Recovery gear
- Thread starter txbemis69
- Start date
I’ll get roasted for this but the last piece of recovery gear you need is a winch. A kinetic rope, 30’ tow strap, hard shackle, multiple soft shackles and a good shovel will get you out of most situations. While a which is nice to have because it gives you good control on a pull vs a kinetic rope. I believe for most recoveries it’s faster to pull out a kinetic rope or a strap. My TJ came with a winch and in the 2 yrs I’ve had my TJ i have never used it for a vehicle recovery. I have used my winch to move 3 large storage sheds. This past weekend while wheeling in the desert we came across a knucklehead with his car stuck in the sand 1/2 mile off the pavement. Used my Wizard soft shackle and a buddies tow strap and had him out and everything put away in under 5 min.
Reading through this and other threads I feel like location plays a big part. We've got snow, ice, mud but usually a fair amount of trees to anchor on. I've had to pull a line to stop from slipping sideways off a ledge, had someone else link a secondary tow strap to my ass end as back up. I'd rather have to many options than not enough
Then I will counter and argue that lockers will keep you from getting stuck in those situations in the first place.
Or they can dig all 4 wheels in. Just depends on the circumstances!
Ridiculous. There will always be a deeper, taller, inconvenient or harder obstacle that lockers won’t get you out of.
I’ve tried all the goodies: tow strap, hilift, kinetic strap, exhaust jack etc. They all work.. to an extent.
A winch is the only thing that has thus far worked 100% of the time for me.
I’ll accept that using a winch requires a set of safety practices, and if one isn’t willing to follow them, it is better to have no winch at all.
My argument is that lockers are often more effective than the goodies to the extent that they will often prevent you from getting stuck in the first place. After that, one usually needs a winch.
I have a brand new never used ARB strap of some sort, a friend bought me. I've needed my winch to self recover and help others multiple times.
@jjvw if you recall Moab rim a couple years ago, the jeep we pulled out of the crack would have been considerably damaged had we tried anything other than winches to get him out.
@jjvw if you recall Moab rim a couple years ago, the jeep we pulled out of the crack would have been considerably damaged had we tried anything other than winches to get him out.
Winches are only good until they break... arguably I've learned at this point to just about always use a snatch block/recovery ring.
Kinetic ropes are only good if you're wheeling with competent friends.
Tow straps might work in a pinch...but it seems like I find a collection of broken and failed ones in and around every minor mud hole.
-Mac
Kinetic ropes are only good if you're wheeling with competent friends.
Tow straps might work in a pinch...but it seems like I find a collection of broken and failed ones in and around every minor mud hole.
-Mac
You are both right. If it is used for overhead lifting, it is a hoist.
If I recall, we used a winch on the straight pull while we had a second rig perpendicular with a strap to keep the body away from the rock wall.
Now I'm trying to remember. I was thinking we had a winch on the back to keep him stable. A winch on the side to keep him off the rock and then a winch pulling him forward. I would have thought we'd have more control with a winch pulling him away from the rock.
IIRC its called an ECHS - External Cargo Handling System. The Chinook does the lifting, the hook just holds & drops the sling load.
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You are right. I believe we had two winches going. One to pull forward. And a second to yank sideways and stabilize. And there was a lot of resetting as we went.