[Mark W]

And yep, chains do stetch. Not to the degree that a strap does, but enough to make it jump pretty good when a link snaps.

A chain by itself will not propell itself through a rig the way the trailerball/shackle on the end of the strap did in the picture above. It an certainly give you a good whack if you are standing beside it when it lets go. Chains do'nt normally have the damage potential that a strp WITH A CHUNK OF STEEL STILL ATTACHED does. A strap by itself is not all that bad either. It doesn't have enough mass to cause a lot of damage and the drag of the air slows it quickly as well (again do to the lack of mass).

The bad situations are not usually caused by straps or chains them breaking. They are caused by the attachment points breaking off of the rig when the strap yanks on them. Then you get all the energy of a strap with a weight on the end. Attaching a chain to a strap is a problem if the chain is rigged so that it can come flying back with the strap pulling it if it breaks. The only way I use a chain and a strap together is when the chain is wrapped multiple times around a frame, axle,bumper or whatever. That way if a link does break, the chain doesn't come flying free of the rig on the end of the strap.


Mark...