Every now and then we come across a situation where we can’t get the recovering vehicle close enough to the stuck vehicle for the snatch strap to reach, without jeopardising the recovering vehicle as well. The simplest solution to overcoming this is to join 2 or more snatch straps together to increase the reach.

Safety Warning  Never ever use shackles to join straps together. This is asking for someone to get killed, because if a strap breaks, you have just created the worlds most lethal sling shot and that shackle then becomes a bloody dangerous projectile.

To join the straps, simply feed the top end eye of one strap through the top end eye of the other and then head to the other end of the strap and reverse the process. ie take the trailing end eye of the strap that has the top end eye fed through it and feed that through trailing end eye of the other strap. Then simply pull the straps through each other, making sure that all twists are out of both straps. Repeat the process if you need more straps joined up. So far the most I have had to join is 3 straps.

Very Important.  Due to the pressure that will be placed on the straps during the recovery exercise, the joined eyes will mesh together and you will not be able to get them undone unless you put a spacer in between the loops. This could be a rolled up newspaper, magazine or short piece of wood, although it is preferable to use something that has a bit of give in it. I always carry an old pair of deck shoes with a semi soft sole in the car, which I use when walking water crossings. These are ideal in the loops as they squash when the pressure comes on and then spring back into shape when it comes off.