First recovery items (1 Viewer)

[Thee Dude]

Hey guys!
Getting ready for my first summer in the cruiser and want to start putting together a recovery kit. I’m a broke college student so money is DEFINITELY a factor. However, I want to be safe and know that quality comes at a cost. All this being said I’ve got a shovel and a dream! I’ve been recommended a lot of different pieces of equipment to start and will attach some screenshots of carts I have on a few websites. Please let me know if you have opinions, better brands for value or recommendations on what you think best order to slowly start acquiring these items is!
Carts are from Ironman 4x4 and Rhino USA

 

[1911]

Where / what kind of terrain do you anticipate wheeling in?

I see you're in Nevada; I have wheeled a fair amount in the desert west/southwest over the years - I have never owned or seen much of a need for those traction boards at the top of your list, but YMMV. I have used a High-lift jack to get off high-center a few times. If you have some points on your truck to use a high-lift, I would buy one of those before I bought anything else.

If you're going to be wheeling in a group with other folks then yeah, some tow and/or recovery straps would be useful for sure. Personally I prefer the non-kinetic tow straps to the stretchy kinetic ones.

If you're ever going to be on your own, then eventually you will want a winch.

 

[e9999]

All these seem useful to some degree. If you are really trying to keep the cost down, I would suggest that the tow hitch and towing points are somewhat redundant, and that the deflator is not really necessary, as you can deflate manually (preferably with a gauge, but the latter is less costly). So maybe you could start with the rest.

I would further differentiate items for when you are alone and not, favoring the former. Like the towing strap would only come into play if there is another vehicle involved, but if there is, they likely would have a strap themselves or could get one, so that one seems less critical. Being stranded alone is much worse, obviously, so I would put limited funds there. As to the traction boards, my gut feeling would be that they are more useful in mud than in sand, but I don't know that for a fact. Like 1911, I never felt the need for one in the desert, though, it seems to me that with a good vehicle, some care and a shovel you are unlikely to get really stuck. Yes, a Hi-lift would be useful, also as a come along of sorts and those are not too costly. Or you could get an actual come along inexpensively, I got a nice strong used Wyeth on Craigslist for less than $50. But for both you probably also need an extension cable of sorts. The compressor is really good to have I think, but I imagine there must be good ones less expensive than that. And look for all of that used on Craigslist or Facebook. I do put out Wanted items on Craigslist if I think I may need them in the future, there is always somebody not using something and needing $.

The good news is that the most important part of your recovery list is practically free: several gallons of water...! With that and some people knowing where you will be, you will likely be safe, if possibly inconvenienced for a while if stuck.

 

[AirheadNut]

Agreed on the above, as a college student myself I can certainly sympathize with the difficulty of piecing together a recovery kit without breaking the bank.

I have never used traction boards so I can't comment on their usefulness other than to say I have very rarely been in a position where I thought they would have helped. I used to carry a hi-lift jack (even used it as a winch once to get out of a sticky spot) but have not bothered with it in my current Cruiser as I always found a better way to accomplish whatever I needed to do. It now lives in the pickup toolbox for the rare occasion when a trailer tire blows or the trailer jack gives out.

First on my list (beyond a good sturdy shovel) would be a compressor. Being able to air down your tires (and then air them back up again) makes a huge difference in how well your vehicle performs off road.

If you travel with other vehicles a tow rope and suitable vehicle attachment points can be really useful. I picked up a kinetic rope at Murdoch's for about $50 a little over a year ago and have used it a couple of times for snow recovery; it worked great. Static ropes are ok in some circumstances, but don't try to do a kinetic recovery with one.

If you primarily travel alone then a winch, tree saver and a couple of shackles is a really good investment. A snatch block makes it even more capable. I have used my winch about half a dozen times in the past 4 years, a couple of those were solo recoveries in which it saved me many hours with a shovel, at night and in deep snow.

My kit currently consists of the following, put together over the past 6-7 years:
- Compressor
- Deflator
- Factory Toyota bottle jack and handle
- Static tow strap (can be used as a winch extension)
- Kinetic recovery rope
- Winch
- Tree saver strap
- Several hard shackles
- Shovel (folding snow shovel in winter, digging shovel in summer)
- Snatch block

 

[Thee Dude]

Where / what kind of terrain do you anticipate wheeling in?

I see you're in Nevada; I have wheeled a fair amount in the desert west/southwest over the years - I have never owned or seen much of a need for those traction boards at the top of your list, but YMMV. I have used a High-lift jack to get off high-center a few times. If you have some points on your truck to use a high-lift, I would buy one of those before I bought anything else.

If you're going to be wheeling in a group with other folks then yeah, some tow and/or recovery straps would be useful for sure. Personally I prefer the non-kinetic tow straps to the stretchy kinetic ones.

If you're ever going to be on your own, then eventually you will want a winch.

Front bumper and winch are definitely on the long term list. I am mostly driving around the desert. Lots of dirt and rolling hills, occasional mud when going up to the lakes but for the most part it will be dry and moderate terrain in the summer. Light snow wheeling in the winter in the desert. As a kid my grandpa and I would just ride around with a couple of shovels and a bottle jack. we always seemed to make it home!

 

[Thee Dude]

All these seem useful to some degree. If you are really trying to keep the cost down, I would suggest that the tow hitch and towing points are somewhat redundant, and that the deflator is not really necessary, as you can deflate manually (preferably with a gauge, but the latter is less costly). So maybe you could start with the rest.

I would further differentiate items for when you are alone and not, favoring the former. Like the towing strap would only come into play if there is another vehicle involved, but if there is, they likely would have a strap themselves or could get one, so that one seems less critical. Being stranded alone is much worse, obviously, so I would put limited funds there. As to the traction boards, my gut feeling would be that they are more useful in mud than in sand, but I don't know that for a fact. Like 1911, I never felt the need for one in the desert, though, it seems to me that with a good vehicle, some care and a shovel you are unlikely to get really stuck. Yes, a Hi-lift would be useful, also as a come along of sorts and those are not too costly. Or you could get an actual come along inexpensively, I got a nice strong used Wyeth on Craigslist for less than $50. But for both you probably also need an extension cable of sorts. The compressor is really good to have I think, but I imagine there must be good ones less expensive than that. And look for all of that used on Craigslist or Facebook. I do put out Wanted items on Craigslist if I think I may need them in the future, there is always somebody not using something and needing $.

The good news is that the most important part of your recovery list is practically free: several gallons of water...! With that and some people knowing where you will be, you will likely be safe, if possibly inconvenienced for a while if stuck.

Agreed, after walking around my rig and checking it out more in depth I found that I have 4 recovery points plus two hooks that are all frame mounted. So recovery points are off the list. There are a ton of high lifts on Facebook, for cheap but I’m not sure about lifting points on my basically stock truck. Thoughts on a bottle jack vs the high lift? Always have an emergency kit with first aid, 5gallon water jug blankets, battery jumper, tools etc. just nothing specific to getting unstuck!

 

[e9999]

Check that those are actual recovery points. If you are talking about the stock thin plates with a hole type of thing, those are AFAIK only meant for tie down on the ships, not real recovery, and you may not want to pull hard on those. If you have a tow hitch though, that might be enough in a pinch.
Yes, the Hilift lifting points is an issue. Here again, the tow hitch can be used, but there is always a risk of the hilift banging into the truck, which is not great. You can use the hilift on the wheels also with only an inexpensive strap arrangement, but again risky for the body. And of course a Hilift is potentially dangerous to your teeth too if you don't know what you are doing. The bottle jack is easy to store and potentially useful, so that is easy.

 

[Thee Dude]

Check that those are actual recovery points. If you are talking about the stock thin plates with a hole type of thing, those are AFAIK only meant for tie down on the ships, not real recovery, and you may not want to pull hard on those. If you have a tow hitch though, that might be enough in a pinch.
Yes, the Hilift lifting points is an issue. Here again, the tow hitch can be used, but there is always a risk of the hilift banging into the truck, which is not great. You can use the hilift on the wheels also with only an inexpensive strap arrangement, but again risky for the body. And of course a Hilift is potentially dangerous to your teeth too if you don't know what you are doing. The bottle jack is easy to store and potentially useful, so that is easy.

These are the recovery points I was referring to. Are these the afaik points or are these good for recovery? They were in the same frame mounted spot as the Ironman recovery points I had been looking at.

 

[AirheadNut]

Looks like you’ve got both the recovery and the tie down points.

One thing to consider with a winch is if you’ll have access to anchor points to winch from where you generally wheel. Most of what I do is in the woods, there is generally a big tree within reach. If you’re out in the desert there might not be anything to hook to.

 

[e9999]

the hook is intended for recovery, but yes, the others appear to be the tie down points. Now, whether the latter are suitable for recovery is arguably a debatable point. It's a matter of how much of a pull, obviously. Clearly, companies selling heavier duty ones play up the notion that the OEMs are not strong enough, but that is subjective and possibly/likely just a marketing aid. Not that it all matters much if you have the hook anyway. As to your OP, you are probably fine with all that and the tow hitch in addition, so that's all good if the front has a recovery point too.

About the winch in the desert, yes, anchoring is a potential issue. However, you can sometimes find big rocks to pull from (if you have a long enough strap or cable) and you can possibly bury your spare as an anchor in a pinch (not that this would be a fun job under a blazing sun).

It's good to be prepared but just go out and have fun, maybe be a bit conservative when going out alone at first.

 

[PAToyota]

The others have given good advice. One thing I'd add from my college days (1980s) is that if you're looking for absolute cheap options, a couple rolls of carpet strips can be good for traction without spending the money on boards. Plus, you can toss them in the dumpster and find new ones if you rip them up or don't want to clean all the mud off of them.

 

[e9999]

and tire snow chains -another needed item depending on weather- can come in handy in mud etc too. Although, of course, more something you put on beforehand so you don't get stuck in the first place. Kinda hard to put those on when stuck already.

 

[ChaseTruck]

Thoughts on a bottle jack vs the high lift?

I prefer the bottle jack on an extended base (call me on it, but I’ve had good results with a sturdy piece of wood…) over the hi-lift. Case in point: tire change. With the hi-lift, you need to find a good lift point (that doesn’t incur risk to the vehicle or the operator in case the jack slips). Some of those might be found on the frame. Now, to get the tire off the ground for changing, you’ll be lifting against suspension flex, and that’s always higher than I’m comfortable with. Bottle jack under the axle - that flat tire is off the ground much earlier. I’ve used the hi-lift as sort of insurance at the bumper, but not as the primary lifting device. Sure, one could ratchet-strap the axle to the frame at the corner in question, but I prefer the simple bottle jack.

 

[jembourbe]

My poor college kid recovery kit:

Heavy work gloves
Tow rope/chain
High volume bike pump
Jumper cables
Shovel
Old come-along
Steel plate for bottle jack

I was actually poor in college. I didn't buy any of these things; I just dug thru my parent's and their neighbors' garages and sheds. I scrimped and saved for fuel so I could do the trips at all.

My 40 was in top mechanical shape, and the places I went were places other people wanted to go. I'll bet that's true of the places you are going to explore, too. My excursions were pretty mild, though (think all the SW Colorado stuff). I wasn't going dashboard deep in glacial meltwater or cutting new trail in the deep red african mud of the DRC. I knew there would be others out there in case sht got real. And now -- in the '20s -- there'll be plenty of people out there looking for a reason to use all that stuff they bought and decorated their rigs with if you find yourself in a spot that your wits can't get you out of.

Get out there and do it!

 

[ducktapeguy]

Out of all those items I'd put most of the money into the compressor, that's probably the one item you'll be using all the time vs. everything else that might never get used.

Traction boards - Never used them, for the price and amount of room they take up I can't justify bringing them unless there's a very high probability of using them. If you go solo then maybe there's more of a need for them, but if you have another vehicle it's probably not necessary.
Kinetic Rope- I have one, never used it. If you have another vehicle to pull you out, a tow strap work and I'm a lot more comfortable with a controlled pull than a snatch. In deep mud or sand I can see the usefulness but you'd have to use some strong recovery points
Shackle Receiver - I'd skip it. Even though some people don't recommend it, I've used the hitch pin for minor pulls and it works fine. for major pulls I'd not sure I'd use the receiver in the first place
Recovery points - the ones you have look fine unless you're going into deep mud
Compressor - for $179 I think you can either get a much faster compressor, or a better quality. I've gone through a lot of compressors, and for me speed and convenience is a high priority. The faster and easier I can air up, the more likely I am to air down in the first place. The though of spending an hour airing up has led me to go much farther than I should have gone on street pressures. You can get a Viaair 300P for about the same price, or something like a Napa Maxitrac, which admittedly has a questionable quality but it makes up for it with amazing speed.
Deflators - This is something I wish I had invested in sooner. Again, the faster and easier it is to air up and down, the more likely you're going to do it. I use Staun or Coyote's because they're automatic. I tried a few cheaper brands first but should've just gone with Stauns or Coyotes in the first place.

Thoughts on a bottle jack vs the high lift?

I carried a hi-lift for probably 10 years and eventually threw it in the garage. Too heavy, too cumbersome, and too dangerous. For changing a tire, they absolutely suck, even if you have the correct lifting points on your vehicle, which most don't. I practiced setting it up as a winch ONE time, and that one time was enough to convince to me to get an electric winch. Bottle jack is 1000% better for changing tires.