I don't quite see what happened there, though.
They put together 2 straps, one after the other (to get greater length) and connected the 2 together in the middle with a clevis? How did they do that? Isn't that really a weird way to attach straps?
And then when one broke the good strap pulled back with the clevis still attached?
Yep two 3' straps with a clevis connecting them. Apparently nobody had a longer strap and everybody was inpatient. The guy leaves a little 5yr old behind, what a waste.
Made a slingshot, the strap that broke was the trigger, the mass of the clevis the projectile
I am not that immersed in offloading but have spoken to a lot of people that have had close calls during recovery and a few that have been injured (one permanently ) fortunately this is the only death I have heard of. Hopefully the last
Energy is a major cause of death in humans.
There is literally tons of it available during recovery.
Anybody got links to save recovery tips? Any other info?
I still don't get why they used a clevis, looks very unsecure.
But anyway even if they had used a shackle or anything heavy for that matter, it would have been the same result if it's the old strap that broke, and the rest recoiled...
E
2 immediate observations, other than my first reaction of sorrow:
1 - The correct way to join two straps is to feed one end loop from strap A through strap B's loop and then send the other end of strap A through the loop that was passed through strap B's loop. Then put a rag or T shirt into the area that's going to tighten up so you can get then apart afterwards. Some use a stick or other through the area that will tighten for the same reason.
2 - It's a sad statistic that it's usually the helper that gets hurt. In the case of the folks on the list, that means YOU, so understand why. Generally, when stopping to help pull a minivan out of a snowbank, the helper's vehicle has some solid attachments and the helper has some knowledge. But, the stuck vehicle attachments may be suspect, difficult to access, or weather or unwillingness to lay on the ground in street clothes may cause substandard attachment to the stuck vehicle. When the attachment goes, guess who's vehicle the projectile hits? You. So take something from this tragedy that's very important: The person you're most likely to hurt when helping a random stuck on the road is you and/or your family. Recovery of another vehicle may well be the most dangerous thing you've ever done and you may not realize that until the rear hatch glass blows and you wake up in the emergency room.
Metal on ANY strap is a no-no. Just be clear that having no metal ON the strap is meaningless in terms of reducing danger if you attach it to metal that's not going to take a 27,000lb yank (estimated energy generated by an 80 at about the hardest you'd ever hit a strap - I think 15mph).
