4X4 Recovery DEATH || My Reaction and thoughts!

47 Comments

1. I’m passionate about helping the 4wd community and I'm developing an online course so i can help as many people as I can to get out there and wheel well on their 4wd adventures. To register your interest and for free and exclusive training videos visit http://madmatt4wd.com.au/register

2. USE STAP WITH STEEL HOOK OR CHAIN U WILL DIE

3. I've been wondering if that hitch had fatigued cracks and was waiting for a snatch to catestrophically.

4. I've been witness of a couple of recovery fatalities over the years. It's sad for me to say that a simple blanket or jacket placed over the line will help absorb the energy released during a failure.

5. My concern is where to attach to the towed vehicle?

6. Thanks for the reminder

7. Great video! Thanks for reinforcing the real risks of kinetic recoveries using a tow ball.

8. Using a cheap drop hitch is always asking for trouble.

9. Where you Buy the f-250 push bar ?

10. Thx a lot!

11. Every days a school day. Thank you.

12. you cant help stupid— 90% of these cowboy hardcore 4wdrivers are brainless fools

13. Seriously check out bog-out it uses your wheels and tyres to create a winch meaning that there is no shock load and you can winch yourself out simply by driving.

14. Great tips. Another product on the market you should look at is bog-out made in Australia.

15. This comment is a year to late. I have pulled out many vehicles and this has changed my whole perspective on vehicle recovery. I have never heard it explained like this before and I will alway take my time and do it correct for my safety and the other person.

16. I am not aware of any 4WD channel that comes close to yours when it comes to teaching off-roading to mere mortals. Thank you.

17. Matt, I'm going on my first off road adventure tomorrow. I just bought a used 4Runner. I have a tow hitch and then I bought a shackle and a tow strap. Thank you for showing me how to properly use these. I'm going to show your videos to everyone thats new.

18. Excellent video!!

19. How about using a bog out? It’s just made of rope and acts as a winch powered by the engine. In this situation it would be better than an electric winch as it can lift the vehicle vertically.

20. I always remove my ball hitch and push the recovery strap loop inside my receiver and then put pin through it. I also try to dig out to make more of a ramp. We mainly do beach sand recovery down here in south east Texas. roofing shingles work great for laying down a path. I learned a lot from this video. Thank you for taking the time to save a future life or injury.

21. If not other dedicated equipment is available, one can use the pin to loop kinetic rope – for that to catastrophically failed it would require a full shear, which is unlikely – the pin may bent and you will have a hard time getting the rope out but you will be alive

22. No 1 cares he knew the risk he was taking all you guys think your bad asses in 4×4’s not so bad after all 😂😂😂

23. Oh my oath – am at 10:25 and you're saying the guy doing the recovery didn't use a kinetic strap….. the force going through the vehicle at that "connect point" would have been massive. No wonder the tow-hitch snapped….. absolutely awful to even contemplate…….

24. Respect 💯🤠🤘👍

25. Very well explained

26. Indeed sorrowful. I very much hope that everyone heals in a way that brings them comfort.

    Thank you for the great information in this video.

    I was taught to recover by a WW2 tanker and he always told me we don't recover with a road towing hitch – and that if I wasn't comfortable being hit by anything attached to either end of the chain/ strap/ rope, then solidly secure more weight on the exact center of that chain/ strap / rope.

27. I would like too know your guys opinion. Hopefully I explain this right but I've been putting my stap in my receiver and using the pin to keep it in what's your thoughts.

28. Very informative Matt. RIP to the man that lost his life.

29. I don't like hooking up to anything heavy that can stay hooked to the strap if doing kenetic. It honestly always makes me very nervous. A 30% stretch recovery rope has a stupid amount of speed stored in it. I've seen them snap and crack like a whip when they recoil. I also have a couple bags of lead shot I put over the strap to hopefully shoot it under the vehicle or at least into the grill if it snaps. I saw one wrap around a sandbag and melt to itself but that was long ago when guys were using rock climbing dynamic rope double or tripled up. I assume the new stuff is much better. I don't know. Kenetic recovery looks cool but I don't think I'm going to do it again after watching this. I don't mind if I hurt myself doing something stupid but killing someone else would be absolutely horrible. This shit is supposed to be fun. Dead friends isn't fun. Prayers to the family. What a horrible thing. Thanks Matt.

30. Great video Matt. You explain things very well. Love your stuff.

31. Such a shame, RIP, amazes me how when they brake they go exactly through to where the driver is

32. They make a special Hook that goes into tow hitch !!!!! It’s for using the rope !!!!!

33. Brilliantly explained and incredibly important to know. The 'stretched rubber band' snatch strap recovery has become such a ubiquitous habit in Australia that we often, to our detriment, ignore all the other, safer options, instead going straight to the most dangerous choice of all, first up. Keep up the great work, Matt. You and Ronnie Dahl are always my first choice when it comes to sensible, thoughtful, educational videos on the 4×4 scene.
    Cheers, Remote River Man

34. Agreed 4 wheel driving should be banned, not only for the unnecessary destruction of the environment, but now the obvious danger to life it is.

35. Thank you for this video – it really helps better understand the different methods and how they work! I hadn't really thought about the difference between tow and kinetic recovery, but will keep that in mind for future recoveries.

36. 100 percent

37. What about a D ring on a hitch with a soft shackle attached to it? Is that safe enough?

38. I see that those drawbars are tubes. The genuine 2023 Ford Ranger drawbar is solid and much stronger. Not that I am a fan of receiver hitches as they rattle and the drawbar is only attached by one plain pin to the tubular frame. The old type hitch using a flanged tow ball attached to a vertical frame using two big bolts is far superior and the lowball can be made with a jaw incorporated. The proper receiver drawbar for recovery as shown is not yet commonly available in the UK as the Ranger is the first to have a receiver hitch in the UK. Personally having used one for a short while now, I have come to the firm conclusion that it an inferior and less secure design to the hitch I have on all my other vehicles. Search for Dixon Bate five ton hitch.

39. 5 minutes can save your life!! Take an extra 5 minutes to rig up correctly. 😢

40. I did a 4WD course where a whole day was spent on winching. Different methods in a safe area, using all the proper ratified equipment. Then carried out a real winch recovery for an assessment. Team work. Communication. Knowledge of how each piece of equipment works AND inspection for damage to all equipment. It's definitely worth it. Thanks for a top vid!

41. If everyone did a 4WD course, but then that would be a perfect world.

42. The unfortunate death was caused by ignorance, not the hitch. This recovery failure was such an outlier it can't be considered as proof. The guy did everything wrong, from the huge drop hitch, to snatching with a strap against a COMPLETELY buried truck. If he was trying to break something he couldn't have done more.

    With a normal hitch trailer hitch towing a normally stuck truck out with a kinetic strap this never would have happened period.

43. Deepest condolences to the families evolved xo. Thanks @madmatt as a newbie to 4x4ing this is great information

44. My partner always lift the bonnet,is this a safe practice,

45. Substandard equipment. I highly recommend BULLET PROOF HITCHE D-Ring (The entire pachage is Rated 36,000 lbs, MBL)

46. Excellent video ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

47. I was a heavy wrecker operator for a few years and i completely agree with what you said. Doing a static recovery off a tow ball is relatively safe, but shock loading a tow ball is just plain dangerous…

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