how to pull a van out of the mud?

[perelaar]

Got called by a friend yesterday, he got stuck with his (fully loaded) van in a boggy field. Long story on why and how he came to be there is not to the point; in any case he asked me to pull him out.

So off I went with the Terrano and my 2 (!)weeks old towing strap. I did get him out without a problem, but I'd like to know if I did it correctly and safely...

What I did:
- positioned the terrano with the back end towards the back end of the van (did not dare to drive around, for fear of getting bogged down myself and because I did not want to damage the field even more)
- hooked up the strap to the towing loop under his back bumper
- hooked up the other loop on the strap to my tow hook

In the end it worked, but I don't think a tow hook is designed for this kind of towing. Or am I wrong?