By Tony Konovaloff
Just what recovery gear you are going to pack mostly depends on how your rig is set up as well as how you intend to use it. If you want to stick with dirt tracks and camping in mostly fair weather there is not that much you have to drag along. At a minimum I feel that a Hi-lift, tow strap and a shovel are mandatory as well as tow points on the rig front and rear. Not that many situations that these won’t be of help. If on the other hand you want to go hardcore there are a few more things you should take along. Another thing to consider is if you always have capable help with you or do you stick to yourself.
Here are a few additional things to think about bringing if you don’t want to leave your rig in the woods… I have used all of them at one time or another and even on the same run.
Winch on the front end. Additional winch on the back end of a wagon is really handy for side pulls.
A dampener for the winch cable during use.
Snatch strap. I even have a shackle made for webbing of the strap.
Tree strap or even two of them
Shackles of an appropriate weight rating for your rig.
Snatch block or two (I have actually used two in a single pull)
50′ Choker for the winch
Come along. For those no power recoveries or the need to right a flopped rig when you can’t run a winch.
Heavy work gloves
A large base plate for use on the Hi lift in soft ground
You may have noticed the lack of any type of chain, leave them at home. Straps are much safer in the event of a failure. And a strap usually has a much higher rated working load limit as well as a considerably lower weight. Once you have all your recovery gear about the most important things I can think of is to keep it in good condition and readily accessible. You don’t want to unload your rig just to get at a tree strap or a shackle.
