Kinetic recovery strap
A strap engineered to stretch 20–30% so it absorbs snatch energy. Not interchangeable with a low-stretch tow strap.
In practice
A kinetic strap is engineered elasticity. Stretching 20–30% under load, it stores the energy of a moving recovery vehicle and releases it into the stuck vehicle over a longer interval, which is what frees a vehicle that a steady pull cannot move — and it does so at lower peak force than a sudden snatch on a static line.
A tow strap does the opposite job: minimal stretch, for slow steady pulls. Substituting one for the other is a leading cause of strap failure and of fatal projectile injuries, because a low-stretch strap in a kinetic recovery converts the whole of that energy into a shock load on the hardware. Recover with rated recovery points rather than ball hitches, keep bystanders well clear of the line, and never join two straps with a metal shackle — the shackle becomes the projectile.