Towing ropes specifications

[syed salman raza]

Please suggest best place in Dubai to purchse towing ropes and what should be the specification like load capacity and lenth 

[Frederic]

Hi @syed salman raza Do you mean a "tow" rope or a "recovery" rope ? 

- Tow ropes (Polyester) are used to tow a car, not to perform a recovery (pull). The basic petrol station tow rope is only strong enough to tow a vehicle on the road, and should never be used for anything offroad.

- Recovery ropes (nylon) or snatch straps are made to perform an offroad recovery. These are the ropes we use to recover other vehicles in the desert.

 

Have a a look below:

 

- A Polyester Tow Rope is meant to tow a vehicle on the road, NEVER for off-road recovery. These are the basic tow ropes you will find at the petrol station. 

- A Webbing Sling is a Polyester rope that you can buy in hardware stores and is meant for industrial lifting, but can also be used as tow rope in specific cases (to re-direct a stuck vehicle with gentle tugs). This material does not stretch.

- A Snatch rope (flat) or Kinetic Recovery Rope (round) is a rope made of Nylon that allows to stretch for about 20%, and is extremely useful for offroad recovery as the stretching creates a kinetic energy and the recoil effect helps in recovering vehicles stuck in the sand. 

 

When choosing a kinetic recovery rope, you should select a rope that has a breaking strength of 2-3 times the weight of the vehicle you will recover. For example; if you recover a Nissan Xterra which weighs 2 ton, the breaking strength of the rope should be at least 6 tons. Most recovery ropes have 10-15 Tons breaking strength. The reason for this is that the forces involved when a vehicle is completely stuck in the sand are far higher.

Our club uses both the Viking Kinetic rope as well as the AOR Kinetic recovery rope with excellent results. The Viking rope costs about 350AED with a bag and 2 soft shackles included, while the AOR kinetic rope costs about 390AED without soft shackles. (AOR soft shackle cost 155 AED per piece).

A shackle is a device that allows you to connect your rope to your tow point. These used to be mostly rated metal D-shackles, but nowadays the soft shackles, that were well known in the sailing world have become in offroading too. A soft shackle will be safer to use as the less metal involved the better during recoveries.

More information on using these Kinetic recovery ropes and shackles can be found in below post:

 

[Frederic]

@Rahimdad has the Viking Ropes with Soft Shackles.

-Speedex and Ace have the AOR recovery ropes.

-Any industrial hardware shop, even Speedex have the webbing 3" or 4" webbing slings that can be used to tow as well.

[syed salman raza]

 

@Frederic Thanks for prompt reply

this is what I am interested in 
@Rahimdad has the Viking Ropes with Soft Shackles. any idea how I can get them before Friday drive

I do have belt sling with 20t capacity but everyone telling is not safe 

Edited November 3, 2020 by syed salman raza

[Frederic]

You can request them here by sending a message on the topic:

The belt sling with 20t capacity is good for towing onroad or offroad, but should be avoided for recovery as it does not stretch.

As you are still a Newbie you don't need to rush to buy a rope, it is only from Intermediate level onwards a requirement.

 

[syed salman raza]

@Frederic thanks for advise I lkie to have arecovery rope to feel more safe

can I contact @Rahimdad to help me in procuring Viking rope and soft shakle

[Rahimdad]

Dear @syed salman raza I am getting 4 sets today. Kinky refer to my thread as pointed by @Frederic below.

 

[syed salman raza]

Thanks keep one set for me please