Traditional snatch straps are manufactured from flat nylon webbing and are available in different lengths, widths and capacities. Nine-metre lengths and minimum breaking strengths between 8000 and 11,000kg, with widths between 60 and 100mm, are popular choices for four-wheel drivers.

It’s advisable that the snatch strap’s minimum breaking strength should be between two- to three-times the Gross Vehicle Mass (GVM) of the lightest of the two vehicles involved in the recovery operation.

Snatch straps typically have reinforced eyes at each end to allow fitment of rated shackles for vehicle attachment. To form these eyes, the nylon webbing is looped back onto itself and is stitched together.

Despite the eyes of a snatch strap being reinforced and the stitched areas usually covered by seam-protector sleeves, it is this area of the snatch strap that is the weakest point and therefore most prone to failure on an otherwise undamaged strap.