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Heres a shocking example of the destructive effects of a snatch strap that came loose mid-pull.. This was the vehicle doing the pulling. A winch can do the same or worse:Note the strap clevis went THROUGH the driver's seat headrest and windshield.Found this pic and article here:http://www.sadlrc.co.ukThe story behind this pic:Quote »The Jeep owner was being a good guy and volunteered to help extricate a friend’s truck from where it was stuck in the mud some sixty feet away. Someone produced two of those thirty-foot straps and put them together with a five-pound clevis hook. One end was hooked to the frame rail of the truck, the other to the Jeep. The on-lookers recommended this procedure rather than to use the winch plainly seen on the front of the four-wheel drive, off-road vehicle. The Jeep driver slowly moved ahead and got the strap lines into a taut state. Then in low gear he started to pull. The hook to the frame rail did not come loose; it pulled a nice neat piece from the rail. The hook and the dislodged section fell to the ground. The heavy clevis hooked became the leading edge of the missile. With the double straps trailing, it broke through the rear window, took a neat 4” square section from the seat, and crashed through the windshield. The end hooked to the Jeep stayed attached, but the clevis dragged the rest of the straps on its potentially fatal journey. When the missile sprang forward, the release of drag caused the drivers upper body to shift forward moving his head to the right of that four-inch hole in the seat. The clevis hook struck him in the left shoulder, grazed his neck and went on its lethal way. The driver never knew, until later, what hit him. Rendered unconscious, he slumped forward, his foot depressing the accelerator. The Jeep roared ahead and stopped some 500 feet later when the dragging strap became tangled in the brush. This wild ride crossed two roads, two ditches and tore down a fence.The onlookers rushed to the drivers aid expecting the worst. Still unconscious, he was air lifted to the hospital and x-rayed twice; there was no injury except a very sore shoulder. He personally related this tale to your editor some months after the event, and he still has some soreness where the clevis hook caressed him on its meteoric path through the Jeep. This did not occur in the snow belt where off road, four-by-fours typically cruise about extricating vehicles imbedded in snow banks. This type of unprofessional conduct, using straps, has caused similar mishaps, one two years ago being a fatality. The Jeep owner in our story took a series of photos to reconstruct what happened and sent the photos to several magazines in the off-road vehicle trade. Tow Times got the exclusive in the towing industry. All of us hope that this will never happen again. That’s why we are telling you this story of this NEAR MISS.

!HOLY CRAP! Man, that guy was very lucky to have lived. Pretty amazing story. I guess that he should have used the winch!? I have to deal with a similar danger at work. When I have to bind down our construction equipement to a trailer so that it can be moved from place to place, this same thing can happen with the binding chains. I've been told stories of the horrors of this by coworkers. As I understand it, a few years ago, some guy in the area was chaining down a very large piece of equipment (probably much larger than anything we have) and a link in the chain broke as he was tightening down the binder causing the chain to snap back and sever his arm. I am always wary of this when I'm chaining down equipment and try to stand off to the side as I tighten the chains whenever possible. When straps or chains recoil like this, it happens in a fraction of a second so you have no warning or chance to get out of the way. And the force of it is so great that it can smash right through things just like what happened in this photo.Thanks for posting this, kaybeejay. Hopefully it might prevent someone from being injured by towing something the "bonehead" way.

We had a similar one last year in my town. A good Samaritan tried to give a guy a tow and part of the bumper flew off, hit him in the head (he was leaning out his window) and killed him.BTW, a chain is safer in this regard than a strap or cable, because it doesn't stretch as much, thus it stores less elastic energy. (On the other hand, the "stretchiness" is part of the design for a "snatch strap". It allows a longer, more continuous pull instead of a short violent jerk, which may break something before it overcomes the inertia of the stuck vehicle. No single good answer I guess.

Your observation about the chain is right on, MadBill. But once a great amount of force is placed on a chain and it is suddenly released, it can snap back with great force also.

wow! that is very scary. I used to pull lots of people out of the ditch in my Tundra!

jesus christmas! I went to Bayfield Canada once with a friend of mine on his parent's 45' yacht. We towed his wave runner behind the boat. We made it safely there with no problems...We left early in the morning the Sunday to go home. About 45 minutes off shore, the waves were about 8ft.the wave runner was hitting hte waves like ramps, and finally it jumped one wave and did a nose dive through another and disappeared under water until finally the clip thing bent off and launched out of the water so fast I could hardly see it...it hit the back of the boat and took out a good chunk of it approximately 3"x3" and about 1" deep! Then of course the wave runner shot out of the water like a rocket lol.