Recovery Blanket/Damper

[Serge]

Why dont we ever use them? Or well, i've never seen us using them.


Not so critical?
Never works?
Other reasons?

Recovery damper
The ARB recovery damper is a device that has been designed to restrict the whipping action of a strap or winch cable in the event of failure, therefore reducing the possibility of vehicle damage and personal injury. Recovery dampers are now mandatory accessories for most 4WD competitions and the ARB recovery damper exceeds current minimum competition weight requirements. The damper is designed to be worn over the shoulders for ease of carrying and comes in highly visible safety orange with reflective tape for night use.

[pseacraft]

The simpliest answer? Laziness. One should always use a dampener when winching/strapping, I am guilty of this too. But you can use nearly anything with a little weight or bulk to it from a jacket to a blanket to help disrupt the whipping action.

[khaiwi]

It's simply Laziness,

I do carry the ARB one in my Jeep, never been used so far.....

Its more critical when winching with metal cable winch.

I have to admit, the one time I should have used it, opening the rear door to get it was impossible. LOL

[Xof]

yep, laziness... good reminder though...

We should use one for major strong recovery...

[maddog]

All good comments, and sadly lazyness is the common answer. I'm guilty as charged too.

Point to note however, winching with synthetic line - if there's a failure its energy dissapates through the line and it simply drops to the ground. Unlike a steel wire cable that stores its energy the releases it like a whip.

[Xof]

i have been thinking since this morning about a good and fast way to do a damper... got it now. I have a snap link that i will tied to a small sand bag... 10 second to install in any recovery... will take a picture as soon as it is ready...