Get for yourself a Snatch Strap and a couple of Bow-Shackles, but if you can afford it, a Hi-Lift jack is a very useful piece of equipment too.

A Snatch strap is made of nylon webbing and should have a stretch factor of 25% to 30%. They are generally about 9 metres long and rated at about 6 tonnes. Buy a reputable brand. If you look after them they will give you a good working life.

Shackles should be marked with a SWL (Safe Working Load). They are used for attaching straps to cars and chains together. ‘BOW’ shackles are more commonly used. A 3.25Tonne rating is minimum.

To use a Snatch, the recovery car is joined to the bogged car, then with a few metres slack, the recovery car drives off. The strap stretches, and as it snaps back into place, it acts like a big rubber band to "snatch" the bogged car out of trouble.

Naturally, a Snatch Strap is totally useless without the second car, so the Golden Rule for all 4WDing is....

NEVER GO ALONE.

SRODRV001B/05 USE A SINGLE SNATCH STRAP TO RECOVER A VEHICLE

PERFORMANCE CRITERIA 04b,c,d,f,g

Right: Eavesdrop on David joining two snatch straps together on a training day.

Watch the short movies above to see two different recovery points used in the club.