DO NOT USE CLEVIS WHEN PULLIN UR FRIENDS OUT!!!!!!!!!

[ANOLD78]

soooo new years eve my friend calls me about 830 pm and asks me to come and pull him and his friends out of the mud... out off stockdale past the 5 freeway... aka BFE!!!! im a good friend and cant leave him stranded out there all night on new years eve.... so i get in my truck and head out there.. its him and 4 of his friends stuck to the frame... so i get my bungee and a old strap that i have thats about 6in. wide!! and hook up the two ropes... cuz my bungee wasnt long enough... anywayz i give it a lil slack and give him a tug and my old strap snapped and the CLEVIS flung back to my truck and alllllmost killed me!!!! i jumped out of my truck in shock and i was like it was the scariest time of my life!!! if that clevis would have hit me in the head... i would no longer be here!!! it was about 6000 in damages!!!! FML so im really glad my mom and dad were watchin over me!!! they really are my angels!!!

so please be smarter than i was!!!!

[Mickey]

that sucks... i never use old starps, for that reason lol

[Desert Dog]

I have to disagree with you on this one.

Clevis (shackles), are the safest way to rig straps and lines; bar none. Hooks are the most dangerous. The clevis did its job in your case (held/did not break), it was the strap / and or rigging by you guys that was the root cause of the incident.

You did 2 things wrong:

1) As Henry pointed out, never use an "old strap". They are cheap enough that when it gets old and frayed, you throw it away and get a new one. If your strap is several years old and has seen a lot of use - it is no longer safe.
2) NEVER. EVER rig 2 straps together with a metal object! Its best not to rig 2 straps together at all, but if you have to, you hook the straps together loop-to-loop. The metal object will hold up to much more stress than the strap, so the strap will always break first; make sure you don't add a deadly projectile to the middle of your rigging.

Very glad that no one was hurt.

[t_long927]

I must agree with DD. I had this happen to me. Ask henry

[ANOLD78]

yeah your right!!! i guess i just wasnt thinking!!! i posted it so noone will make my mistake!!! now ill be making smarter decisions!!!

[Dirty LJ]

WOW!! I'm glad to hear no one was hurt!!