Recovery Gear: Ongoing Discussion and Reviews

Optimistic Paranoid said:
Speaking of shackles, is anybody using those soft shackles from Bubba Rope, Gator Jaws I think they're called?

I notice they list a breaking strength of 32,000 lbs, but not a WLL. I guess only stuff used in overhead rigging comes with WLLs. At first glance, 16 tons seems like it would be more than adequate. Still if you use 1/4 of the breaking strength as the WLL, then it's WLL is only 4 tons, and if you use 1/5 or 1/6 it gets even worse. I'm not sure it's worth the money. Any thoughts from the rest of you?
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Check these out
http://trailtoys.net/t/recovery-gear
I debated getting a soft shackle but then won the longer endless loop sling in a raffle and decided to go with these instead
 
I know a couple spots that we could do a class and have a fun run. I do need to make sure some of the hard points are not damaging.


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A certain incident during the second MRV comes to mind regarding the hi-lift or no hi-lift debate. A Range Rover was on a trail during the weekend and articulated enough that he lost the coil spring from its seat on the unloaded side in the rear. He was stuck without the spring and needed to lift the high side up to get the spring back in. He had his own hi-lift, but 48" was just enough to reach a hard point and nothing more. He had to walk (fortunately only a mile) back to camp and find someone with a 60" model. I packed up and brought out mine, and the spring went back in quickly.

IMO on a trail vehicle 60" is a requirement if you actually intend on using it. Yep, it's big and heavy and goes unused 99% of the time, but has saved my bacon once and two others in its life. Each situation would have proven to be costly tows that would have exceeded the purchase price of the jack by 20 times.
 
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Trump said:
A certain incident during the second MRV comes to mind regarding the hi-lift or no hi-lift debate. A Range Rover was on a trail during the weekend and articulated enough that he lost the coil spring from its seat on the unloaded side in the rear. He was stuck without the spring and needed to lift the high side up to get the spring back in. He had his own hi-lift, but 48" was just enough to reach a hard point and nothing more. He had to walk (fortunately only a mile) back to camp and find someone with a 60" model. I packed up and brought out mine, and the spring went back in quickly.

IMO on a trail vehicle 60" is a requirement if you actually intend on using it. Yep, it's big and heavy and goes unused 99% of the time, but has saved my bacon once and two others in its life. Each situation would have proven to be costly tows that would have exceeded the purchase price of the jack by 20 times.
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Good points.
 
Optimistic Paranoid said:
Some of you have probably seen this, but it may be new to others here. Back in 2008, Bruce Elfstrom of Overland Experts had two articles published in Overland Journal, one on winching and one on the Hi-Lift Jack. Both articles are available as pdfs on his website.

http://www.overlandexperts.com/docs/news/overland_journal_hi_lift_fall_2008.pdf

http://www.overlandexperts.com/docs/news/overland_journal_winching_spring_2008.pdf
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I've seen those, I think @TangoBlue has worked with them.
 
When using the factory receiver hitch as a recovery point, ensure that you give some consideration to how much weight you may be pulling, especially if you intend on using a kinetic rope or snatch strap.

To that end, I have added a Crosby 7/8 screw pin bow shackle with a Factor55 HitchLink 2.5 and Grade 5 hitch pin for recovery use. The 5/8 Master Lock is for bike rack security.

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I would add about 4 quality ratchet straps to that list.

The recovery gear is critical, but most of those big hunks of manly metal make great projectiles in a rollover. It's a real pain in the butt to secure and strap your gear down every time, but its worth it. Whether you keep in in a bag, box or drawer, just make sure you secure it.

Also the extra ratchet straps have about 10,000 uses. We have all seen them used for field expedient repairs to get cars out of the woods, seat tires, strap wayward bumpers to the roof, keep a c-clip axle in the tube, etc ... I once drove a CJ6 with a broken frame, broken motor mounts, and broken transmission mount, out of Tellico using about 6 ratchet straps.
 
^^^^We ratchet strapped the engine into our race Jeep in the Vegas to Reno race in 2010. Our incident happened at Race Mile 10, we finished the rest of the 600+ miles of the race.
 
Often overlooked and underappreciated (until needed) those priceless bits of recovery gear can be a lifesaver; especially when used properly, they also build confidence and decide whether or not a trip continues or sends you back in the direction from which you came....
SO, what recovery bits do you carry in your rig? I'm in the process of expanding my inventory; because lets face it, a Hi Lift jack, winch, full size spare, tire plugs, tow straps and clevis' will only get you so far....
 
I've recently added the 6 ton Safe Jack to my gear.

http://americanadventurist.com/forum/threads/safe-jack-review.3908/#post-68944

The first time I had the Safe Jack out and ready to use was a couple of weeks ago at a desert race. Lot's of sitting and waiting at a remote pit, gave me time to get the baseplate and jack out and set them up. I was pleasantly surprised at how well I could make the baseplates supplied tabs/hardware work to secure the jack. I was confident enough in the set up that I left the floor jack I usually use in the truck. The race car only made it 1.25 laps, so I didn't have to actually use the Safe Jack.

I also carry a 1.5 ton come-a-long (hand winch), it has come in handy a time or two when we couldn't get a winch cable to a vehicle and only a light pull was required.
 
The importance of no shit, solid recovery points and no shit, properly rated and secure hardware cannot be overstated. Photo shamelessly lifted from the bookface:

IMG_7473.JPG
 
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