(Full disclosure: I pulled this information and images off the Montana Overland and 4x4 Adventures Facebook page, and the Mojave County 4x4 Recovery page. I felt it was justified given the gravity of the event and its lessons. Thanks to Dave Anderson for the heads up.)

Ryan Robert Woods was killed when part of a hitch-ball assembly that broke free during a kinetic “recovery” flew back through his windshield and impacted his head. He had been driving his Ford Super Duty through a local, muddy play area when he became stuck and called a friend for assistance.

At first I thought, Here we go again. But on reading more details the situation was even worse than it seems. Ryan’s friend (reportedly an experienced 4x4 driver and racer) not only made the grievous mistake of using a hitch ball as the anchor point for the strap, it was a drop hitch, with a ball positioned a good ten inches below the receiver. This created a massive multiplication of force due to the leverage involved when the strap snapped taut. As you can see from the photo below, the entire assembly broke off at the receiver, creating a projectile easily ten or fifteen pounds in weight.

But even that’s not the end of the mistakes made here. According to the post, the strap was not a proper, nylon, kinetic strap with designed-in stretch, but a non-elastic polyester tow strap.

To complete the tragedy, Ryan’s wife of 23 years, along with their three children, were in the truck with him when he was killed. They will have to live with that scene in their heads for the rest of their lives.

Don’t use hitch balls for recovery purposes. Any recovery purposes. And don’t use non-kinetic straps for kinetic recoveries. Even if you’re towing someone across a parking lot, a kinetic strap or rope provides an extra measure of safety.