1. Hi Lift jacks are essential off road equipment you can't be without.
2. Hi Lift jacks are basically worthless relics of the past that you'll never use or need.
Pick one of these and you'll be in sync with about 50% of the experts out there.
The danger is over rated but they do require practice to get comfortable with them. They're dead simple and always work. But they're massively heavy and bulky and are hard to store safely. If you don't have heavy metal bumpers and/or heavy rock sliders, there's nothing to "jack" to, so you can't use one unless you use the hitch mount on a rear bumper.
Bottle jacks are safe and also dependable but you have to get down on your back and mess with them which is a lot of fun on a muddy road in the rain. People who really want the best usually use a special off-road style floor jack - like your garage jack - usually made out of light high strength aluminum, on large wheels that will roll under the truck. But they're not cheap and they take up a lot of room. Full size steel floor jacks are ridiculous to try to carry around, even in a troopy.
These days, with superb quality modern tires, flats are less of a concern and some people do monstrous trips without a single puncture.
