A PullPal is big, bulky and heavy and not easy to store in a rig. They work well as long as the ground you want to use it in is soft enough to allow the blade to dig in. If you can't get the blade to dig in you'll be using a shovel to get a deep enough hole for the anchor.
As for being better or worse than traction boards, it's apples and oranges. Both are good but have different uses and each one has certain situations that it works best. Traction boards are for situations where you're stuck but not stuck enough to require a winch. They are easy to store on or in the rig and easy to use. Because of the ease of use they are often the first option for self recovery. But there are situation where they won't get you out and you'll need a winch. In those cases a tool like a PullPal is useful especially if you have no other options for a winch anchor point.
My opinion is that if you do a lot of solo traveling you can't have too much recovery gear. If you always wheel with someone else or a group then you may not need more than a good set of shackles and a recovery strap. Someone in the group is likely to have a winch and in a group you always have a winch anchor point. I do mostly solo trips or trips with two-three vehicles. I have a winch, traction boards, straps, kinetic ropes, several shackles, a shovel, a hilift, a bottle jack, but no winch anchor like a PullPal. I've been stuck bad enough on a trip with two rigs that all of my gear was been used and still didn't get me out. The winch would have worked since I could have used the other rig as an anchor point but the other vehicle was behind me and had no way to get in front of my rig. There was NOTHING around that could be used as a winch anchor point. I spent 3 hours in a soft, silty river bed sunk to the frame. The traction boards didn't work, attempts to snatch or strap the vehicle out didn't work. Digging was futile since the holes immediately filled with more silt. If I had a PullPal it would have been a very quick recovery since the ground was soft enough for the blade to sink deep and anchor well. But since there was nothing around to use as a winch anchor and I didn't have a PullPal we were stuck until fortunately another vehicle came along on the opposite bank of the river in front of us and I was able to use that vehicle as a winch anchor. The traction boards were used to help get the truck higher and break the suction and the winch pulled me out quickly.
Every tool has it's place. There will be times where that one piece of gear that you don't have will be the exact gear that turn a long, hard recovery into a quick, simple recovery.
IMG_6909 by
Adam Tolman, on Flickr
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Adam Tolman, on Flickr
IMG_1506 by
Adam Tolman, on Flickr
IMG_1505 by
Adam Tolman, on Flickr
IMG_1515 by
Adam Tolman, on Flickr
IMG_6913 by
Adam Tolman, on Flickr
IMG_6918 by
Adam Tolman, on Flickr
the LED 9005 bulbs I have need to be plugged in opposite of the retainer clip...after taking it all apart I forgot this fine detail...back to regularly scheduled lighting.
