Offroading Gear 20-foot ⅞” Kinetic Rope – A Well-Made Affordable Recovery Rope You Should Consider for your Gear Bag
This post somewhat doubles as a reference for Kinetic Recovery Ropes Vs. Kinetic Snatch Straps
There is a lot to consider when it comes to picking out off-road recovery gear.
Some of these essential items include winches, tow straps, shackles, and most importantly, kinetic snatch straps and kinetic recovery ropes. Recovery ropes and straps should be a priority in everyone’s recovery kit due to the fact that they don’t break the bank and are extremely useful. We push our limits pretty hard when we hit the trails and manage to get ourselves stuck often. This is where a good recovery rope or snatch strap comes in.
Today, we’re going to cover the off-roading gear kinetic recovery rope and also compare that to a traditional kinetic snatch strap. Finally, we will share with you the differences between the two and which one might be the best option for you to run.
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- Offroading Gear Rope: Check Price
What Are Recovery Ropes?
Recovery ropes feature a double-braided design with an inner core and outer webbing. The inner nylon core is the stretchy component and this is protected by a braided nylon outer layer.
Kinetic straps on the other hand are much like a flat tow strap, however, they are constructed with flat woven nylon webbing designed to stretch under load.
The looped ends or “eyelets” are where traditional snatch straps often fail as they are stitched and the stitching usually ends up being the breaking point. Recovery rope on the other hand features eyelets that are coated in a polyurethane material. This polyurethane material is similar to a plastic-like, rubberized coating and is very abrasion-resistant. This helps to prevent snags and snares when you’re dragging a recovery rope through rugged terrain. Snatch straps do feature stronger reinforced eyelets and a protector sleeve but nowhere near the strength of a kinetic rope eyelet.
The Offroading Gear rope pictured here uses a urethane polymer coating to protect against abrasion, water, and UV — and at first glance, you can tell it’s very burly.
The only real downside to a recovery rope is that they’re big, bulky, heavy for their given footprint, and can be awkward to store. Thankfully, Offroading Gear provides you with its own carry bag, so that’s nice.
Why Recovery Rope?
Strength. Elasticity. Longevity.
Recovery ropes are incredibly strong; they stretch more than snatch straps, and they last an incredibly long time if you take care of them. Don’t let people fool you on how many times you can use a recovery rope either. Some will say you can only use a recovery rope around 10 times. You can watch many experienced off-road recovery experts like Matt’s Off-Road Recovery use recovery ropes well over 300+ times.
True recovery ropes use kinetic energy just like snatch straps to help in assisting a stuck vehicle, although there are differences. The increased elastic qualities in recovery ropes, allow for a more efficient, softer, and even safer recovery than a kinetic snatch strap.
Some will argue that recovery ropes are stronger than snatch straps, however, when it comes to pound-for-pound ratings they compare the same, the difference is in the shock load and stretch percentage.
While traditional kinetic snatch straps stretch up to around 20%, a good recovery rope will stretch up to 30%. So one of the main differences in a snatch strap versus a recovery rope is that 10%.
Secondary to that, kinetic recovery ropes are said to be stronger than kinetic flat straps due to their double-braided construction. Recovery ropes are also said to be much safer than traditional snatch straps, but that is to be debated as we have used kinetic snatch straps many times out on the trail and they are perfectly safe as long as you know what you are doing.
Recovery ropes are typically expected to outlive tow straps and snatch straps because snares, tears, and loose fiber strands are much less common. Because recovery ropes tare less, they are much more likely to last longer.
Safety
Recovery ropes are considered “safer” for a couple of reasons but don’t buy into all of it.
For starters, these ropes are designed to stretch greatly which relieves the sudden shock and jerking commonly felt during vehicle recovery.
Unlike tow straps, and much like snatch straps, recovery ropes are meant to be used with a running start and end with a “yank” which is why you hear some companies refer to them as yank straps.
If you were to start a recovery with forward-momentum on a traditional tow strap (no stretch), the strap has a high chance of snapping, ripping off, or causing damage to a rig or worse, a person. Recovery ropes, when used as a yank strap or snatch strap are “safer” than snatching from a tow strap or chain. This is where the “safer” term comes in.
So are they safer? Yes and no. It comes down to experience and your desired method of recovery. Recoveries can be considered safe with a tow strap or chain just as long as you are not putting a shock load on it or leveraging any forward momentum.
Typically recovery ropes have a far less severe impact on the recovered vehicle and the recovery vehicle due to the decreased shock load on the recovery. Because there’s less load on the recovery rope, recovery points, and the vehicles involved, some make the argument that ropes are safer than snatch straps. Again, this is to be debated as I feel snatch straps are equally safe if you know what you’re doing.
Efficiency
When it comes to efficiency, these ropes are second to none. This is really where the recovery rope shines.
Recovery ropes are designed to stretch uniformly, allowing more power to be transferred equally between the recovering and the recovered rig all without severely shock loading either rig or either driver. You’re going to have a shock load regardless in a kinetic recovery, it just depends on how severe the shock load is. Again refer to this link for more info on shock loading.
Although a tow strap may technically work in freeing a stuck vehicle, kinetic snatch straps and kinetic ropes are far more effective due to their elasticity.
Price
Without a doubt, winches are the most useful piece of recovery gear for any offroad application. The downside is they are very expensive. Depending on what model you go with, a decent winch like the new Smittybilt Gen3 XRC can cost around $1000. Not to mention, the accessories that are readily available for today’s winches.
Recovery ropes and straps are a fraction of the cost. This 20′ 7/8″ (28,600-lb breaking strength) rope from Offroading Gear comes in at only $120, although you can get the 3/4″ version for only $99 (19,000-lb breaking strength). It’s a great piece of entry-level recovery gear to start out with if you don’t have any straps or ropes at all. It would also make a great addition to any recovery kit you’re running now — especially if you don’t have any ropes at all.
If you’re not looking to spend $100 on a recovery rope, you can find snatch straps like the ARB branded version for around $65 for the 17,000-lb breaking strength. It’s still a kinetic energy recovery and will absolutely get you out of stuck situations but it’s not going to stretch as much as a rope and is a little less durable overall.
Different Sizes
Off-road recovery ropes come in all shapes and sizes. Obviously the bigger (thicker) the rope, the more it is rated for. Offroading Gear offers 20-foot ropes and they come in varying thicknesses:
- 20’x1-1/4″ (52,300 lbs) $219.99
- 20’x1/2″ (10,500 lbs) $79.99
- 20’x3/4″ (19,000 lbs) $99.99
- 20’x7/8″ (28,600 lbs) $119.99
For recoveries with built 4Runners and Tacomas, you want to stay in the 20-30 foot range, as anything longer or shorter may not be as effective.
Offroading Gear Recovery Rope
The kinetic rope from Offroading Gear at first glance is really well made for the price. The eyelets are hardened and coated in a polyurethane material which makes it really strong. This rope (20’ 7/8”) is rated at 28,600 pounds which makes it perfect for smaller-sized SUVs, 4Runners, Jeeps, and pickups like the Tacoma.
It’s nice that this recovery rope comes with its own bag. For those of us who don’t yet have any sort of overland gear storage box, bags like this make it easy to keep the trunk space organized.
Unlike some of the other rope manufacturers on the market, the Offroading Gear recovery rope is priced at a very reasonable $120 or even less for smaller size ropes.
Final Thoughts
As we all know by this point, it’s important to be prepared.
You never know when you’re going to get stuck which is why it’s important to have the necessary gear to get you unstuck. If you have the storage area in your 4Runner to carry a recovery rope, then I would absolutely recommend one. If you don’t have the room, make room.
If you’re just getting started with recovery gear and building a box or bag, this is a good rope to add to your recovery kit.
The 7/8″ size it’s not too large and bulky to carry when you head out and it will add a ton of value when you need it while in a recovery situation.
It really comes down to storage for me. Recovery ropes are a little bit more awkward to store as opposed to recovery straps however recovery ropes do perform better under extreme load. If you roll with bigger trucks, or frequently visit mud bogs, sandpits, or other areas that require massive forward momentum pulls, go with a rope. Because ropes provide a little bit more stretch, recovered parties will feel less shock load (less jolt and less impact) upon the vehicle recovery. If you roll with mid-size trucks and hit mild dirt roads often, skip the rope and get a strap.
For severe recoveries, ropes are really nice but if don’t head out much or don’t get stuck often, straps should suffice.
It’s a really nice rope and for the price, I wouldn’t hesitate on buying this one.
I purchased this and should not be considered a kinetic recovery rope. There was no stretch. I just purchased a master pull kinetic rope to replace it and now I can tell the difference in quality.
Can you make use of a tow rope and snatch strap in conjunction if the distance presents itself longer then either one of your equipment, and if so would there be a more appropriate order to connecting them ..any information would be greatly appreciated
Yeah you can connect a strap with a kinetic rope, it shouldn’t matter which side you hook the strap too as the kinetic one will stretch either way. If you’re using a snatch strap that will stretch its the same principle as well.