- [Announcer] Warning: The following show features stunts
performed either by professionals,
or under the supervision of professionals.
Accordingly...
- [Josh] TrailBuilt Off-Road.
- [Announcer] And the producers must insist
that no one attempt to recreate or reenact any stunt
or activity performed on this show.
(electric guitar lick)
(cable snaps) (energetic rock music)
(cables snapping)
(electronic beep)
- One of the most dangerous parts about winching
is when something fails on you.
Whether it's a hook, or it's a clevis,
or maybe even the snatch block, or a strap,
if something fails on you,
and all of that tension is built up in that steel cable,
or even that synthetic rope line,
it's gonna come flying back at a whole bunch of force
that could potentially take your head off.
That's why you see me all dressed up,
with my gloves, albeit welding gloves,
and my jacket, and my hard hat,
is because today, we're gonna see what happens, exactly,
when we break some of those winch lines.
But instead of using the actual winch line, to break that,
we're gonna be using ratchet straps that are rated
at multiple different types of weight ratings.
We have 2000 pound weight ratings,
we have, I think one's 5,000 pounds,
and I think one of them is actually 10,000 pounds.
So we're gonna break those,
and see exactly how far that hook flies,
or what happens, exactly.
We're gonna be safe about it, but we're gonna have some fun.
So, you guys ready? Let's go.
All right, so our first strap that we're gonna be using,
guys, now, this is a 2000 pound rated ratchet strap.
So we already have part of our configuration all set up.
We have our Anthem Power Wagon set up over here
as the winch vehicle.
Now, that one has the Warn Zeon 12,000 pound 12-S
for synthetic rope on that vehicle.
So we have a tree saver wrapped around that tree there,
along with a snatch block, and then our winch line
is gonna be running to this weak link.
It's basically the 2000 pound ratchet strap
that we're hoping is gonna break first
instead of everything else.
And then, just over here, we have our tree saver,
which is a little bit bigger strap,
that we're gonna hook on
the other end of the ratchet strap to,
and then, well, we're gonna give her the berries
and see exactly what happens.
Now, over here, we have our cardboard Josh
that's gonna possibly be the person in the danger zone,
shall they be in the danger zone,
and if the hook actually hits him,
we're gonna see exactly what happens.
We're gonna do it without a winch rope blanket,
and then we're gonna go ahead and put a weighted blanket
on the winch line, so that way it absorbs that energy
and brings that winch line down to the ground
like it's supposed to.
But we're also gonna do it without it,
just to see what can all happen.
(gentle upbeat music)
(men chattering indistinctly)
We're gonna be standing back over here, by the Power Wagon,
out of harm's way,
out of what I like to refer to as "the danger zone,"
just in case something does break
in the direction that it goes flying,
even towards the Power Wagon,
that we're gonna be plenty clear,
not that we get injured or hit
with some kind of flying object or anything like that.
I mean, it's alright for me, I'm wearing my hard hat.
I'm gonna be okay anyways, but these guys,
we're really just caring about their safety.
So, I guess with that said,
we're all ready to pull and see what happens.
All right, bud.
Well, I want to say I really appreciate you,
you know, doing this for us.
I, I understand the sacrifices,
and I couldn't ask for a better person
to really put theirselves in harm's way,
so, really appreciate it.
(electronic beep)
(winch whirring)
(upbeat rock music)
Whoo! All right.
(cable snaps)
Oh!
(cable snapping)
All right, well, I was definitely not expecting that hook
to go flying as hard and as fast as it did
after that ratchet strap broke.
That was impressive.
Actually, it was a little bit scary,
because, I mean, all the winching I've done,
I've never actually had something break,
and to watch this weak point break,
and that hook go flying like it did,
it was kinda scary to know that if somebody was standing
in that danger zone,
that they're gonna get seriously hurt, if not worse.
So that first run was without a weighted blanket,
now this time we're gonna put this Warn weighted blanket
on over the winch line,
and what that's designed to do is, obviously,
catch that energy from the ratchet strap breaking,
and then the weighted blanket is supposed to,
it's designed to bring it right down to the ground,
kill that energy,
so we'll go ahead and see if it actually does its job.
All right, so one of the things that some guys say
is you should put it closer to the hook,
because as soon as that, whatever it is, breaks,
that you're winching, the weighted blanket
would catch that hook right away, and bring it down.
Now, I'm gonna put it just a little bit away from the hook,
I'm not exactly gonna put it right--
(Cameraman snickers)
Josh, over there, he's just dancing around with the wind,
but, I'm not gonna put it exactly right in the middle,
I am gonna put it a little bit closer
to this end of the hook,
just so that there isn't too much energy that builds up
with that breaking of the ratchet strap
before it hits the winch blanket.
I kind of wanted the hook to catch the winch blanket
right after it breaks.
So, if that makes sense.
All right, so we'll go ahead and put it there
and see what happens.
(upbeat rock music)
(cable snapping)
Yeah, wow. Look at this.
So that didn't even go,
the hook didn't even go flying
all the way into cardboard Josh, here.
It actually fell way short,
so really, actually, the blanket really did its job
and caught that hook and brought it to the ground.
I don't even...
There it is.
It's buried under the leaves a little bit, here.
But yeah, before, the hook actually went flying,
like, all the way, (laughs) maybe not that hard,
but pretty much.
They went flying all the way, like,
where behind cardboard Josh is.
Compared to having the weighted blanket on it,
it actually fell right here.
So even a few feet short of its previous distance.
So that makes a huge difference.
That is definitely needed
for any time anybody's gonna be winching,
is using a weighted blanket.
Now, our next strap, these were rated at 2000 pounds.
Our next ones are rated at,
I believe they're 5,000 pound weight rating capacity.
So it's only gonna get better from here.
So this one's the 5,000 pound ratchet strap.
So this one here, this is 5,000 pounds.
It took a lot to break those 2000 pound ones,
and, granted, so the weight ratings are always a lot lower
than what the actual breaking strength,
or breaking rating, is.
So that 2000 pound one might have been, I don't know,
just guessing, maybe it's 5,000 pounds.
So this one's a 5,000 pound rated strap.
It's definitely a lot beefier.
I'm gonna be really interested
to see what's gonna happen here, but who knows?
I mean, this one might even be rated
at 10,000 pounds breaking strength, I'm not sure.
But, I mean, we're gonna put it to the test
and see what happens.
Now, this time we're not gonna have
that weighted blanket on here,
so that hook, that thing's gonna go zinging that way.
And hopefully nothing happens.
There's nothing over there.
So if it does, it's either gonna hit a tree
or cardboard Josh or whatever.
(Cameraman and Josh laugh)
I mean, that's about it, so...
It's gonna be quite interesting, though.
It's gonna be pretty fun.
(energetic rock music)
(cable snaps)
(Josh laughing)
- [Cameraman] Holy shit!
(cable snapping)
- (laughs) Dude, did you see that?
- [Cameraman] That was awesome.
- That ripped cardboard Josh in half!
Holy...
- [Crew Member] (laughs) Shit!
- The GoPro probably got it.
Wow. Wow.
Damn. Holy shit, look at this.
It broke the hook. The strap didn't even break.
It literally just broke the hook.
Strap's, uh...
This baby's still good. Could use this.
Heck, yeah. No point in throwing away a good strap.
That's crazy.
(audio fast-forwarding)
The lead for the hook.
Holy shit! Ooh.
Now, imagine that's somebody's legs.
I mean, that hook went flying.
That was the worst I've ever seen it.
That was crazy.
I mean, that thing went zinging right through,
and then, actually, that hook ended up all the way
over here, look at that.
It went flying all the way over here.
That thing would've just kept going.
I mean, if the line would've been a lot longer,
it would've just kept going.
That's a hell of a projectile.
This thing would break through your windshield,
break through your body, break through your head,
this would break through anything.
That little hard hat I was wearing before,
that wouldn't have done shit against this thing.
That would've seriously killed somebody. (scoffs)
All right, so now we got it re-hooked up
with another 5,000 pound ratchet strap on here.
The last one snapped,
this hook went flying all the way past that tree,
took out cardboard Josh, just above the knees.
That mofo is, he's hurting, he's...
We're gonna have to get him heli-chopped outta here.
Is that even a word,
heli-chopped? (Cameraman laughs)
We got the Warn winch, the weighted blanket, on here,
on this end again.
Now we're gonna redo that test
with the weighted blanket on here,
see what happens this time, because, man,
last time without that weighted blanket on here,
with that 5,000 pound ratchet strap,
that hook just went flying as fast and hard
as it possibly could.
Definitely would've killed somebody
if that was a real person.
So now let's see what that weighted blanket does,
and hopefully saves cardboard Josh's life.
Let's go.
(energetic rock music) (winch whirring)
(cable snapping)
This is crazy.
That hook went flying,
even with that Warn weighted blanket on there, it's still...
I mean, it zinged.
Like, my opinion,
I wouldn't even think that Warn weighted blanket
is heavy enough.
Now, there is ways
that you can add additional weight in here.
That's what these little pockets are for,
so if we thought that this wasn't heavy enough,
we could always put more rocks in there, for example,
or maybe put some more clevises inside of there.
Granted, the more weight you add to this weighted blanket,
the more of a projectile you're gonna have.
So I guess there's a balance there,
but, even still, I'd rather have more weight in here
to help cushion that force of the hook coming at it,
than to not have enough weight on it
and it goes flying and hits somebody or something.
Use a weighted blanket when you're winching,
have something to draw that energy down,
and just have common sense about it.
You know, don't be playing with fate
when you have some sort of projectile like this
that could kill somebody.
I think this is gonna be our last test.
We now have a 10,000 pound weight rated ratchet strap
hooked up to the end of the hook here,
hooked up to the tree, and 10,000 pounds breaking point,
I gotta admit, it's gonna be kind of freaky.
The last one that we had on there was 5,000 pounds,
and, man, when that thing broke,
that sent that hook just flying, as you guys saw.
But what we're gonna do is we're gonna have
this 10,000 pound weight rated ratchet strap on there,
and let's say you don't have,
like, that Warn weighted blanket.
What do you use?
Well, it could be a hoodie, it could be a blanket,
it could be a heavy jacket.
You can even lay a log across the winch line
to help catch that hook as, you know,
if something did break, it would catch the hook
and bring that energy and suck it up
and, you know, throw it at the ground or whatever.
But we do have this heavy jacket.
Now, this does feel about as heavy
as that Warn weighted blanket is,
except, because we're using a 10,000 pound ratchet strap,
which, you know, let's just take a third of that.
A third of 10,000 pounds is 3,300 pounds.
Let's add that on to 10,000 pounds,
and let's just say that breaking strength
is 13,300 pounds, right?
Even at 13,000 breaking pounds,
that hook is gonna go flying beyond belief,
and it's gonna be sketchy as all heck out here.
So we just wanna play it safe,
we're gonna do this one last time.
We're gonna put a jacket on there,
in case you don't have anything else to use,
and we're gonna weight the jacket down,
and really help, and hope that it catches that hook
and brings it to the ground right away
and doesn't cause any serious damage.
So, let's go.
Alright, so I'm gonna put it on here like this
so I can find some rocks or something like that,
so I can throw a bunch of rocks in the pocket.
Maybe, I don't know, 5 to 10 pounds worth of rocks.
(audio fast-forwarding)
For a walk, just to find these.
I'm also gonna tie the sleeves together on here,
because the last thing I want to happen
is that strap breaks,
and this goes flinging upwards like this,
and sends that jacket to the moon.
We don't want that to happen either, (sighs)
so we have to call Elon Musk at SpaceX,
have him get our jacket back.
I think we're all set up
to try this 10,000 pound ratchet strap out.
See what happens.
(winch whirring)
(cable snaps)
All right, good to go! Wrap her up, guys.
(upbeat rock music)
(cable snapping)
All right, well, that was quite the anticipation.
We, literally, were individually, one by one,
hitting the button on the winch remote
and just waiting for something to happen,
and it would just get tighter and tighter and tighter,
and all of a sudden, bam!
Snapped!
And the winch hook just went flying,
but it didn't have as much velocity
and it didn't go as hard and fast as it did
without that winch blanket on there.
Now, granted, this time we used the jacket,
put some rocks in the pocket.
It really did a good job at sucking down that energy
and almost stopping it.
And, actually, it did stop it
before it even hit cardboard Josh.
So it did its job. It actually worked really well.
It was quite scary for a minute there,
because, I mean, we're sitting in the Ram,
we're tucked down, we're underneath,
you know, where the eye level is for the dash.
And all of a sudden we hear, "wham!"
Big loud pop, the whole truck just shakes,
and we look up and everything's on the ground,
and we're like, "all right, what happened?"
Right?
So what ended up happening is, the hook pulled open.
It literally just bent open the hook on this one end here,
so it didn't even actually break the strap itself.
So obviously on this 10,000 pound ratchet strap,
it was the hook that was the weak point.
But nonetheless,
that hook on the winch line still went flying.
But again, the jacket brought it down.
So quite the interesting test,
quite the surreal sort of situation out here,
you know, you never know what's gonna happen.
Granted, we took all the safety precautions
that you could possibly take.
We actually had a weighted winch blanket
on the other side of the winch line
to help prevent anything from hitting the truck.
And, of course, we were in the truck all tucked down,
but the moral of the whole story is, guys,
is that if you are gonna winch, to always be prepared.
Actually, like Warren's saying, "be prepared,"
is, you know, be prepared for all types of situations,
to put safety first, you know, make that a priority,
have your hooks set up the right way, use your tree savers,
use the rated equipment that you're supposed to use,
make sure the equipment is in good condition.
Check the straps and ropes for any kind of frays,
make sure that the rope is in good condition
and not that it's all degradated by, like, UV rays,
if it's not all discolored and everything like that,
if it is, obviously, you want to get it changed out,
but it's really just important to make sure
that all your equipment is in good working condition.
Make sure you're out of the danger zone,
anywhere away from the area where you're winching,
just in case something does break.
Also make sure that you're using the winch blankets,
make sure that the lines are weighted down,
and just be overly cautious.
Don't rush it, take your time.
You've got plenty of time.
If people are waiting,
let 'em wait, and just be safe about it.
Who knows, could potentially save you
and somebody else's life.
So, I think that was a pretty awesome test.
I hope you guys enjoyed the video.
Keep in mind that you can find winches right on our website,
on TrailBuilt Off-Road,
you can find 'em in the accessories store,
either by typing in, "winch,"
or if you search by weight category
you can find them as well,
but, accessories page on TrailBuilt Off-Road,
you can find 'em there.
And guys, if you do have any additional information
to add to our winching test here,
anything else that would help prevent anybody
from getting hurt, maybe some more safety tips,
anything like that,
definitely make sure and let us know in the comments below.
And guys, as always, we appreciate all of you for watching,
and all of your support.
I'm Josh from TrailBuilt,
and we'll see you guys
(ratchet strap clinks)
out on the trails.
(gentle upbeat music)
(laughs) What the fuck?
(Cameraman laughs)
(gentle upbeat music)