Can Tow Straps Snap? And If They Do, How Dangerous Is It?

People who are operating vehicles, especially those working within the heavy-duty sector, are rightly concerned about their safety, and the safety of others around them. We all know that steel chains and wire ropes used for pulleys and winches can handle serious weight, but we also all know that if something goes wrong, it can be disastrous!

So as health and safety clamps down on steel, and is moving towards safer, lighter synthetic options, many of our customers want to know how safe are our polyester tow straps, and more importantly, they want to know, can tow straps snap? 

Let's break it down.

When we test our towing straps, the initial test is carried out on a testing bed, where each end of the strap is connected with a shackle (through the loop eyes), and the strap is stretched to full length, so there is no slack in the strap. As the machine increases, this applies more pressure to the strap. As it reaches a certain amount of force, the machine then stops and holds that strap there for a minimum amount of time, this is to make sure that these straps cannot only pull weight but pull weight regularly and for prolonged lengths of time without any issues. 

After this, the machine continues applying force until the strap snaps. We repeat this process across multiple tow straps, recording each failure point. Instead of averaging the results, we always use the lowest recorded value and deduct an additional 10%. This ensures our minimum breaking strength (MBS) is well below actual test results, providing an extra margin of safety. 

After this, we then take our straps out into live environments and try our best to replicate how users will operate these straps. A test bed is great, but pulls in a straight horizontal line, and we understand in the real world there are likely tress, and objects blocking the path, so some recoveries will be carried out at unusual angles, some vehicles will be higher, so the strap won't be running at the horizontal. And yes, of course, we experience strap failures during testing, and this will always happen!

Our tow straps are made from polyester, which has minimal stretch compared to nylon, providing key safety benefits. During break tests—both in controlled environments and real-world scenarios—ricochet is rare. This is because polyester tow straps do not store significant energy due to their low elasticity. While certain factors, such as strap angle or unconventional pull directions, can affect behavior, we conduct tests that closely replicate real-life scenarios. In at least 90% of failures, the result is minimal ricochet.

We have seen many videos on YouTube and other platforms where people recommend placing a sandbag, or other equally heavy object over the strap, with the belief that this will prevent straps from having any ricochet!! DO NOT DO THIS!!!!  If you are recovering a heavy-duty vehicle, maybe 70-80k lb GVW, the level of force applied on that strap is astronomical. If that strap fails, yes, it might stop the webbing from flying, but what happens to the bag? Where does that go? Would you rather have some polyester webbing hit your vehicle or a sandbag?

So to sum up. Yes, tow straps can and do fail. Can they ricochet? Yes of course, but the severity of this depends on the material used, the more elastic, the more stretch, the greater the ricochet. 

Is there anything you can do to prevent strap failure? In some cases, yes, make sure to follow all guidelines, use the appropriate equipment, and rated shackles, and connect to suitable points. Does this mean it will not fail? Again, no! There are so many factors that influence the outcome. 

The main point we want to highlight here is that regardless of what material you use, at some point in time you will experience a strap fail, this is 100% guaranteed! But we can also guarantee that synthetic straps that fail are much safer than steel and wire rope! The vehicles and operators are much safer and this is the most important factor!