Matt's Off Road recovery discusses this on several of his videos- especially after the guy was killed about a year ago when somebody used their drop hitch to try to pull somebody out of a mud hole... it broke, flew through the guy's windshield and killed him on the spot . There are several videos now on this subject and it might be wise to check them out if you intend to do this. Matt also sells some kinetic pulling straps that help with pulling people out of bad situations when brute pulling power won't do it...
There is another site on line and I can't remember their name that refutes some of Matt's advice in recovery by showing extreme destructive testing on towing straps, shackles, and other equipment. I can't seem to find the video at the moment...
I've done the recovery thing many times over the years when buds were stuck while we were four wheeling or got into bad situations one way or another when out in the pucky brush and never gave it much thought- but something to think about...
Also, everyone is posting the listed strength of given bolts and pins but that is in stress- not in shear. Shear numbers are a whole different story
Back when I was a youngin, shear was typically calculated at 50% tensile. But that applies for both hitch pins and bolts - so kind of a push. But using a hitch pin means that if it does shear, your victim's family would go after the hitch pin manufacturer, and hopefully not you. Especially since you've now put this out onto the interwebs.
And yes, I'd make dang sure I was using attachment points designed for recovery, especially in light of what happened to that poor dude in AZ. Sam posted what he uses, and its similar to what I use as well. So do as Sheister says, and do a little video watching.
https://www.roadandtrack.com/news/a41300347/father-killed-in-off-road-recovery-accident/
