7P Recovery Ring

Some people use a block of wood, and a velcro strap to hold it. I remember there used to be a video on YouTube that showed, with the guy shaking it and the line staying in the groove. But I dont see that vid anymore. I did find this one, but it doesn't show the set up very well. It's just a block, with semi circles cut into the ends, and like I said, a strap over the whole thing to hold it. They work really well in the vids I've seen.

https://youtu.be/JDX8gefCg7c

 

Yeah it's kinda pricey. I made sure to give them a hard time about it on Instagram and they were cool about it. But I do think it's a cool idea. And I've already drank from the factor 55 koolaid so I might get it for shits and giggles.

 

Just got back the testing results for the pull test on my pulleys. The soft shackles broke at the knot at about 40,000 lbs with no deformation of the pulley itself.

 

Made a custom engraved recovery ring for someone....hit me up if your interested in some custom engraved quality recovery gear.

 

Curious on everyones thoughts on this video. He tests the extra load the aluminium recovery ring has vs a snatch block.
Single line load 100%
Snatch block frictional load 106%
Recovery ring frictional load 169%

Has anyone else done similar tests? Seems like it wouldn't be very hard to stick a large bearing in the middle but would likely double the price and weight.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v8EhHdv4QYg

 

I've seen it before. Personally I'm not worried about it. I guess in a case where your winch vs vehicle weight is really pushing the fine line of being up near it's max pulling rate, it could possibly be a potential issue. But generally, if you've chosen a winch based on you needs, you'll likely have plenty of pulling power to spare. And, if you're using the ring, you have double the pulling power (unless it;s being used only to change the direction of the pull). I have seen people use their ring pretty hard and do a temp reading of the ring right after, and it's warm, but not hot. Have him drop that traditional snatch block in the mud a few times, and have it sit in his recovery bag afterwards for weeks at a time etc, and I bet that number goes from 106 to something much greater. Sure it can be greased, but bearings can still suffer as a result of lots of hard use in crappy conditions, cause that's what they're often used in. Traditional blocks are great, and time tested, but they're just as prone to issues as anything else with moving parts. They get cranky with age, and they're long term health is only as good as the maintenance put into them (if they're being used hard and often).

I think they're are no shortage of people who are dead set against the ring, like many people were against synthetic rope when it came out. With time we'll see how it sorts out. I think the biggest factor for most is the price. They see the 7P or something like it for well over 100 bucks and they're instantly turned away. Not willing to spend that kind of money for a maybe. If they prove themselves over time, and those people find the more budget friendly rings, they may, or may not, decide to switch over. Hell, some people still only believe in steel cable still, so the reception will always be as varied as the customer base.

In my case, I wanted some new gear and decided to give the ring a try. I like how easily it fits into my recov bag, and the weight is nice too. I can wipe it off and it's clean and done with.. nothing to fuse with after the trip, no greasing needed, and no grease weeping out in the heat to get onto my straps etc. (it get's plenty hot here in south Texas) I can even keep multiple rings without them hogging even more space in my bag. Now I only keep around 3 steel D ring shackles and a few soft shackles, so again, less weight and I can roll up or stretch out the soft ones to fit into places in my bag when space is getting limited. If the ring gets knocked against a rock, varying grits of sandpaper will probably fix any burr that might have occurred. Hell, I even sanded down the casting marks on the drum of my new warn just to make sure it was nice and smooth before I spooled the synth line on. In the end, new products will always have those who are willing to give it a try, and those who want to stick with the stuff they've always used. They'll find any reason to pro and con it to death. I'm willing to try it. My warn is over rated for my needs. I do pull a scout trailer off road, and I'm probably still safely above the 12k lb rating on the warn. So, I doubt it will ever be an issue. If it is, I'll just chalk it up as a live and learn, and except it as part of adventuring around this big ol ball of dirt.

 

I have about the same opinion as TxFireman. People are against anything new and always looking for a reason to keep what they have....but I AM biased....I liked the idea of the rings so much I made myself one and liked using it so much that I make and sell them now.

 

I was more wondering about his findings, not his biases. 60% is definitely a lot of extra load. I have one of these in my kit, although I haven't used it in the field yet.

 

True, 60% is nothing to sneeze at. But, his snatch block looks brand new. Get it dirty, drop it in some mud and water let it sit a while, even after cleaning and see if his numbers are still only 6%. On the bar graph it shows around 1300 klgr of force on the snatch blk, and maybe 1700 with the ring. So, in the real world, it's not a crazy amount of difference, and his number would likely be closer to the rings force with an older used block. But even if it wasn't, using the block/ring is going to add friction. But you've also doubled the pulling power, so unless your winch is barely rated for your vehicle weight plus some "stuck" resistance, I still think there is plenty of room to play with. Ideally, we'd like no friction what so ever, but that won't happen. In my case, I have a tacoma with a 12K winch. Probably overkill. So, I suspect I have plenty of room to work with. Add to the fact, that more often than not, most people are going to be doing a straight line pull most of the time. So, it's only maybe an issue on the smaller number of times when you need to use a block. In the end, winching is dangerous, and it can be hard on the equipment involved. If you're not comfortable with something, and think a different option would put you more at ease, by all means, use that method. If at any time, I feel like my ring isn't serving it's purpose, I'll go back to the traditional block. But, I feel pretty comfortable with the thought of using mine for now. So at the end of the day, you have to put your faith in the equipment you feel comfortable with.

 

But you won't have double the pulling power of the winch. You're losing a bunch of winch pull to friction. For a double line pull in a frictionless system, the load in the line should be 1/2 of the load in a single line pull. In the video, the load for the single line pull was 1140 kg, and for the snatch block the load was 580 kg. For the ring it was 900kg. So in their scenario you've got 320kg of additional line load over the snatch block because of friction, which mostly negates the point of doing a double line pull to begin with since you've only knocked off 20% from the single line winch load.

I do get your point that if your winch is spec'd appropriately, most of us are only using snatch blocks to re-direct. But to me there's no point in owning a rarely used worse tool when the better tool costs the same and is only a few pounds heavier.

Plus, my truck is fat and I will probably need every bit of that double line winch pull some day

 

Those are good points, but just remember, the snatch block in the video is brand new looking. And, I'm sure most people are going to keep theirs as clean and functional as possible. But, in those really bad situations, they're gonna get dropped in muddy water, and dipped down into it etc during extraction. And over time they will have more resistance than a brand new out of the box block will. So, that 320kg drops to even less after that. But the ring will always have the same friction, with no ill effects of getting wet etc. And 20 years later it will still be the same. But again, everyone has to have faith in the recovery tools they choose, so maybe it's not for everyone. I'm certainly not trying to sell anyone on them. But for me I think it's worth the extra friction loss with my set up. That could change, but I don't really want to go back to greasy snatch blocks if I can help it. I like being able keep the ring inside my truck .. hell I can even leave it on the seat without worry of it getting it all nasty. But if the ring proves to be unable to perform for my needs, I will go back to blocks.

 

Doing a single line pull on this excursion, I broke my winch line before he moved.


Should’ve run a two part from the get go. With the two part line setup. I was barely able to break him loose. Almost had to run a 3 part. This thing is heavy and was frozen in. I had tied myself off to a tree as well

https://youtu.be/CDHEnfDWyTg

 

There are a few critiques of issues with that video around, and as with all evidence based studies it would be nice to see someone redo the test for verification, and to address the issues (like load vehicle in different positions for different parts of the test).

 

Yeah I hear ya. I would venture that even a snatch block with a nearly frozen bearing would still function way better. And worst case it ends up completely frozen and then it's a ring. I know how I maintain my equipment and tools so that's definitely not a concern for me and recovery is always messy business, so I'm not concerned about getting dirty at that point. But, to each their own! Cheers to a good conversation regardless!

 

Jeebus that thing was stuck! I think one of the biggest benefits of the double line pull is being able to recover a vehicle much bigger than yours, as you have demonstrated. Thanks for sharing that, Archimedes would be proud!

 

Agreed. It's all food for thought no matter which tool you elect to use.

 

By the way, I did find the vid of the ring with block velcroed on to prevent it from coming out of the ring groove.

https://youtu.be/Bd524A9rtdo

 

Also, I think this guys test of rings vs snatch blocks is probably a little thorough than the previous vid that's been posted. And yes, it still shows that a single line pull is the best, and that a snatch block uses less friction than the ring. But without rewatching the other vid, I'd say his findings were that the difference is much closer than previously thought. And his test measures pressure on each side of the recovery block,ring. Anyway, just more info for those who like getting into the nitty gritty of things..

https://youtu.be/m9NEI_KV7_c

 

Definitely an improved test setup. Still not a very good pulley, but probably good enough for most situations. Though the Factor 55 ring appears to be teflon coated which may be significant. It would be interesting to see how long that coating lasts and how important it is.

 

Or may not be a factor at all, just fairy dust.

[QUOTE/]It would be interesting to see how long that coating lasts and how important it is.[/QUOTE]

Doubt we'll ever know if it's important. And, I suspect it will wear dependent on the amount of use. Personally, I suspect that as far as rings go, polished aluminum might be the better of any finish. But, I'm just guessing there.