just two fingers try to pull that glass across the counter. You will see that you first stretch the band before it actually begins moving the glass. Some of your "energy" was lost in the stretch of the band before it went to actually pulling the glass! Now, attach a string to the same glass, pull it with the same two fingers. You will see that the glass starts moving right away. All of your "energy" is being used to move the glass! You have lost VERY little of it imparting any stretch into the string! You can "tow" that glass across the counter without losing any energy in unwanted and un-needed stretch. It's predictable, easy, and safe.

A good recovery kit will have both a strap and a KERR as each serves it's own purpose. Now if a KERR is all one has then by all means use it but just understand the possible consequences and inherent problems. But given the choice I'll tow with a strap.

[Eventhough]

I use both straps and KERR for a living - literally. (And I will say - MP has been very good to us and it is their KERR that we use exclusively!)

Tow straps are ideal for towing. That's what they are made for. Little stretch, (some just 3%) makes it very easy to tow for both vehicles. We tow 1 to 1 and 2 to 1 (towed vehicle in middle when brakes are compromised) there is simply no better way. What we don't want to do is impart energy or store energy and that is what the KERR does and is designed to do. A KERR is a force multiplier and if you have assessed your recovery correctly and a tow is indeed the correct response then a force multiplier is superfluous to the recovery and one could argue dangerous as it ads one more dynamic. A tow is a controlled, static, constant pull.

An experiment: Atach a rubber band to a glass and with just two fingers try to pull that glass across the counter. You will see that you first stretch the band before it actually begins moving the glass. Some of your "energy" was lost in the stretch of the band before it went to actually pulling the glass! Now, attach a string to the same glass, pull it with the same two fingers. You will see that the glass starts moving right away. All of your "energy" is being used to move the glass! You have lost VERY little of it imparting any stretch into the string! You can "tow" that glass across the counter without losing any energy in unwanted and un-needed stretch. It's predictable, easy, and safe.

A good recovery kit will have both a strap and a KERR as each serves it's own purpose. Now if a KERR is all one has then by all means use it but just understand the possible consequences and inherent problems. But given the choice I'll tow with a strap.

A KERR is not a bungee cord or rubber band when towing gently - as one should in many scenarios. Snatching is a whole new ball game and we are talking towing. The amount of stretch that will result from a static tow with a KERR is minimal and the rebound will be gentle, enough to make the tow much more gentle on your neck as the line goes taught. It is almost impossible in the areas I mostly wheel (southeast) to keep a tow line perfectly taught, even when towing on a paved surfeace. A tow line will go slack and then taught - when it goes taught and there is extremely little give/stretch in a line you get a dynamic 'pop' sensation which is uncomfortable on the body, and harsh on equipment. This slack to taught cycle is often from just a foot of slack in the line. Have this 'pop' repeat itself over hours of towing and you will quickly get tired of it. I like to let my equipment do the work, not make my body pay for the work.

Now if you are towing with a KERR and you get a bunch of slack in your line and then you floor the skinny pedal you will get a bungee cord effect just like when you are performing a snatch - since that is exactly what you just did. That is improper technique as with any tow line/strap/rope you should gently take slack out of the line.

And 3% stretch is typically a polyester strap and 3% stretch will be at break. At typical towing you will get negligible stretch with a polyester tow line, almost like towing with no stretch.

[emmodg]

I guess I'm not seeing your point.

I too "wheel" in the southeast and taught in the southeast for the past 8 or so years.

We teach proper towing where ALL "snatch", "stretch", "yank", and "slack" is to be avoided. Do people do it wrong? Yes! Do people learn how to do it properly? Yes! You're darn right a KERR is not a bungee cord when used "gently". I have never seen a student use a tow strap so wrong as to "snap" any necks or break equipment while towing the right way. I would suggest to you that if you have towed for long distances and you're "snapping" necks and walking away with sore bodies you may be doing something wrong. (And maybe if you can't grasp the act of towing KERR might be the right way to go?) I've towed 15,000lb 1151 HMMWVs with a 60K tow strap and we were in great shape when we got home, I've had students tow Hilux's, 110's, and BJ75's with tow straps and truck and driver were quite good at the end.

Would you advocate doing away with all tow straps and replace them with KERR? I would hope not. Two different tools for two different uses. I carry a tool bag in both of my trucks - they contain may different tools for many different uses. I carry a recovery kit in my own trucks AND the company carries a recovery kit in all of it's trucks, (we're up to 20 or so I believe), the kits have many different tools for many different uses. When we want to snatch a truck out we use the KERR. When we want to tow a truck out we use a tow strap. I guess I'm not seeing the argument there...

You are correct - a good tow strap at 3% stretch is poly. They need to be poly to limit stretch, they need to limit stretch to safely and predictably tow a vehicle. Will they break at 3%? Probably but that's not the tool's fault, that's the operator's. I remember the "days" before KERR - we had to "snatch" and tow with straps at 3%, 5%, and some 10% stretch. Never broke one. (Retired quite a few but never broke one) I'm just glad KERR has become available because now we have the RIGHT tool for a particular job.

I think we're both saying the "right" things. I'm merely pointing out that there is a tool for towing and there is a tool for "snatching". Use them both safely and properly and they are VERY effective.

[Eventhough]

I guess I'm not seeing your point.

I too "wheel" in the southeast and taught in the southeast for the past 8 or so years.

We teach proper towing where ALL "snatch", "stretch", "yank", and "slack" is to be avoided. Do people do it wrong? Yes! Do people learn how to do it properly? Yes! You're darn right a KERR is not a bungee cord when used "gently". I have never seen a student use a tow strap so wrong as to "snap" any necks or break equipment while towing the right way. I would suggest to you that if you have towed for long distances and you're "snapping" necks and walking away with sore bodies you may be doing something wrong. (And maybe if you can't grasp the act of towing KERR might be the right way to go?) I've towed 15,000lb 1151 HMMWVs with a 60K tow strap and we were in great shape when we got home, I've had students tow Hilux's, 110's, and BJ75's with tow straps and truck and driver were quite good at the end.

Would you advocate doing away with all tow straps and replace them with KERR? I would hope not. Two different tools for two different uses. I carry a tool bag in both of my trucks - they contain may different tools for many different uses. I carry a recovery kit in my own trucks AND the company carries a recovery kit in all of it's trucks, (we're up to 20 or so I believe), the kits have many different tools for many different uses. When we want to snatch a truck out we use the KERR. When we want to tow a truck out we use a tow strap. I guess I'm not seeing the argument there...

You are correct - a good tow strap at 3% stretch is poly. They need to be poly to limit stretch, they need to limit stretch to safely and predictably tow a vehicle. Will they break at 3%? Probably but that's not the tool's fault, that's the operator's. I remember the "days" before KERR - we had to "snatch" and tow with straps at 3%, 5%, and some 10% stretch. Never broke one. (Retired quite a few but never broke one) I'm just glad KERR has become available because now we have the RIGHT tool for a particular job.

I think we're both saying the "right" things. I'm merely pointing out that there is a tool for towing and there is a tool for "snatching". Use them both safely and properly and they are VERY effective.

No I don't tow and 'snap necks.' I was trying to make a point that towing with a KERR/recovery rope is gentler on the body and equipment than a less 'stretchy' strap. I've never had a problem towing with a KERR and fully believe it is superior to towing with a strap. If you keep a towing strap/rope taught then you don't notice the advantage to a more stretchy rope, but if that rope/strap goes loose and then tight again having a bit of stretch there will help cushion the 'snap' or whatever you want to call it. It won't be enough rebound there to cause the tow vehicle to go careening out of control unless potentially you are snatching the vehicle. In most situations I reach for my recovery rope rather than a strap. Use what you wish.

[emmodg]

You're right. To each his own.