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Snatch recovery with Discovery 3

Mon, 2007-03-19 21:41 — kbals

In January we went 4WDing, after it had been raining for 2 weeks... It was great fun!

This movie shows a recovery of a Defender by a Discovery 3. We try to use a kinetic rope to pull him out. A kinetic rope is elastic and allows to make some speed before actually starting to pull. This has the advantage that you don't just use the pulling power of the recovering vehicle, but also the kinetic energy.


I can be dangerous to use this technique (also called snatch recovery), because when you drive too fast, the kinetic energy will be too big, and something will break (either the cable, or the attachment points on either one of the vehicles, potentially causing serious damage or injury. So only do snatch recovery with caution, and use firm attachment points on the vehicles. Even using a tow ball isn't failsafe because it could break, as can be seen in this video from someone else.

Comments

Fri, 2008-02-22 23:08 — Alex Threlfall (not verified)

Snatch Recovery

Looks like you weren't giving much of a run-up on the snatch, and were you linking the ropes together with a shackle? That's very dangerous, as that bit of metal could go airborne if the rope parts - you should also always weigh the rope down with something, a blanket or jacket is a good idea so if it parts the weight causes it to go to the floor.
For the record, we've pulled full artics out of bogged down situations using defenders and kinetic ropers, using large run-ups go really build the energy to yank them clear.

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