BURLEY, Idaho — With thousands of miles of dirt, sand and snow, Idaho offers nearly limitless opportunities for four-wheeling, off-roading, and rallying.
For many, the adventure's not complete until someone gets stuck. For people who push their vehicles to the limits getting rowdy in the backcountry, there is a kinetic recovery rope, made right here in Idaho.
“I’ve been doing it for about 10 years, just going out and exploring the Idaho backcountry,” said Alan Clawson, co-founder of Yankum Ropes. "We just like to go out and have fun, and of course you just get stuck."
Yankum Ropes got its start four years ago, when Clawson, who grew up in Rupert, and Jade Schenk from Burley, began ordering tow straps from a manufacturer in Texas and selling them to the customer.
But when supply challenges during the Covid-19 pandemic slowed the operation to a crawl, they saw an opportunity.
"We looked at this as a whole and said, ‘ok we want to grow this into a large company and the only way to do that is to take control of some of that process,’" Schenk said.
They invested in manufacturing equipment to transform high-quality nylon threads into yarn, and that yarn gets woven into double-braided rope, right here in Burley.
People who know about off-road recovery know the value of a kinetic recovery rope. Different than a tow strap, cable or chain, Yankum's kinetic ropes stretch up to 30 percent, before snapping back into place.
As Clawson puts it, the stretch increases the rope's ability to transfer energy from the non-stuck vehicle to the other vehicle. This is important when the rescuer is in the same slippery mess as the rig needing rescued.
"If you're on black ice and trying to recover your friend, you're not going to pull very hard 'cause you're just going to spin your tires,:” Clawson said. “But you still might to be able to move a little bit. Well with that momentum you can bounce on the end of the rope on a slippery surface - whether that's black ice or greasy mud or sand or whatever, and have enough pulling force to dislodge whatever else is stuck.”
The kinetic rope’s ability to amplify pulling power is part of what gives Yankum their appeal.
“You can recover things that are bigger and heavier than you are," Clawson said.
Yankum has gained popularity with off-road recovery personalities with big YouTube followings, and word has spread about the made-in-Idaho recovery tools.
Schenk said they are proud of the quality and testing of their products, made with top-quality nylon and overbuilt splices.
"You're dealing with dangerous situations because you're receiving heavy, heavy ,heavy equipment,” Schenk said. “It's a very serious thing that you're doing, and so we take that really serious.
“We also want our customers to know that it's made here in Idaho, in the US and they can be very proud of that."
CORRECTION: An earlier version of this story stated that Yankum got its start importing ropes. Yankum has clarified that they acquired ropes from a manufacturer in Texas, and have never imported product from overseas.
